Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 5
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi hopes transfer defensive ends can make up for losses in the portal
Pat Narduzzi isn’t one to worry about losses in the transfer portal, at least not publicly. But he does acknowledge roster ramifications of those losses, and he is trying to do something about it. After the portal claimed three Pitt defensive ends this offseason, including likely 2025 contributors Sincere Edwards...
West Virginia’s 2025 football schedule includes visits from Robert Morris, Pitt
West Virginia and the Big 12 released the Mountaineers’ 2025 football schedule Tuesday — the first in Rich Rodriguez’s second term as coach — and it includes two visits from Pittsburgh-area schools Robert Morris and Pitt. There are six home dates at Milan Puskar Stadium, starting with Robert Morris in...
After Pitt’s loss to Virginia, Jeff Capel held his tongue: ‘I don’t want to say anything crazy’
Jeff Capel’s most impressive accomplishment Monday night after Pitt’s embarrassing loss to Virginia was self-restraint. There were comments about his team and its effort that he wanted to say out loud, but he held back. Perhaps saving them for Wednesday when the Panthers next get together for practice. “I try...
Pitt falls flat against Virginia, loses 6th game in past 8
Losses hurt, especially when they happen to a team in desperate need of a victory. Yet words can hurt just as bad (no matter how truthful they are). That was Pitt’s situation Monday night after a 73-57 loss to Virginia at Petersen Events Center. Not only did the Panthers lose...
Analysis: There’s time to fix what ails Pitt, but it starts now with Virginia in town
If you’re one of those college basketball fans into analytics and asking numbers to tell a story, they won’t paint an impressive picture of Pitt. At the halfway point of its ACC schedule (10 down, 10 to go), Pitt is: • 5-5 against conference foes. • 4-4 in games decided...
Pitt drops tight game at Wake Forest to end 2-game winning streak
He wasn’t bragging, but Jeff Capel was willing to admit that Pitt didn’t back down in a hostile environment Saturday during a 76-74 loss at Wake Forest. “I thought we were tough. I thought we were ready, and we competed,” he said. “A good team beat us.” The salient point...
Pitt athletics director Allen Greene dealing with reality of ‘paying student-athletes’
Over his first 106 days in office at Pitt, Allen Greene has joined administrators, coaches and student-athletes across the nation awaiting approval of the proposed pay-for-play standard in college athletics. Speaking Saturday morning on Pitt’s flagship station 93.7 FM, Pitt’s athletic director spoke extensively on what the House vs. NCAA...
Pitt Take 5: Never too early to talk bracketology while Panthers prepare to visit Wake Forest
Pitt reaches the midway point of its ACC schedule Saturday when it ventures into Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., to meet Wake Forest. Not that it matters, but Pitt is 0-6 there. Given recent history, it’s difficult to tell which Pitt team will show up: • The Panthers (14-6,...
Here’s what Jeff Capel believes is necessary for Pitt to become a ‘really good’ team
Pitt won 22 games in 2023-2024, and perhaps to an outsider that seems like a nice season. In another world, at another time, maybe. It’s almost three times the victory total in former Pitt coach Kevin Stallings’ last season (2017-18), and more than the total Jeff Capel’s teams collected during...
Analysis: With big victory in the past and 11 games to go, Pitt needs to keep intensity high
North Carolina seized more rebounds and made more shots from the field. Pitt played nearly seven minutes without recording a basket, and its two most important players — Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett — played the entire second half without scoring (aside from free throws). So how did Pitt defeat...
Pitt takes control late, earns ‘gritty win’ over North Carolina
From afar, you needed to be a lip reader to know what Pitt coach Jeff Capel was saying to his team when it opened the second half Tuesday night giving up easy baskets to North Carolina. But it wasn’t difficult to see the anger in his eyes and the purpose...
Pitt football to host national runner-up Notre Dame on Nov. 15
Pitt won’t play 11 of the 12 teams that advanced to the first College Football playoff during the 2024 season, but the national runner-up is coming to Acrisure Stadium. The ACC announced its 2025 schedule Monday night, and one of the highlights for Pitt will be a visit from Notre...
