The New Orleans Saints now have their first retirement of the offseason, with offensive lineman James Hurst announcing early Wednesday afternoon he will be ending his career in the NFL.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Hurst thanked many people for their support throughout his career. He ended the thread with a thank-you to the sport itself, saying that it gave him the opportunity to compete with and against some of the best athletes on the planet, and allowed him to accomplish a childhood dream.
Hurst spent 10 seasons in the NFL, six of which were spent with the Baltimore Ravens (who signed him as an undrafted rookie out of North Carolina), and the last four with the Saints. He signed with New Orleans back in 2020, playing in 12 games before receiving a three-year extension the next offseason. He did also take a pay cut earlier this offseason, reducing his salary cap hit down to $2.97 million and making his retirement easier for the Saints’ accountants to manage.
This retirement leaves the Saints in a difficult situation on the eve of the 2024 draft, as they were already pretty weak along the offensive line. With Ryan Ramczyk dealing with a potential long-term recovery after knee surgery, the Saints are going to need to focus heavily on restocking the position in the draft. With Trevor Penning’s development seemingly not going as planned, Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz remain as the two starters with three gaps alongside them at this point. We will see how the Saints handle this, but as of right now it is certainly a tough spot to be in.
247Sports had listed the Badgers along with the Tar Heels as the favorites to land the top-ranked defensive lineman. He is ranked as the service’s No. 381 player in the class of 2025, No. 42 defensive lineman and No. 3 recruit from his home state of Kentucky.
Wisconsin’s class of 2025 ranks No. 20 in the nation with eight players committed. Defensive line remains one of the thinnest positions on the roster as Luke Fickell, Mike Tressel and Phil Longo continue to work to install their respective systems.
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Walker, 22, received attention in 2023 after he was initially deemed ineligible to play for the Tarheels after the NCAA ruled he was a two-time transfer due to his previous stints at North Carolina Central and Kent State, despite never playing at NCC due to COVID-19.
After missing four games, Walker was reinstated for the remainder of the year. In eight games with UNC, Walker recorded 41 receptions for 699 yards and seven touchdowns.
At the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, Walker measured in at 6’2, 193 pounds and recorded a 4.36 40-yard dash with a 40.5-inch vertical jump. He’s been projected by most to be a Day 2 selection in April.
Michigan State women’s basketball falls short to North Carolina in first round of NCAA Tournament
Well, it was a heck of a first season for head coach Robyn Fralick and her Michigan State women’s basketball team. The Spartans had their best season in eight years, defied the odds and finished No. 4 in the Big Ten, and put a scare into North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, despite falling short. The Spartans fell to the Tar Heels 59 to 56.
This was always going to be a difficult match-up for MSU, as the Spartans are widely-known to be lacking size this year, so it wasn’t a surprise that they got absolutely dominated on the boards, getting out-rebounded 45 to 27. It’s actually remarkable that the Spartans only lost by three, considering North Carolina had 18 offensive rebounds to the Spartans’ six.
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Gallery: Michigan State women’s basketball takes on North Carolina in NCAA Tournament
Michigan State women’s basketball had their first NCAA Tournament game under new head coach Robyn Fralick on Friday against North Carolina. You can see pictures from that game below.
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Michigan State basketball vs. North Carolina tipoff time, TV details released
Michigan State basketball faces No. 1 North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 32 on Saturday, and we now know when that game will be played.
The Spartans will face the Tar Heels at 5:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce will be on the call for CBS.
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It just didn’t work out for him athletically with the Irish.
Alex Wade was one of the few returning players for Notre Dame this past season. Despite this and receiving a scholarship, he still wasn’t able to crack the rotation. Having already received his degree from the university, he has decided to enter the transfer portal, which opened up earlier this week. Here’s his official announcement that he posted to social media:
Wade’s Irish career consisted of 13 games over two seasons. He missed all five field-goal attempts and only cracked the scoring column with one free throw against Southern Indiana last season and two more in a loss to Marquette this past season. His last appearance came in the Irish’s blowout defeat March 5 at North Carolina.
It’s unfortunate that Wade’s basketball aspirations didn’t work out for the Irish, and he can’t be blamed for taking his talents elsewhere with all of that eligibility remaining. Hopefully, his next stop turns out a lot better athletically.
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The NCAA Tournament officially is here with five ACC teams among those seeking a national championship. The ACC particularly drew attention from the rest of the country after No. 10 seed NC State won the conference tournament for the first time since 1987. Strangely, no one on the Wolfpack concluded the ACC season as a leader in any of the major statistical categories. Some are going to March Madness though, and here they are:
Alabama’s NCAA Tournament draw gives a real chance to make a Final Four run
Despite being the No. 1 overall seed last year, the Alabama Crimson Tide got a sneaky bad draw in the NCAA Tournament as they were eliminated in the Sweet 16 by the eventual national champion runner-up San Diego Aztecs. This year things look a whole lot more appealing for the Tide who won’t have a massive target on their back as the top-ranked team.
