Pat Narduzzi didn’t exactly whisper it at ACC Kickoff.
The Pitt coach said Friday that Miami was working the quarterback market hard enough to raise eyebrows, and he even warned Duke’s Manny Diaz that the Hurricanes might come after Darian Mensah next. Narduzzi told The Athletic that Miami had already tried to lure Panthers quarterback Mason Heintschel the day before the transfer portal closed, and he said he was able to keep Heintschel from leaving.
“Shoot, I talked to Manny that Thursday afternoon and said, ‘Hey, watch out. I hear he’s going for your guy next.’ And sure enough, they stole him,” Narduzzi told The Athletic.
That “your guy” was Mensah, the Duke quarterback who had signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Blue Devils. He and wide receiver Cooper Barkate both left Duke for Miami late in the portal window, after helping lead Duke to the ACC championship in 2025.
Diaz addressed the situation on Friday as well, saying he couldn’t prove Miami was tampering. Instead, Duke focused on what it believed was the more concrete issue: Mensah’s contract situation and the fact that he was under contract to play for Duke in 2026.
“It’s an unanswerable question because ultimately it came down to, and this is why it was never an issue for us, is because you can only say what you can prove, right?" Diaz said, via Pat Welter of WRAL. "So to me it doesn't matter if it's not, and that's why our issue was never with any other school, right?
"The school was… very consistent. The whole situation was simply about a contract that we just felt like had to be, you know, honored.
And if it wasn't honored, then you know what is the ramification of that? That's exactly what happened.
All parties were satisfied, and all parties moved on."
Miami ended up with Duke’s quarterback, and Duke’s staff is left with the fallout after sorting out the contract issue. Narduzzi’s comments only added fuel to the conversation around how aggressively teams worked the portal this offseason, with Miami at the center of it.
In Other News...
Wolfpack Donors Just Delivered Another Massive Statement For NC State
The Wolfpack Club closed out its 2026 fiscal year with another eye-opening showing, finishing just shy of $50 million in fundraising and posting the second-best total in program history. It was the kind of year that signals real momentum behind NC State athletics, with record annual giving and stronger membership growth giving the support system around Wolfpack student-athletes a noticeable lift.
The numbers also point to a donor base that is becoming more engaged at every level, from major gifts to affinity groups like the Red Wolf Society. For NC State, the significance goes beyond a single fiscal report, because this money helps fuel scholarships and the resources that shape the day-to-day experience for student-athletes, even as the clubs latest surge leaves one big question hanging over what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Just Landed A Crucial Visit In A Major Recruitment
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What makes Condon such an intriguing target for NC State is the blend of production and polish he showed at Sidwell Friends School as a junior, where he earned all-state recognition while putting together a strong season from the floor and beyond the arc. The bigger question now is when the Wolfpack will get its turn to host him, since that visit date has yet to be set, leaving plenty of room for the staff to make its case once the calendar is finalized. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Is Taking Another Swing At The ACC Before NC State Sees Them
Louisville is spending another offseason trying to keep pace in a league that punishes teams for standing still, and Jeff Brohm has leaned into the transfer portal again to do it. The roster makeover comes with a familiar Brohm-era feel: a new quarterback, a backfield built around Isaac Brown, a receiver group led by Tre Richardson and a defense that still has Clev Lubin coming off the edge as the staff tries to hold the whole thing together.
The early read around the program is bullish enough to put the Cardinals in the nine-win neighborhood, but the margin for error is thin with a schedule that already looks demanding. NC State is part of that early test, and the bigger picture for Louisville may come down to whether the portal additions give Brohm enough answers before the season reaches its first real measuring stick against SMU. [Read more 🡒]