A couple of days after the close of their regular season, the Pitt Panthers have their first player to defect from the program.
Junior wide receiver Jaylon Barden announced Monday night on Twitter his intentions to leave the Pitt program and enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.
“I thank God for the opportunity and favor. Thank you Pitt for years of memories and relationships that will last a lifetime. This thought of a fresh start has been on my mind for weeks. After much prayer I have decided to use my last 2 years of eligibility to find a new home and reach new heights. Pitt will always have a special place in my heart. H2P!”
This news comes as no surprise to anyone that followed Pitt this season.
After arriving at Pitt as an intriguing prospect at receiver because of his speed, route-running ability and hands, Barden couldn’t find his way onto to the field this 2022 season.
During his freshman season in 2020, the 5-foot-11 wideout from Macon, Georgia caught seven passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. Last season, Barden had nine receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns and missed the last half of the season with an injury.
With the departures Pitt experienced at wide receiver last season in Jordan Addison, Taysir Mack and Tre Tipton, it seemed Barden’s time to shine as one of Pitt’s top wideouts.
However, for whatever reason, that never materialized as Barden was a healthy scratch for many games this season or was dressed and never made it onto the field.
As previously mentioned, Barden will have two seasons of athletic eligibility remaining.
At Home with Incoming Pitt Freshman WR Jaylon Barden
The state of college football is so very sad.
Why?? That may be the case, but I don’t think this is an example of it. This is exactly what the portal is for. He’s barely gotten on the field for three years. He wants a fresh start and thinks he’s talented enough to play somewhere else. He only has two years of football left. Presumably he’d rather spend it playing than sitting on the bench. Sometimes things don’t work out. Look at the final season Todd Sibley just had at Albany.
Don’t understand why he never saw the field this year. We know he has great speed, and if he has good hands and runs routes well, no reason he should not have played unless there was something else going on. Quite obvious the coaches pretty much did everything to get him to make the decision to transfer which is alarming considering they lost two receivers in this next recruiting class already.
Whipple’s not the OC. Narduzzi prizes receivers who block. Apparently, he either couldn’t or wouldn’t block.
He should have seen the field but based on the few games I went to, he sat on the bench with his hood on not appearing overly interested in the game. It had to be more to it because he has the talent. It’s not always on Narduzzi people. Maybe it was an attitude, work ethic, or personality thing. Along with that point, for all the Narduzzi haters, since he was hired in 2015, only Clemson has more ACC wins. They have a chance to win a respectable bowl game, finish 9-4, and most likely ranked again in the final… Read more »
Pinstripe Bowl!!!!
h2p!
“Let’s believe”, agree with a lot you say. Narduzzi has done well for PITT football. Wish he was a better communicator (spoke better) and honest when describing players ability and consistent. However things went wrong in the receivers room his year. I think Underwood was a good addition as a coach. Of course the Slovis problem (Narduzzi never addressed) plus the run first philosphy made for unhappy receivers. But there was something else that fractured the group. I wish someone knows the facts and let’s us know what happened
Tiquan Underwood is gonna enter the portal as well after all of this..
It really did seem like Narduzzi had some personal vendetta against Barden.