Michigan State football: CB Charles Brantley withdraws from transfer portal

Charles Brantley’s journey into the transfer portal lasted less than 48 hours.

Michigan State football’s junior cornerback withdrew from the portal Tuesday morning, the Free Press confirmed. Brantley was one of three starters, along with quarterback Payton Thorne and wide receiver Keon Coleman, who entered their names Sunday on the final day of the spring window to hit the portal.

"Loyalty out values everything," Brantley tweeted early Tuesday.

In his short time in the portal, Brantley tweeted that he received scholarship offers from coach Brent Venables at Oklahoma and Deion Sanders at Colorado.

The 6-foot, 170-pound Brantley, who snagged the game-clinching interception in the Spartans’ win over Michigan in 2021, has two years of eligibility remaining. He finished last season with 48 tackles while starting 11 games and the only interception by the MSU secondary – a pick-6 against C.J. Stroud and Ohio State. The Sarasota, Florida, native played eight games in his true freshman season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in a loss at Purdue, registering 18 tackles and four pass break-ups in 172 snaps along with the memorable interception against the Wolverines.

FALLING BEHIND: Why it feels as if Michigan State football is falling further behind Michigan football

Like Coleman, Brantley was in uniform but sat out the Spartans’ final spring practice that was open to the public April 15. Both were part of Mel Tucker’s 2021 recruiting class.

Brantley is the fourth player in Tucker’s tenure to test the portal and return to MSU. Connor Heyward entered during Mark Dantonio’s final season in 2019 but opted to remain a Spartan after Tucker was hired in early 2020; linebackers Ben VanSumeren and Ma’a Gaoteote did the same last spring.

More: Michigan State football, once a transfer portal darling, reeling as QB, WR look to leave

With Brantley opting to stay, that gives Tucker one returning starter in the secondary with the graduation losses of cornerback Ameer Speed and safeties Xavier Henderson and Kendell Brooks, all of whom are heading to the NFL. MSU also graduated veteran cornerback Ronald Williams II.

Dillon Tatum, a true freshman last fall, started at cornerback in the Spartans’ season finale at Penn State with Brantley out and injured. Senior Justin White and junior Marqui Lowery also returns with experience, and Tucker added Wisconsin transfer Semar Melvin from the portal this winter. Other young cornerbacks who are expected to compete for playing time include redshirt freshmen Caleb Coley and Ade Willie as well as true freshman Chance Rucker.

More: Spartan Speak podcast: Payton Thorne, Keon Coleman stun MSU fans by entering transfer portal

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football's Charles Brantley withdraws name from portal