Pat Fitzgerald has been able to work his magic with a few prominent Michigan State players, but some didn’t buy in to what the new head coach was building, and decided it was best for them to move on and look for greener grass elsewhere.
Several former Spartans have already found new homes like Nick Marsh at Indiana, Michael Masunas at Texas, Aidan Chiles at Northwestern, Alex VanSumeren at USC, and Aydan West at Minnesota.
Another prominent starting Spartan is closing in on a decision, it seems.
According to Pete Nakos, “multiple” SEC and Big Ten programs are pursuing Michigan State transfer running back Makhi Frazier. Earlier in the week, Chris Hummer reported that Ohio State was one of those “multiple” Big Ten programs. He reported that Frazier was headed to Columbus on an official visit this weekend.
It appears that Frazier is one of the most sought-after running backs in the portal. These teams liked what they saw from Frazier when he was healthy in 2025.
And to be fair, he had several electric performances.
Pat Fitzgerald did a good job of replacing Makhi Frazier
Although it probably would have been nice to keep Frazier, Fitzgerald had to accept the young running back’s decision to transfer following the coaching change. While he’s been able to convince some important players to return, Fitz has also watched as some starters left for the portal like Nick Marsh, Alex VanSumeren, and Frazier.
Fortunately, Michigan State’s head coach did a great job of replacing the latter, picking up three running back commitments from the portal over the past week.
Fitzgerald landed Cam Edwards from UConn, Marvis Parrish from Western Kentucky, and Jaziun Patterson from Iowa since the portal window opened, and that’s a ton of production coming in to replace a 500-yard redshirt freshman rusher. Parrish had 576 yards and a touchdowns as a freshman (5.4 yards per carry), Patterson showed plenty of promise at Iowa with 858 yards and four touchdowns (4.4 yards per carry) over four years, and Edwards has over 2,600 career yards at UConn, and he’s coming off a 1,200-yard, 15-touchdown season.
And Fitzgerald landed Carson Gulker, who can be a Connor Heyward H-back-type, from Ferris State who has experience running, passing, and catching the ball.
If Jace Clarizio returns, along with Brandon Tullis, this will be one of the deepest backfields in the Big Ten.