Michael Van Buren Jr. is leaving Starkvegas and calling Baton Rouge.

The Mississippi State quarterback, who had previously entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, has signed with LSU. Van Buren announced the decision in an Instagram post Sunday, and LSU made its own announcement Monday.

“It’s the LSU brand and everything they were talking about from a development standpoint,” Van Buren told NOLA.com. “I felt like it was the best fit for me.”

Van Buren played in 10 games as a true freshman for Mississippi State this season. He started eight after Blake Shapen was injured in September, and showed plenty of potential against a difficult Southeastern Conference schedule that included three teams that are in the College Football Playoff.

Van Buren completed 55 percent of his passes for 1,886 yards and 11 touchdowns, with seven interceptions. He also scored five rushing touchdowns.

Van Buren passed for more than 300 yards in losses to Georgia and Arkansas, and had a touchdown pass in six of his eight starts. He was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week after passing for 306 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-31 loss to Georgia on Oct. 12.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Van Buren was a four-star prospect from Bowie, Maryland, who was ESPN’s No. 57 overall recruit in the 2024 class. He was the top-ranked member of the Bulldogs’ 2024 recruiting class.

Van Buren entered the transfer portal after Shapen announced he was coming back for another season in 2025.

Van Buren will still be a backup at LSU. Its starting quarterback, Garrett Nussmeier, plans to return in 2025. The other quarterbacks on LSU’s roster are junior AJ Swann, and freshmen Colin Hurley and Dyson Knox.

“You have to look at each position, and if Garrett was to go down, you have to have somebody there,” LSU coach Brian Kelly told NOLA.com. “But more importantly, you have to have competition at every position. Michael is going to compete with Garrett. We wanted to bring Michael in because he’s somebody that has started in the SEC, and we want to create competition at every position.”