Instead, they enter this year’s contest as a four-seed in the West region having already played one of the most difficult schedules in the country. Fortunately, Alabama does not have to play until Friday so they’ll have some time to adjust to the time change of playing in Spokane, WA.
In the Round of 64, Alabama will face Charleston who has won 12 straight games and enters the Tournament as hot as anyone in the country. However, the Cougars are ranked 176th nationally defensively according to KenPom, so the Alabama offense should have their way. It’ll be a busy day from beyond the arc as both teams are stupendous from three and rank top four nationally in attempts per game (Alabama 30.3, Charleston 30.6). Alabama is a 10-5 point favorite per FanDuel, so I think it is safe to predict the Tide survive on Friday.
From there, I think taking on St. Mary’s on the West Coast will be a tough ask, but I think the Tide are a much more talented team. The Gaels went 15-1 in the regular season to be named conference champions as well as taking down Gonzaga to claim the WCC Tournament Championship. If Alabama has another low intensity afternoon on the defensive end they can absolutely bounced, but I think Oats knows the one thing he has yet to do at Alabama is make a deep run in March.
Alabama could potentially face the lowest one-seed, the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Sweet 16 who have already lost seven games this season and enter the Tournament off a loss to unranked in-state rival NC State. The bottom of the bracket is anyone’s guess, but secretly, Alabama is hoping to get a rematch with Arizona in the Elite 8. The Wildcats knocked off Alabama by 13 in Phoenix, AZ back in December, but I think that’s a very winnable matchup for Oats’ squad.
The Crimson Tide struggled a bit to conclude the regular season, so they have some serious soul searching to do, but I believe they are nearly as talented as anyone nationwide. All things considered too, it was a very favorable draw for the Tide and I think this is the year they make the final four run.
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Individual champion Devin Patel, a Virginia junior, finished with five groups remaining on the course and with a 71.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Nothing was easy in the final round of The Hayt on Monday at the Sawgrass Country Club.
Not for team champion North Carolina, whose No. 1 player Austin Greaser dumped his last two tee shots in the water to fall out the lead.
Not for individual champion Devin Patel, a Virginia junior who finished with five groups remaining on the course and with a 71, won by one shot over graduate Canon Claycomb of Alabama (74) and sophomore Ethan Evans of Duke (73) at 3-under-par 213.
But both found a way to win.
The Tar Heels, second in the Bushnell/Golfweek rankings, won their ninth tournament over the last two seasons by four shots over Alabama at 3-under 861, despite chilly, windy conditions most of the day.
Virginia junior Devin Patel won the individual title at The Hayt, the University of North Florida’s invitational at the Sawgrass Country Club. (Photo by Garry Smits/Florida Times-Union)
Patel helped move Virginia to third at 4-over and Ohio State finished fourth at 12-over.
The conditions were difficult but UNC improved on its three-shot lead at the end of the second round, thanks to junior Maxwell Ford’s 69, a 72 from senior Dylan Menante and 74s by Greaser and senior Peter Fountain.
Menante and Greaser tied for sixth at even-par 216, Fountain tied for 15th at 2-over and Maxwell Ford tied for 20th at 4-over.
The Tar Heels led by eight shots with three groups having between one and three holes to play and Greaser had a one-shot lead. But the margin fell to four after Greaser double-bogeyed the par-4 17th hole following the first of his doused tee shots and he knocked his tee shot at the par-5 18th into a small pond on the right, leading to a bogey.
It didn’t matter to the team total. Menante and Fountain, playing ahead of Greaser, both birdied No. 18 to provide enough cushion.
“Winning in our sport is hard,” said UNC coach Andrew DiBitetto. “The guys did a good job of battling and finding a way to pick up a win on a really challenging course and in some pretty challenging conditions.”
Patel won his first college tournament with a simple formula. Keep the ball low, in the fairway and make his hay on the par-5 holes.
He birdied Nos. 4, 11 and 18, the latter on a 2-foot putt after a good chip from the right side to a back-left pin.
“I usually hit the ball low and I’m pretty accurate so the conditions actually played in my favor,” Patel said. “I’ve been working pretty hard on my game and this week showed me I’ve been working on the right things.
Virginia coach Bowen Sargent was delighted with Patel’s victory, considering Ben James (a tie for 11th at 1-over) and Bryan Lee (tie for 27th at 6-over) are both among the top 40 on the Bushnell/Golfweek rankings.
Patel also finished atop a field that contained five 2023 Walker Cup members and five players among the top 25 on the PGA Tour University rankings.
“Going into the week we thought this course would be great for him,” Sargent said. “He’s hit it really straight and he’s a good iron player. It was a good venue for him. On our team, it’s hard enough to beat Ben and Bryan but he played great. We’re very proud of him.”
The host team, University of North Florida, finished ninth to break a streak of five consecutive top-five finishes in its event, with a victory and two seconds. Senior Robbie Higgins (75) finished in a tie for sixth at even-par, his third finish of sixth or higher in The Hayt.
