Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 5

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...

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...

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...

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 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,...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

Many times when teams face adversity, they turn to their best player in an attempt to reverse fortunes. Perhaps that’s what Pitt must do over the next three games when they confront Louisville, Florida State and Clemson in an attempt to wipe away the misery of the eight scoreless minutes...

The Pittsburgh Pirates avoided arbitration with starting pitcher Bailey Falter, relievers David Bednar and Colin Holderman and catcher Joey Bart on Thursday by agreeing each to one-year contracts, according to a source. The Pirates did not come to a settlement with right-handed pitchers Johan Oviedo and Dennis Santana prior to...

Over the previous five games, Robert Morris offered coach Andy Toole hope. The Colonials had won four of those games and looked like they were ready to stand up to a team such as Cleveland State and take whatever punches its players might throw. He was wrong. Cleveland State (11-6,...