BREAKING: Michigan State’s Payton Thorne, Keon Coleman enter transfer portal
A major development has sent shockwaves out of East Lansing.
Michigan State’s incumbent starting quarterback Payton Thorne and star wide receiver Keon Coleman have both entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Today, April 30, is the spring deadline for players to enter their names into the transfer portal. Programs can continue to recruit players out of the transfer portal into the summer.
During Michigan State’s spring practice, which stretched from mid-March to mid-April, Thorne was in a competition with redshirt junior Noah Kim and redshirt freshman Katin Houser to retain his starting job at quarterback.
The general consensus, based on MSU’s open practice on April 15, was that Thorne was still the leader in the clubhouse to start at QB for the Spartans this fall. But, clearly, there is more going on behind the scenes in East Lansing than what is currently known.
After a breakout season in 2021, in which he threw for a school record 27 touchdown passes and 3,240 yards (third-most in a single season in MSU history), Thorne regressed last season without stud tailback Kenneth Walker III beside him in the backfield. Thorne had 19 touchdown passes and threw for 2,679 yards in 2022.
Coleman, meanwhile, would arguably be an even bigger loss than Thorne, if neither were to withdraw their name from the portal. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound freak of an athlete was set to be Michigan State’s leading receiver and arguably its top overall player.
In 2022, Coleman led the Spartans with 58 receptions for 798 yards and seven touchdowns. Making matters worse, MSU lost another promising wide receiver, rising sophomore Germie Bernard, to the transfer portal back on Dec. 12 after just one season in East Lansing.
While there was always a good chance that Michigan State would lose one of the three competitors for the starting quarterback sometime before the 2023 season, it’s still shocking to see Thorne as the QB set to depart, especially in April, given the outside perception of the QB battle. Losing Coleman in addition to their most experienced quarterback would be a massive blow to Mel Tucker’s program for the 2023 season.
Thorne and Coleman each have two seasons of collegiate eligibility remaining.
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