EAST LANSING, Mich—Michigan State fourth-year junior defensive back Michael Dowell has entered his name into the transfer portal. 

Dowell is the first player to enter his name in the portal since the end of the regular season and the fourth overall of 2021. He participated in senior festivities on Saturday and registered a tackle in MSU’s 30-27 win over Penn State.

Thank you to Michigan State University, Coach Tucker, Coach Dantonio, all other coaches and staff I’ve had here at MSU. I’ll be graduating in December. I’ve entered the transfer portal as a grad transfer! Forever grateful for the love and support throughout the years!
SD4L💚🤞🏾 pic.twitter.com/rX1F4FVqss

— Michael J Dowell (@10MDowell) November 29, 2021

Dowell, a 6-foot-1 junior out of North Ridgeville, Ohio, committed to the Spartans in May of 2017. A former three-star, he was rated as the No. 459 overall player in his recruiting class, according to 247Sports. He is the youngest of three brothers to play at Michigan State; linebacker Andrew played for the Spartans from 2015-2018, while safety David played from 2016-2019.  

Dowell recorded a career-high in tackles this season with 40, as well as three passes broken up and two tackles for loss. His 40 tackles are tied with cornerback Chester Kimbrough for the sixth-best mark on the team.

His season-high in tackles came against Western Kentucky with seven; Dowell played this season at nickel cornerback after being converted from safety. He also saw his snap count decrease significantly over the latter half of the season with the emergence of sophomore Darius Snow.

Overall, Dowell appeared in 32 games for MSU over a three-year span, including two starts in 2020 against Indiana and Penn State. He also notched 82 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and five pass breakups since 2019.

Dowell’s transfer portal entry is the fourth of the 2021 season for Mel Tucker and company, with defensive end Alex Okelo, linebacker Chase Kline, and defensive back Kalon Gervin all entering their names in September. Gervin has since committed to Wisconsin. This now leaves the Spartans without another defensive back, as Ronald Williams, Chester Kimbrough, Marqui Lowery Jr., and walk-on Justin White saw most of the snaps at cornerback as the season wound on.

Dowell will have an extra year of eligibility wherever he transfers, due to the modified NCAA rules regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.