Michigan State football gets Old Dominion LB Wayne Matthews III from transfer portal

Add another inbound transfer to Michigan State football’s defense.

New coach Jonathan Smith picked up his 11th player from the portal Wednesday with a pledge from former Old Dominion linebacker Wayne Matthews III.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound native of Largo, Maryland, finished second on the Monarchs as a third-year sophomore and earned third-team All-Sun Belt honors with 135 tackles in 13 games this season, registering 3.5 sacks among his 9.5 tackles for a loss while forcing three fumbles and breaking up three passes. He ranked 11th in the FBS in total tackles this season.

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Matthews has two years of eligibility remaining after playing three games and redshirting for ODU in 2021. He had 13 tackles and a forced fumble over 10 games in 2022.

The additions of transfer Matthews and Jordan Turner from Wisconsin help offset the losses of Jacoby Windmon to the NFL draft and Aaron Brule to graduation.

Matthews and Turner join a returning linebacker corps that includes starter Cal Haladay, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining with his NCAA-approved COVID season waiver for 2020 when he played as a true freshman. Jordan Hall, an honorable mention freshman All-America selection by College Football Network, also is expected to return for his second season.

Redshirt junior Darius Snow withdrew his name from the transfer portal Dec. 6 to return for his fifth season of eligibility, and redshirt freshman Aaron Alexander returns for his second season with the Spartans after arriving via transfer from Massachusetts before the 2023 season. Smith also signed three-star prospect Brady Pretzlaff from Gaylord last month for 2024.

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football gets LB Wayne Matthews III from transfer portal