A former high school All-American and highly-touted Michigan State defensive back has found his way back to the Big Ten after entering the transfer portal.
Earlier this offseason, Justin Denson Jr. entered the portal. He was originally committed to Mel Tucker who was fired before he ever stepped foot on campus. Denson then had a big decision to make: give Jonathan Smith a shot or decommit and find another program.
Denson stuck around and earned a lot of respect from the fanbase. It would have been easy for a young recruit to run from the mess and start with a clean slate somewhere else, but he stuck around and worked his way up the depth chart. Unfortunately, he didn’t play a ton in his two years under Smith and Joe Rossi, totaling 15 tackles over 11 games.
When Pat Fitzgerald was hired, Denson wasted little time hopping into the transfer portal. He probably was going to anyways, given the fact that he likely wasn’t going to start in 2026, barring some surprising departures.
There was talk that he might end up at Michigan after he scheduled a visit to Ann Arbor last week, but even Charles Brantley told him that was a bad idea.
Well, Denson didn’t end up at Michigan, but he did wind up back in the Big Ten.
On Thursday afternoon, the former Spartan defensive back announced his commitment to Purdue.
Thank you God 🧎🏾♂️➡️⏳ #boilerup pic.twitter.com/XkiRmBnVhW
— Justin “The slim reaper” Denson Jr. ✞ (@Jetdenson) January 15, 2026
This move does make sense because Denson gets to remain in the Big Ten, competing at the highest level, and he’s joining a program that is going to need more help than Michigan State does.
Justin Denson will play a big role at Purdue
Purdue was one of the worst teams in the Power Four last season, like Michigan State, but the Boilermakers are going to need a ton of help. They went just 2-10 in Barry Odom’s first season with the program, and there’s not a ton of hope for 2026, although improvement is expected — there’s really nowhere to go but up.
Denson likely committed to Purdue with the intention of cracking the starting lineup, and that’s the perfect program for him to try and do so.
The former high school All-American will also join the ranks of former Spartans back in the Big Ten at opposing programs. Guys like Aidan Chiles (Northwestern), Katin Houser (Illinois), Alex VanSumeren (USC), and Nick Marsh (Indiana) are all in the conference, and Michigan State will have to play a couple of them in 2026.
There is, however, no Purdue on the schedule for Michigan State next year.