-
Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
Mississippi State quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, he announced Tuesday.
Van Buren started eight games during his true freshman season and threw for 1,886 yards on 55% passing with 16 total touchdowns and seven turnovers for the Bulldogs (2-10, 0-8).
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound passer from St. Frances Academy in Maryland had two 300-yard performances for the Bulldogs, including 306 yards and three touchdown passes in a 41-31 road loss against now-No. 2 Georgia.
Van Buren was the No. 57 overall recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2024. He decommitted from Oregon in December 2023 to sign with Mississippi State and play for new head coach Jeff Lebby.
Van Buren took over as the Bulldogs’ starter this season after quarterback Blake Shapen suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the Bulldogs’ 45-28 loss to Florida on Sept. 21.
Shapen announced earlier Tuesday that he plans to return to Mississippi State as a sixth-year senior in 2025. The former Baylor transfer has started 27 games over his career.
Lebby is also in the process of recruiting one of his former pupils, Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold, to Starkville. The former five-star recruit entered the transfer portal Monday after one season as the Sooners’ starter.
Following a winless run through SEC play, the Bulldogs have had 22 scholarship players enter the transfer portal since the winter transfer window opened Monday.