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...
Pitt fends off Syracuse, snaps 4-game losing streak
Earlier this week, while acknowledging his team’s frustrating four-game losing streak, Pitt senior guard Ishmael Leggett insisted the Panthers’ goals remained within grasp. “I definitely think our goals are still attainable,” Leggett said Thursday after practice at Petersen Events Center. “At this point in the season, I think we’re just...
Vulnerable Syracuse defense presents favorable matchup for Pitt
Syracuse living up to its defensive reputation Saturday afternoon at JMA Wireless Dome would bode well for Pitt snapping its frustrating four-game losing streak. The Orange should not be proud of that reputation. This season, Syracuse (9-10, 3-5 ACC) is allowing opposing shooters to make 45.8% of their field goals,...
Pitt hopes week between games allows for reset ahead of matchup with Syracuse
A full week between games has offered ample time for Pitt to reflect on where things stand as the calendar prepares to flip to February. Inside the Panthers’ locker room, there are no illusions to the reality that the team’s ongoing four-game losing streak is threatening to derail the season....
Pitt football starts 2026 recruiting class with commitment from quarterback
Pitt football coaches landed their first commitment for 2026 from quarterback Angelo Renda, a junior at Southlake Carroll High School in Texas. Renda announced his decision Wednesday on social media. The 6-foot, 180-pound passer also held an ACC offer from SMU along with Jacksonville State and UT San Antonio, according...
Proposed changes to ACC championship game create more problems than answers
As the ACC tries to game the system, a question arises: Is the game itself really worth playing? Two days before Ohio State beat Notre Dame, 34-23, to win the first 12-team College Football Playoff, ESPN published a story with quotes from ACC commissioner Jim Phillips about some potential changes...
‘I think this team has solid character’: Jeff Capel defends Pitt’s attitude, outlook through skid
Pitt’s four-game losing streak has its players and coaches looking in the mirror searching for solutions and trying to weather the storm. The Panthers (12-6, 3-4 ACC) have not won since Jan. 4 against Stanford and most recently lost in overtime to Clemson at Petersen Events Center on Saturday. Entering...
LeSean McCoy, Rams legend Aaron Donald bet $50,000 on Eagles-Rams playoff game
Philadelphia Eagles great LeSean McCoy and Los Angeles Rams legend Aaron Donald are putting their money where their mouths are. McCoy and Donald, both Pennsylvania natives and former University of Pittsburgh stars, have a friendly, big money wager going on the result of Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round playoff game between...
Pitt’s comeback bid comes up short, Clemson prevails in OT
Inside Pitt’s locker room, following the Panthers’ 78-75 overtime loss to Clemson on Saturday at Petersen Events Center, there are conflicting emotions. On one hand, the Panthers (12-6, 3-4 ACC) overcame a 10-point halftime deficit, which grew to as much as 14 in the final half, battling back down the...
Pitt great Sam Clancy remains glad he stayed home, choosing PanthersVideo
As a 6-foot-7 forward coming out of high school, Sam Clancy recalled hundreds of collegiate programs vying for his commitment. Ultimately, for Clancy, who won a state championship at Fifth Avenue High School in 1976 before graduating from Brashear in ’77, it came down to three suitors: his hometown Pitt...
Pitt Take 5: Panthers aim to end current 3-game skid as well as 12-game streak vs. Clemson
Pitt’s current three-game slump could be seen as a harbinger of a season on the verge of running off the rails, with margin for error having decreased significantly. After all, the Panthers have not lost this many ACC games in a row since 2021-22, en route to an 11-21 overall...
Former Pitt Panther Tray Woodall promoted to Fordham head basketball coach — for now
Pitt basketball alum Tray Woodall is going to be a head coach at Fordham. At least for a short time. The former Pitt Panther is going to serve as the interim bench boss for the Rams over the next four games. On Wednesday, the university announced a self-imposed four-game suspension...
Bell Acres attorney, Pitt alum honored by university’s Varsity Letter Club
Beth Tarasi has always been one to hold her own on — and in — the court. The attorney is always willing to do what she needs to do to earn a win, whether making a good pass to a teammate on the basketball court or representing a client in...
First Call: Steelers show interest in Pitt safety; Maxx Crosby endorses idea of Raiders signing Najee Harris
Thursday’s “First Call” connects the Steelers to a Pitt defensive back in advance of the NFL draft. A Pro Bowl defensive star is stumping for his team to sign Najee Harris. There is yet another twist in the Diontae Johnson saga. Zay Flowers’ injury status is still murky for the...
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...
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...
For Duquesne football, challenges of playing Pitt in ’25 opener are well worth the opportunity
Last week’s announcement about Duquesne being Pitt’s season-opening opponent at Acrisure Stadium to start the 2025 college football season generated a lot of buzz on the Bluff. During a halftime interview at the Duquesne-St. Joseph’s basketball game on Wednesday, Dukes athletic director Dave Harper admitted he was hoping to get...
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...
