Tag: Pitt

Former Michigan State football wide receiver locks in two visits

A former Michigan State wide receiver has locked in two visits

A week ago, Michigan State football wide receiver Jaron Glover joined a group of four receivers entering the transfer portal. This week, it was revealed what schools he will be visiting first as he explores his options.

Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported that Glover will take his first visits to Mississippi State and Pitt.

You can track all the movement in the portal for the Spartans here.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.

WATCH: Derek Carr hits rookie Bub Means to convert big 4th down vs. 49ers

Derek Carr hit rookie wideout Bub Means to convert a big fourth down against the 49ers. It’s a big step in the right direction for a team that needed it:

The New Orleans Saints’ first-team offense finally found some life after a couple of underwhelming drives to start their second preseason game. On 4th-and-5 from the San Francisco 49eres’ 38-yard line, the team dialed up a spot concept to find rookie wideout Bub Means for a big conversion. This conversion led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Taysom Hill to cap off a 16-play drive, putting them up by 7 points  at Levi’s Stadium.

This was a great sign for the team finally seeing Means in action after he missed time in training camp with an injury. The Saints are in need of more playmakers at the wide receiver position and it would be beneficial for the team if Means was part of the solution there. Carr having the trust to hit Means on this play goes a long way as well. It’s an encouraging moment for the exciting rookie from Pitt.

Capitalizing on later downs is something that the team has struggled with as of late. If they can sustain drives and find success on crucial downs, it will go a long way to making Klint Kubiak’s offense go this season. It is also a positive that they were able to get this done against one of the best defensive schemes in football. This was a big step in the right direction for a team that needed to see it.

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Rookie Bub Means activated from non-football injury list

That didn’t take long. Bub Means has already been removed from the NFI list, freeing up the rookie for a full workload at training camp:

Just two days ago the New Orleans Saints placed rookie fifth-round pick Bub Means on the non-football injury list.

As of Thursday, he is now off of that list. The Saints announced that Means had been activated off the NFI list along with several other roster moves that the team made. Just a couple days ago, Nick Underhill at NOF Network reported that Means’ injury “wasn’t serious” and that he would be “good to go quickly.” Here’s proof of it.

The former Pitt Panther will be in competition for a spot at the back end of the wide receivers depth chart. With Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed locking up the top two spots, Means will be competing for playing time with guys like Cedrick Wilson Jr. and A.T. Perry who have the head start on him for the moment.

With the start of training camp in about a week, Means will get his opportunity to showcase his abilities and make a name for himself.

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Bub Means starts Saints training camp on non-football injury list

Bub Means is starting his first Saints training camp on the non-football injury list, but he shouldn’t be sidelined for long:

At least one New Orleans Saints player is starting training camp on an injury list. Rookie wide receiver Bub Means was designated to the non-football injury on Tuesday, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill and the Times-Picayune | Advocate’s Luke Johnson. Underhill added that Means’ injury “isn’t considered to be serious” and he’s expected to be cleared when the team undergoes its annual conditioning test on July 23. The first real day of practice is July 24.

Means was drafted in the fifth round this year out of Pittsburgh, at No. 170 overall. He’s an exciting talent with a lot of personality so fans were quick to gravitate to him during the spring. But what is the NFI list? How is it different from the physically unable to perform list (PUP) or injured reserve?

It’s important to not overreact to this. Means landing on NFI when rookies reported for training camp on Tuesday is nothing unusual. Any players who suffered an injury working out during the offseason or in an off-field accident would also start out here. Once they can pass a conditioning test they’ll be activated and cleared to practice. In the meantime, though, they aren’t paid a regular salary. But that usually only matters if an injury persists into the season in September. It doesn’t sound like that’s likely for Means.

Remember, Rashid Shaheed was placed on the NFI list his first day at training camp back in 2022, and he wasn’t activated until Aug. 8. Things have worked out well for him, and Means seems to be in a much better situation than he was coming off a serious knee injury his rookie year. We’ll keep an eye out for Means’ progress but he has a full week to heal up and get the green light to hit the practice field. Stay tuned.

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Rookie WR Bub Means tabbed as Saints’ sleeper pick from 2024 draft

Who is your pick for the Saints’ sleeper in the 2024 draft class? Touchdown Wire says this wideout could get on the field very quickly:

Who would you say was the sleeper pick of the New Orleans Saints’ 2024 draft class, who could climb the depth chart and help out on game days? With the Saints spending so many of their 2025 draft picks on Day 3, in the later rounds, there are plenty of options to choose from. There will be many rookies starting at the bottom of the roster and working to make their own luck.

But some have landed in better circumstances than others, with a real path to dressing out and making plays on game days. According to Doug Farrar over at Touchdown Wire, that’s former Pittsburgh Panthers wideout Bub Means:

The Saints came into the 2024 draft with some speed on offense already with Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and A.T. Perry, but in an NFL where it’s all about creating and defending explosive plays, more acceleration is always good. To that end, New Orleans welcomed Pitt receiver Bub Means to its roster with the 170th overall pick in the fifth round.

In his 2023 season, Means caught 41 passes on 82 targets for 718 yards and six touchdowns. That catch rate may have you wondering about Means’ hands until you go back and review Pitt’s quarterbacks. As Greg Cosell and I got into in this week’s “Xs and Os,” Means is virtually guaranteed to be more productive and efficient with a quarterback who can actually get him the ball.

Means is an easy player to root for, as we found out in an exclusive interview with our own Jeremy Trottier. He’s got a dynamic skill set, a team-first mindset, and a magnetic personality that should quickly endear him to Saints fans. Of course there are things he needs to work on in order to get on the field ahead of more-experienced teammates like A.T. Perry and Cedrick Wilson Jr., but he’s got plenty of potential. Now it’s on Klint Kubiak and his new Saints offensive coaching staff to help Means meet it.

