All-American return man Tulu Griffin enters transfer portal

Mississippi State wide receiver and All-American kick returner Lideatrick "Tulu" Griffin has entered his name into the transfer portal.

"First I would love to thank God himself for the position he put me in today. Also I wanna thank my family for everything they have done for me."

"I wanna thank the whole MSU coaching staff for believing in me throughout the last three years!"

"Last but not least, I wanna thank the wonderful fans. I'm grateful that I got to play for y'all every Saturday!"

"With that being said, I've decided to enter my name into the transfer portal with two years of eligibility left," Griffin said in a twitter post.

The junior from Philadelphia, Mississippi, posted his best season in 2022 with 40 receptions for 502 yards and four touchdowns. He caught 26 passes for 269 yards as a sophomore and had ten catches for 61 yards and a touchdown as a freshman in 2020.

The dynamic kick returner earned First Team All-American honors this season after leading the nation with a 32.3-yard kick return average, more than four yards better than second place. He's returned two kickoffs for touchdowns during his career.

Griffin's departure comes as a major surprise as he's been Mississippi State’s most vocal recruiter of transfer portal prospects on twitter this offseason.

The news comes one day after Mississippi State hired Appalachian State offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay, who runs a much more run-heavy scheme compared to the Air Raid Griffin has played in the past three seasons. He is reportedly listed as a do not contact, which typically means the player has their next destination in mind.

The loss of Griffin means Mississippi State has lost three of its top four leading wide receivers. Rara Thomas transferred to Georgia, while Caleb Ducking is out of eligibility.