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Recently, he achieved perhaps his loftiest goal and that was to one day play collegiate football. If all goes according to his objectives, he’ll be doing it at the University of North Texas in Denton, the football program he has verbally agreed to play for starting next season. Now the next step is to patiently wait for Feb. 5, the first day recruits in the class of 2014 can sign national letter of intents. His father, Deer Park High School head basketball coach Louie Means, says his son is scheduled to graduate in December, opening the door for him to report early enough to the Mean Green so that he can participate in spring drills, a rarity for a high school athlete to do that. “It all began in the beginning of spring maybe a little before that. I went up to a Junior Day there. Coach (Mike) Canales, the offensive coordinator, saw my tape and said they’d keep in touch. Spring ball started and they came down and watched me and I had a good day. They said, we’d keep in touch so we kept talking over and over and over again. All that time, coach Canales and I had built a relationship. I had other schools offer me but our relationship was stronger than anything else. So I just felt comfortable making my decision to go play ball there,” Connor Means said Monday, following the opening day to fall workouts. Read more: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/deer_park/sports/means-verbally-commits-to-north-texas-football-program/article_a94f9ce4-021a-5ccd-a179-3ce6ce7be859.html

Deer Park men's basketball head coach Louie Means' admiration for his father and his influence on his life makes coaching extra special. "I have so much gratitude toward him. I have so much appreciation for how my life turned out," Means said of Dwyn Means. "He gave us an awesome childhood and an awesome life." Dwyn Means relocated the family from St. Louis to Mississippi where they were raised. Means said he knew from an early age that much would be expected from him throughout his life. "That comes from Dad. He was in the construction business, so he was a hard worker. He expected us to work hard too," Means said. "Dad never did anything half-way and he would never, ever let us get away with doing anything half-way. That's what I try to instill in my family and my teams. You're either in or you're out. There can't be an in-between because when you're in, that's when you give it all you've got." Although the family was close, Means said the real bonds grew when Dwyn introduced sports into his children's lives. "That was it for us. I fell in love with it all. Football, basketball, you name it. He even helped start the youth football league in our town," he said. Dwyn Means played quarterback in his football-playing days. Louie Means did the same as did his son Connor. "I think that's pretty cool right there. A nice little tradition of quarterbacks," he said. "Plus football is dad's sport. That's what he loves. He's a huge Ole Miss fan." Means said he fondly remembers his dad cheering for the likes of Archie Manning as he led the Rebels and then the New Orleans Saints. Means' brother was a wide receiver for Southern Miss. When the two teams squared off, it was the only day Dwyn Means didn't cheer for the Rebels. When Means told his father he wanted to become a coach, he was a little hesitant at his son's decision. "He didn't think I could make a good living being a coach. But, I told him 'Dad, you put a glove on my hand, a basketball goal in the backyard and helmets on our heads. I want to do this because you brought this into my life,'" he said. "He didn't really have any problems after I explained it to him." Read more: http://insidedp.com/news/1346-dads-expectations-of-hard-work-dedication-passes-through-means-family-to-team

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