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Former Pitt LB Solomon DeShields will transfer to Texas A&M

Texas A&M picks up a productive ACC player in former Pitt linebacker Solomon DeShields

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko is getting a dose of competition in the defensive room to pair with All-SEC backer Taurean York with a productive linebacker out from Pitt.

Defensive coordinator Jay Bateman quickly added another highly active defensive player when former Pitt linebacker Solomon DeShields committed to the Aggies on April 22. DeShields brings some good size standing at 6’3″ weighing in at 225 pounds and had had his most productive year in 2023 recording 58 tackles, 8 TFLs, with 2 sacks.

With the spring portal now open, expect more names to flow in and out of College Station as players start to key in on where they might fall on the roster. No doubt Elko is keeping his ear to the portal streets looking for ways to improve his team.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

PHOTOS: Tar Heels take down Pitt to advance in ACC Tournament

Photos from the UNC basketball program’s tense win over Pitt in the ACC semifinals.

It was a dog fight Friday night between UNC and Pitt, with the Tar Heels getting the last punch to move into the Atlantic Coast Conference finals.

The story continues as the Tar Heels not only fight to win the ACC tournament but also to claim a No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The 72-65 win gave UNC a huge boost to grab a top spot in a bracket, and Mississippi State helped hugely with a double-digit win over Tennessee.

Armando Bacot led UNC in the win over Pitt, finishing with 19 points and dominating the board with 11 rebounds. Bacot’s defensive abilities were on full display, switching and distributing guards shots.

RJ Davis also had a significant role in the win, dropping 19 points in the second half, using his signature step back to pour it on. Pitt needed it more, but UNC showed who wanted it. In case you missed it, here are the best photos of the Tar Heels beating Pitt.

UNC one of seven ACC hoops teams in NET Top 60

Seven ACC hoops teams are in the Top 60 of the latest NET rankings. Can you guess where the Tar Heels sit?

Saturday is going to be a day full of highly-anticipated, marquee college basketball matchups that carry massive implications.

Several games to watch include a ranked Big 12 battle between Houston and Baylor, a significantly-improved Wake squad hosting eight-ranked Duke in a battle that could determine the ACC’s first-place team, Alabama and Kentucky battling between ranked SEC teams and – the one we hope you’re watching the closest – 10th-ranked North Carolina traveling to UVA, where it hasn’t won in over a decade.

We’ll talk more about the Tar Heels in a second, but let’s not discount the fact that – despite UNC and Duke being the only two ranked ACC teams, seven conference programs are Top-60 in the latest NET rankings.

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That’s right – North Carolina leads the way at 10th, despite its recent hot-and-cold stretch. Duke is rightfully close to the Tar Heels at 12th, Clemson stands at 26th, Wake Forest jumped 10 spots to 27th, UVA sits at 48th, Virginia Tech rose 10 spots to 52nd after its huge win over UVA, while Pitt rounded out the ACC’s share of Top-60 teams at 58th.

There’s still two weeks left in the regular season and the ACC Tournament, which could drastically change these team’s NCAA Tournament outlook, but all seven being in the Top-60 of NET means there’s likely to be several ACC teams in the Big Dance.

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How Notre Dame still can earn a top-four seed in NCAA Tournament

It’s doable.

Notre Dame is running out of chances to strengthen its NCAA Tournament resume. Every bracketology currently has the Irish as a No. 5 or No. 6 seed, which is bad if they want to host the first two rounds. Recent losses to Louisville and NC State haven’t helped, and their most recent wins have done little more than keep their needle where it is.

The Irish currently have an NET Ranking of 10th and a NET SOS of 25th. Their next two opponents are lowly ones in Clemson and Boston College, so while it’s important that they win those games, they won’t help their resume. All eyes will be on their last two regular-season games against ACC-leading Virginia Tech and Louisville, which have respective NET Rankings of 14th and 23rd.

So what does this mean for the Irish’s ever-decreasing chances to gain a No. 4 seed or better for March Madness? As I have a couple of times already, here’s what my friend Lucas Mitzel had to say while also giving out some additional NET Rankings:

Hubert Davis: ‘We needed to be tough in order to come away with a win’

Hubert Davis expresses UNC’s mindset of playing tough to win against a gritty Pitt team on the road.

The UNC men’s basketball program has had its fair share of tests this season, with Pitt challenging UNC differently on Tuesday night.

The Tar Heels went through a series of tough opponents to kick off the season, facing four teams ranked in the Associated Press Poll whose talent matches up with UNC. Pitt, on the other hand, didn’t necessarily have the same talent impact on the game, instead, they used their physicality to lead the way, forcing the Tar Heels into uncharted waters.

Pitt had UNC number recently, with a 3-0 record during Hubert Davis’s tenure as the head coach. In those three games the physicality the Panthers brought, took the Tar Heels out of their game. The same result was on the verge of happening for a fourth time, with the referee’s whistle non-existent in the first half.

However, unlike the Davis teams the prior two seasons, UNC didn’t waver, instead, they got chippy back, eventually creating a sizable lead they could sit on. The gritty win didn’t go unnoticed, as UNC continued to gain ingredients for the National Championship recipe.

Following the win, Davis talked about UNC ending the three-game skid against Pitt.

“They were deserving of winning the three games prior to this. They’re a very good basketball team, extremely well-coached. It’s very difficult to win on the road, especially here. So we knew that we would have to fight competitively. We knew that we needed to be tough in order to come away with a win and we were able to do it.”

The win was a great start for UNC conference away trip, with Clemson and NC State next on the road map.

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