Michigan State is having trouble replacing the number of players who have lately entered the transfer portal.
Defence lineman Simeon Barrow was one of those players, and his loss severely hurts the Spartans’ chances of winning their first season under head coach Jonathan Smith.
Days before Michigan State’s spring game, Barrow re-entered the transfer portal and committed to the Miami Hurricanes, according to Hayes Fawcett of On3. Barrow’s declaration was made soon after Derrick Harmon, another former Spartan defensive tackle, declared he was transferring to Oregon, a Big Ten rival.
Barrow, who weighs 296 pounds and stands 6 feet 3 inches, made 36 tackles and 3.5 sacks for the Spartans the previous season. He was one of the better defensive players for the Spartans, but after using the portal twice already, he will now play somewhere else. After Mel Tucker was fired by Michigan State, he went through the portal, but he came back to East Lansing to play in every game for the Spartans.
Barrow was a three-season letter winner who participated in 34 games for the Spartans. At defensive tackle, he started 30 games and finished his career with 110 tackles. He had 10.5 sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss in his time at Michigan State. His flexibility was demonstrated by the two blocked field goals, one pass break, and two
After high school, Barrow was a three-star prospect from Georgia for the 2020 class. Like many others, he decided not to play his first year because of the many uncertainties surrounding that campaign. He would suit up and play for the Spartans the next year, having an instant effect on Michigan State’s defence.
Barrow’s departure and the other former Spartans players who entered the portal may raise doubts in the minds of prospective players who are thinking about attending Michigan State and hiring Coach Smith as their next coach. The Spartans need to step up their recruiting efforts right away in order to make up for the players they are losing, sometimes to other conference teams.
