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Michigan State Running Back Returning For 6th College Season

Originally posted on FanNation Spartan Nation
By Matthew Lounsberry | Last updated 1/4/24

While the offseason remains in its early stages, Michigan State Football's 2024 roster continues to take shape.

Earlier this week, the Spartans retained a piece to its offense when fifth-year senior running back Jaren Mangham, brother of MSU sophomore safety Jaden Mangham, announced his intention to return to MSU for a sixth collegiate season.

The elder Mangham's career is a microcosm of the current state of college athletics. He began his career at Colorado as part of former MSU head coach Mel Tucker's first recruiting class in Boulder. As a true freshman in 2019, Mangham ran for 441 yards and three touchdowns on 107 carries and was named to the Pac-12's All-Freshman team. In 2020, Mangham only appeared in four games for the Buffaloes, rushing for 35 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.

Mangham then transferred to South Florida, where he had a breakout season in 2021 with 671 yards and 15 touchdowns on 160 carries. However, his 2022 season with the Bulls was cut short due to injury, and he totaled 104 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries that season.

Transferred again to Michigan State ahead of the 2023 season, Mangham dealt with injuries that held him out of the first six games this year. In a backup role to starter Nathan Carter over the final six games, the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder rushed for 81 yards on 30 carries and adding 37 receiving yards on seven catches for the Spartans this fall.

In 2024, Michigan State will return both Carter and Mangham to its backfield, as well as redshirt senior Jalen Berger, who played in five games for the Spartans in 2023 before suffering a season-ending injury. MSU signed three-star tailbacks Makhi Frazier and Brandon Tullis to their 2024 recruiting class, and also return redshirt freshman Jaelon Barbarin and redshirt junior Davion Primm next fall.

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