Tag: Wake Forest

Notre Dame guard Markus Burton named to Preseason All-ACC First Team

He’s the player to watch on the Irish this season.

Although Notre Dame was rebuilding a season ago, [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] was a clear bright spot. He led the Irish in averages for scoring (17.5), assists (4.3) and steals (1.9). Basically, he was the men’s equivalent of [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] put together.

All of that was enough for him to be named ACC Rookie of the Year as well as Third Team All-ACC. Now entering his sophomore season, a select media panel expects to produce highly once again.

Burton has been named to the Preseason All-ACC First Team, receiving 41 votes. He joins a group that includes Cooper Flagg of Duke, Hunter Sallis of Wake Forest, Nijel Pack of Miami and RJ Davis of North Carolina, the unanimous selection for Preseason ACC Player of the Year.

The same panel has picked the Irish to finish 10th out of 18 teams in the expanded ACC. It’s an indicator that the Irish still have some work to do to get back near the top of the conference. It should be a fun season though.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Sean Payton speaks on the decision to sign another ex-Saints wide receiver

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton spoke on the decision to sign another ex-Saints wide receiver. He views A.T. Perry as someone worth developing:

Sean Payton earned some more ire from New Orleans Saints fans last week when his Denver Broncos signed another ex-Saints player — former 2023 draft pick A.T. Perry, the wide receiver from Wake Forest. Perry showed up on game days but his poor day-to-day performance at practice didn’t help his case for a roster spot, and the team chose to waive him.

Now he’s on the Broncos practice squad. Payton spoke about the decision to add Perry, who he sees as a player with impressive physical gifts and plenty of skills to develop further.

“We had some exposure with him,” Payton said Friday. “I obviously wasn’t there, but Pete Carmichael (was). We noticed him in his rookie year last year on film… We weren’t going to claim him, but we sure would like to recruit him to come to the practice squad. He’s long with good hands.”

It should also be noted that former Saints assistant college scouting director Cody Rager was hired into Denver’s front office this offseason, and he was part of the decision to draft Perry a year ago.

Payton emphasized that they view Perry as a stash-and-develop signing, not someone likely to get thrown into  a game right away. He’s  a longshot to p lay against the Saints next Thursday night, but never say never. He learned Carmichael’s playbook as a rookie which is derived from Payton’s system. Perry may not need as much time to get up to speed as other players in his  position.

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Saints cut second-year draft pick in surprise roster move

The New Orleans Saints cut A.T. Perry in a surprise roster move. The second-year draft pick never did climb the depth chart this season:

This is a bit of a shock. The New Orleans Saints waived wide receiver A.T. Perry on Friday, as first reported by NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill and confirmed by other local outlets. Perry was only in his second year with the team after the Saints traded up to draft him in 2023 out of Wake Forest, sending tight end Adam Trautman to the Denver Broncos in the process.

The timing is odd — because the Saints are playing on “Monday Night Football” this week, they’re only in the second day of practice — so you have to wonder if there’s an injury involved. Perry was limited on Thursday with a hamstring issue, so maybe they waived him with the goal of putting him on injured reserve. It’s also possible they want to keep him on the practice squad. It’s just too soon to say for sure.

Either way, it’s a disappointing turn for his career. Perry struggled to get in the lineup last season due to injuries and finished his rookie year with  a dozen catches for 246 yards, scoring 4 touchdown receptions. But he never did meet expectations over the summer and was surpassed on the depth chart  by other players. Minor injuries and inconsistent performance on the practice  field have kept him out of each of the first four games this season, and it might be the end of the raod for him in New Orleans.

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Panthers OC Brad Idzik recalls embarrassing story involving TE Jordan Matthews

Panthers OC Brad Idzik admits that TE Jordan Matthews put his playing career to an end when they were both back in college.

Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Brad Idzik was already familiar with one of the team’s pass catchers entering his first year on the job. But that familiarity doesn’t necessarily stem from a positive experience—at least for him.

Idzik chatted with reporters before hitting the practice field on Thursday afternoon. He was asked about veteran tight end Jordan Matthews, who actually provided Idzik with what may have been the most humbling moment of his playing career.

“My last game at Wake Forest was at Vanderbilt,” said Idzik, who played wide receiver and safety for the Demon Deacons from 2011 to 2013. “And Jordan Matthews—we kid about it all the time—it was fourth-and-20, it’s a little embarrassing . . . fourth-and-20, we had a first-round corner on him and safety help and he catches a go ball to win the game. My last career college game.”

Here’s the catch:

Matthews finished the day with 11 receptions for 125 yards in Wake Forest’s 23-21 triumph.

“Yeah, yeah, it kills me,” Idzik later joked. “It’s my lingering moment of actually putting on the pads. So, he drove me to a coaching career quicker than I wanted to.”

Now, with Idzik helping coach up Matthews as a pro, that moment has come full circle in Carolina.