After stopping losing streak, Jeff Capel wants Pitt to ‘sustain fight’ vs. North Carolina
Winning on the road is never easy — just ask any coach, including those in the ACC (basketball and football), most of whom like to say that winning anywhere, anytime, against anyone is difficult. Pitt’s Jeff Capel was appropriately pleased Saturday that the Panthers (13-6, 4-4) broke their four-game losing...
Looking for help on the offensive line, Pitt signs former Michigan tackle/guard Jeff Persi
After Pitt ended the 2024 football season by losing its last six games, those within the program and others who follow it from the outside knew the truth: Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi needed to upgrade depth on the offensive line. Narduzzi believes he took a third step in that direction...
Florida State stretches Pitt’s losing streak to 3 in a row
One look at the stat sheet told Pitt associate head coach Tim O’Toole all he needed to know about Pitt’s 82-70 loss to Florida State on Wednesday night in Tallahassee, Fla. ”There’s an old saying,” O’Toole said on the 93.7 The Fan postgame show, “that victory favors the team that...
Duquesne rallies around football player Adrian Ramirez after California wildfires destroy his family home
Adrian Ramirez likes nothing more than living in the Duquesne Towers and playing defensive end for the Dukes’ football team. No wonder he was eager to get on an airplane last week and return to Duquesne’s campus and resume the life of a student-athlete. But on the way home from...
Pitt hits the road to meet Florida State in quest for redemption
Jeff Capel knows there is too much basketball left on Pitt’s schedule to label Wednesday night’s encounter at Florida State a must-win game. But it is certainly is a must-see event for the coach. After losing two in a row, including a 29-point margin of defeat at Duke and Pitt’s...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel looks up to Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton — before trying to beat him
When Felton J. Capel II was coaching Old Dominion in the 1990s, he and his wife often spoke admiringly about a coach they often met at Nike conventions. Their son, who grew up to be Pitt coach Jeff Capel, listened intently to those conversations. The man’s name is Leonard Hamilton,...
Coach Tory Verdi’s halftime ‘conversation’ led Pitt to historic come-from-behind victory
In theory and practice, the college basketball locker room is off limits to the prying eyes and ears of the outside world. It’s a sanctuary for players and coaches to conduct their business on a deeply personal level. That’s true in most postgame situations, but Pitt’s MaKayla Elmore revealed a...
Pitt women defeat SMU in record-setting 32-point comeback
Almost on pace to score 100 points against the Pitt women’s basketball team, SMU appeared headed to an easy victory Sunday at Petersen Events Center. Then, the second half happened. Pitt held SMU scoreless in the third quarter and allowed only 10 points in the second half on its way...
Analysis: Jeff Capel will need all his resources to shake Pitt out of its 2-game slump
No one inside or outside Petersen Events Center knows the Pitt basketball team better than Jeff Capel, its seventh-year coach. Yet it was fair for reporters — and anyone else watching at The Pete or from afar — to wonder why Capel did not use anyone on his bench for...
After beating Pitt, Louisville coach Pat Kelsey credits Carnegie native Skip Prosser, who ‘taught me everything I know about coaching’
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey grew up in Cincinnati, roots for the Bengals, played at Xavier and coached at Winthrop in Rock Hill, S.C., and the College of Charleston (S.C.). Yet when he walked away from his postgame news conference Saturday after Louisville defeated Pitt 82-78 at Petersen Events Center, he...
Pitt falls to Louisville, drops back-to-back games for 1st time this season
The difference between Pitt and Louisville on Saturday afternoon was only four points in the Cardinals’ 82-78 victory at Petersen Events Center. But there was so much more that made Jeff Capel angry and frustrated after a defeat that led to his team’s first two-game losing streak of the season....
Pitt adds former Louisville freshman Cataurus Hicks, Panthers’ 3rd wide receiver from transfer portal
In his quest to seek upgrades in his wide receiver group, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi has received a pledge to enroll from Cataurus Hicks, who played the past two seasons at Louisville. And Pitt’s coach, staff and players know him well. View this post on Instagram A post shared by...
Pitt Take 5: Noon start vs. Louisville, players’ meeting allow Panthers to quickly get back to work
The next game after a loss is always one of the most important of any season. Coming off a 29-point defeat Tuesday at Duke, Pitt’s players immediately met amongst themselves to quickly dissolve the sour taste and get back to the business of winning games. “After the game, we came...
