Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 3

If you thought life has been tough for Pitt coach Jeff Capel since the first days of the new year, even more difficult issues are on the way. And we’re not talking about unhappy fans. After Pitt lost to Notre Dame on Tuesday in the first round of the ACC...

Jaland Lowe and Zack Austin spoke through tears Tuesday afternoon inside Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., reflecting on Pitt’s 55-54 loss to Notre Dame in the first round of the ACC Tournament. “I’m just hurt, man. I’m just hurt,” said Austin, who played his last game after two seasons at...

Pat Narduzzi opened practice Tuesday in the same manner that marked his 10 previous spring sessions as Pitt’s head football coach. There were the usual calisthentics, drills and meetings on and off the field, but Narduzzi walked around the Beano Cook Fields overseeing the proceedings with a heavy heart. This...

If you thought it was maddening to root for Pitt this season, you should talk to a Notre Dame fan. The Irish (14-17, 8-12) experienced five-, four-, three- and two-game (twice) losing streaks but still found a way to wriggle their way into the ACC Tournament as the No. 12...

Pitt football’s journey toward ACC title contention — not just respectability and relevance — began only days after the six-overtime, 4-minute, 38-second loss to Toledo in the GameAbove Sports Bowl. Cell phone at the ready, coach Pat Narduzzi got busy in the transfer portal, bringing in 13 players who will...

For the purposes of advancement in the ACC Tournament, Pitt might have received the least favorable matchup for the first round that begins Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. When league officials unraveled the five-way tie for ninth place, Pitt was seeded 13th — the lowest of the five — and must...

With the pressure off and its spot secured in the first round of the ACC Tournament, Pitt had nothing to lose and only confidence to restore Saturday night while cruising to a 93-67 victory against Boston College at Petersen Events Center. The No. 13-seeded Panthers (17-14, 8-12) will play No....

The Duquesne women bowed out of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Friday, losing a 63-58 decision to No. 1 seed Richmond in a quarterfinal game in Glen Allen, Va. But the No. 9 Dukes (19-12) put a scare into the Spiders. Richmond (27-5) took a 49-41 lead into the fourth...

The Petersen Events Center shuts its doors on college basketball until next fall Saturday when Pitt meets Boston College. Pitt (16-14, 7-12) has won its past two games with the Eagles by 19 and 25 points, but this is not the Pitt team of Blake Hinson and Jamarius Burton. This...

More than anything, the game matters to Jeff Capel, just as much then as it does now. So he is looking forward to Saturday night and celebrating his seniors in the final home game of the season when Pitt plays Boston College at Petersen Events Center. Ishmael Leggett, Zack Austin,...

Duquesne women’s basketball set the tone early Thursday in its second-round game of the Atlantic 10 Tournament and was never challenged in a 79-63 victory against Fordham. The No. 9-seeded Dukes (19-11) held No. 8 Fordham (15-15) scoreless for 7 minutes, 24 seconds of the first quarter and took a...

Perhaps the worst part of Pitt’s 71-63 loss at N.C. State’s Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday night wasn’t the deflating reality of the Panthers’ third four-game losing streak of the season. No, it was Pitt allowing the Wolfpack, who had lost nine in a row earlier this season,...

The Pitt women’s 64-50 loss to Virginia on Wednesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., was mainly a matter of the Cavaliers’ playing stingy defense against the Panthers. Center Khadija Faye, named to the All-ACC first team earlier in the week, missed 16 of 19...

The world of women’s college basketball started noticing Duquesne senior guard Megan McConnell before the season, and now she’s on the threshold of one of the sport’s top honors. McConnell, a Chartiers Valley graduate, is one of the five finalists for the 2025 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year...

Graduate student Khadija Faye’s name will stand among the most decorated Pitt women’s basketball players of all-time after she was named Tuesday first-team All-ACC. Faye, a 6-foot-4 center, joins Liatu King (2024) and Brianna Kiesel (2015) as the only Pitt women named first-team All-ACC in basketball. Previously, six players —...

Pitt coach Jeff Capel isn’t looking past N.C. State, the Panthers’ next opponent Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C., and he hopes his players are at the moment setting aside their offseason plans. But in the back of his mind, Capel knows there is plenty of work to do after the...

Over the next two weeks, seasons of profound disappointment will end for coaches Jeff Capel of Pitt and Kevin Keatts of N.C. State. Their teams will meet Wednesday at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., with those men bringing to their benches a combined 27 seasons of head coaching experience....

Pitt freshman football player Mason Alexander, 18, died Saturday night after a car crash in his hometown of Fishers, Ind. Alexander enrolled in January after early graduation from Hamilton Southeastern High School, near Indianapolis, and had been participating in winter drills in preparation for spring practice that begins this month....

Perhaps the problems connected to Pitt basketball — football, too, as a matter of fact — are as clear as Jeff Capel’s answer to a question in October on the day Chancellor Joan Gabel first introduced athletic director Allen Greene to the public. Always insightful on matters of college basketball,...

In the aftermath of Pitt’s 79-68 loss at No. 19 Louisville, there will be plenty of positive talk about how the Panthers actually carried a three-point lead into the game’s final seven minutes against one of the ACC’s best teams. Yes, there was a moment or two Saturday night when...

Kade Bell’s offense at Pitt calls for plenty of footballs in the air and enough speedy pass catchers with the skill to get open. Failing that, they need to have enough toughness to win 50-50 matchups with defenders. Those athletes who excel in both areas aren’t easy to find. So,...

Jeff Capel made two statements after Pitt’s 76-72 loss at Notre Dame that puts the team’s almost total collapse into sharp focus. They are remarks from a veteran coach that explain how and why Pitt is likely headed toward its sixth postseason in Capel’s seven-year tenure without an NCAA Tournament...

The frustration of a season gone bad was clear in the voice of Pitt assistant coach Jason Capel after the Panthers’ 76-72 loss to Notre Dame. With all of its goals at stake Saturday afternoon inside Purcell Pavilion, Pitt (16-11, 7-9 ACC) couldn’t keep up with a crippled Notre Dame...

Pitt added a second prospect to its class of 2026 on Friday when Isaac Patterson, a second-team All-Ohio defensive back, pledged to enroll next year. #AGTG 1000% COMMITTED ????????GO PANTHERS! #H2P pic.twitter.com/B0biqSMFF1— Isaac Patterson 3⭐️ DB (@IsaacPatt_) February 21, 2025 Patterson (6-foot, 180 pounds) recorded 52 tackles (three for loss)...

There are five games remaining in Pitt’s regular season, but the last four might be beside the point. If Pitt loses to Notre Dame on Saturday at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind., that would be loss No. 11 for the Panthers (16-10, 7-8 ACC). Worse, it would be against...