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A.T. Perry led the NFL in preseason receiving yards

Here’s the final tally. New Orleans Saints wide receiver A.T. Perry led the NFL with 176 receiving yards across three preseason games:

Take a bow, A.T. Perry. The NFL announced Monday that the New Orleans Saints wide receiver led the league with 176 receiving yards across three preseason games, just ahead of  Los Angeles Chargers wideout Simi Fehoko (170). The former Wake Foreset wideout is a gamer.

He needed to make some plays in these exhibition games after struggling to string together good days of practice at Saints training camp. Perry had too many dropped passes and quiet days in Irvine in-between leaping grabs worthy of the highlight reel. It wasn’t the consistent, productive growth his  coaches hoped to see. And charting from NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill found that Perry caught just one ball from Derek Carr in team drills all throughout camp. That’s concerning.

But there’s a lot to be said for turning it on when playing under the bright lights. There aren’t many receivers who weigh in at 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds who can run 40 yards in just 4.47 seconds, and of those who can only a few match Perry’s body control and concentration on tough catches. He’s got a rare combination of size, speed, and skill. Pro Football Focus charting says he dropped just one pass on 13 targets.

Is that enough to keep Perry on the roster? Probably, but we’ll just have to see how the coaches feel about their receiving corps. Other players like Equanimeous St. Brown have been more steady presences at practice while getting looks ahead of Perry in the preseason games. He’s someone to watch as roster cuts are filed ahead of Tuesday’s deadline and in the days that follow when the depth chart continues to take shape.

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Countdown to Kickoff: A.T. Perry is the Saints Player of Day 17

Countdown to Kickoff: A.T. Perry is the New Orleans Saints Player of Day 17. What’s his story, and what are realistic expectations for him in 2024?

We’ve got just 17 days left until the New Orleans Saints open up their 2024 regular season against the Carolina Panthers, which makes our player of the day wide receiver A.T. Perry, the current owner of the No. 17 jersey. Perry is currently in a battle for the Saints No. 3 receiver job and is hoping to take that next step to being a legitimate option for his team.

Let’s give a little bit of a background on the second-year pro and what we can expect from Perry in 2024:

  • Name (Age): A.T. Perry (24)
  • Position: Wide Receiver
  • Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 205 pounds
  • Relative Athletic Score: 9.62
  • 2024 salary cap hit: $959,091
  • College: Wake Forest
  • Drafted: 6th Round, No. 195 in 2023 (New Orleans Saints)
  • NFL experience: 2nd season

A.T. Perry grew up in Lake Worth Beach, Fla. where he was a three-star recruit at Park Vista Community High School. Amongst many collegiate scholarship offers, Perry made the decision to attend Wake Forest where he would spend the next five years developing.

As a freshman in college, Perry was redshirted sitting out the entire season in 2018. In his redshirt freshman season, Perry found himself active in four games totaling 4 receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown. His role would slowly increase in 2020, now catching 15 balls for 211 yards and a touchdown in six games. And finally in his redshirt sophomore season, Perry reached new levels. In 2021, Perry would catch 71 passes for 1,293 yards and a school records 15 touchdowns. Perry was named first-team all-ACC and was regarded as one of the best receivers in the country. Choosing to stay for an additional season, Perry posted another 1,000 yard season but this time surpassing his career-high in catches (81) and scoring double digit touchdowns for the second year in a row.

At the end of his final season at Wake Forest, Perry declared for the 2023 NFL draft where he was projected to go in the mid- to late-rounds. But during the draft, Perry heard his name called at pick No. 195 in the sixth round when the New Orleans Saints traded up for him. Perry was quickly regarded as a steal for the Saints due to his falling stock during the draft. It was reported that there were character concerns tied to this but it was never really discussed or examined further.

In his first season as a Saint, Perry was active in 10 games totaling 246 yards receiving on 12 catches while scoring 4 touchdowns his rookie season. Perry became one of the teams big play threats down the stretch as he averaged 20.5 yards per catch in 2023. It was starting to look like the Saints had potentially a nice, young core at receiver with Olave, Shaheed and Perry.

Going into 2024, Perry had a slow start to training camp and didn’t really asserting his dominance as the team’s third receiver. It took all the way until the first week of preseason for Perry to start consistently making some plays within this new Saints offense. He made a statement during his first preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals, making some big catches down the field, but quickly followed that up with a disappointing outing with the San Francisco 49ers.

As of now, there’s still hope for Perry to become the player that many think he can be but he doesn’t have much time to show us as the start of the regular season is just a few weeks away. He needs to step up soon.

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2025 four-star power forward recruit lists Notre Dame on final five

Hope he chooses to stay in-state.

Notre Dame does not yet have a commit for its 2025 recruiting class. However, one four-star power forward recruit from Indianapolis could change that. We’ll just have to see.

Brady Koehler, who attends Cathedral, has narrowed his choice to five schools, including the Irish. Also on the list are Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Iowa and Northwestern. He has visits lined up with each school. Notre Dame’s visit, the third chronically on his itinerary, happening from Sept. 6 through Sept. 8.

Koehler is listed as Indiana’s fourth-ranked recruit in the 2025 recruiting class according to 247Sports. That site also indicates that the Demon Deacons are the favorites to land him. However, Cathedral has also the Fighting Irish as its mascot along with the Blue and Gold as its colors, so maybe that’s an advantage for [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] and his staff?

Koehler is coming off a season in which he averaged 15.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks a game. That will catch the attention of any college program.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Chase Burns selected No. 2 overall in MLB draft

Former Tennessee pitcher Chase Burns selected No. 2 overall in the 2024 MLB draft.

The 2024 Major League Baseball draft is taking place Sunday-Tuesday in Fort Worth, Texas. The draft is being held in conjunction with MLB’s All-Star Game on Tuesday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Former Tennessee pitcher Chase Burns was selected by No. 2 overall in the first-round by the Reds.

He played for the Vols from 2022-23.

As a freshman in 2022, Burns (8-2) appeared in 17 games, including 14 starts. He recorded 103 strikeouts and a 2.91 ERA in 80.1 innings pitched. Burns earned 2022 NCBWA Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors.

Tennessee (57-9) won the Southeastern Conference regular-season and tournament championships in 2022. The Vols were a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

As a sophomore in 2023, Burns (5-3) appeared in 18 games, including eight starts. He recorded 114 strikeouts, two saves and a 4.25 ERA in 72.0 innings pitched during the 2023 campaign. Tennessee advanced to the 2023 College World Series.

Burns played at Wake Forest in 2024.

Rounds 3-10 of the MLB draft will be held on Monday, while rounds 11-20 are slated for Tuesday.

PHOTOS: Chase Burns through the years

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Matthew Dallas announces transfer destination

Former Tennessee baseball pitcher Matthew Dallas announces transfer destination.

Former Tennessee pitcher Matthew Dallas announced his transfer destination on Wednesday. He will play at Wake Forest in 2025.

“Go Deacs,” Dallas announced.

The 6-foot-5, 192-pound left-handed pitcher appeared in 15 games, including two starts, as a freshman at Tennessee in 2024. Dallas (1-0) recorded 22 strikeouts and a 4.76 ERA in 17 innings for the Vols.

He committed to Tennessee on July 1, 2020.

Tennessee (60-13) won the national championship, SEC Tournament and the SEC regular-season title in 2024.

The Vols will open its 2025 campaign in the Astros Foundation College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.

Tennessee, Texas A&M, Arizona, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State and Rice will make up the field. The Astros Foundation College Classic will be contested Feb. 28-March 2, 2025.

The Vols will play Oklahoma State on Feb. 28, while facing Rice on March 1 and Arizona on March 2.

Matthew Dallas. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

A.T. Perry picked as a potential breakout candidate for 2024

All eyes are on Rashid Shaheed as a potential breakout candidate for the Saints, but Pro Football Network says don’t sleep on A.T. Perry:

All eyes are on Rashid Shaheed as a possible breakout candidate for the New Orleans Saints in 2024, even if his performance last season arguably meets the criteria. Shaheed finished with 46 receptions for 719 yards, scoring 5 touchdown catches. He also chipped in 339 punt return yards while picking up 384 return yards on kickoffs.

And while we’re all excited to see what Shaheed can do with Klint Kubiak calling plays (he was our pick for the Saints’ potential breakout), Pro Football Network’s Tony Catalina reminds us not to overlook another Saints wideout: A.T. Perry. Last year’s sixth-round pick out of Wake Forest made some plays down the stretch, and Catalina sees a great opportunity opening up for Perry with Michael Thomas moving on:

The days of Michael Thomas dominating secondaries for the Saints are over. However, while they have some young intriguing pieces in the room, second-year WR A.T. Perry should be talked about as a breakout candidate more often. The hope is still there that Perry could become one of Derek Carr’s most trusted weapons when it’s all said and done this season.

On their surface, Perry’s rookie-year stats aren’t that great: 12 receptions for 246 yards doesn’t move the needle for many fans. But look a little deeper. Perry converted a first down on 10 of his 12 catches, and four of those grabs scored touchdowns. That’s doubly impressive when you see that he didn’t take his first snap on offense until Week 8, and he didn’t record a catch until Week 10. He finished the season by catching all three passes thrown his way against the Atlanta Falcons, gaining 53 yards and scoring two touchdowns in a blowout win.

That certainly suggests he’s someone Derek Carr wants to work with. Unlike Shaheed and Chris Olave (both of whom measure in at 6-foot and under 190 pounds, with 73-inch wingspans), Perry has a more imposing stature at 6-foot-5 and a listed 205 pounds with an 82 5/8-inch wingspan. We saw him win on contested targets and outmuscle opponents downfield last season. If he can continue to play with such physicality on a heavier workload, Carr and Kubiak will give him as many opportunities as he can handle.

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