Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 49

Duquesne continued its slow climb through the Atlantic 10 standings Wednesday night with a 75-52 victory against George Mason at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The victory was the 500th in coach Keith Dambrot’s 25-year career (the past six at Duquesne), but it also was important for the Dukes in their season...

The spoils of the 2022 college football season showed up for 15 Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia players in the form of invitations to the NFL Combine. The one-stop scouting mission, one of the biggest events on the NFL calendar, will be held Feb. 28 through March 6 at...

Jorge Diaz Graham lifted a lock of hair off his forehead to reveal a prize from Pitt’s victory against Louisville. A red welt the size of a quarter, earned while fighting for a rebound in a game Pitt won by 34 points Tuesday night. Diaz Graham and his twin brother,...

Pitt’s 91-57 victory against Louisville on Tuesday night was a milestone moment for the Panthers, who moved into a three-way tie for first place in the ACC. It was Pitt’s largest margin of victory in 10 years playing against ACC competition, but coach Jeff Capel knows the real score. Pitt...

There is no denying Jeff Capel’s claim that Louisville, Pitt’s opponent at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Petersen Events Center, has improved since a 75-54 home loss to the Panthers on Jan. 18. The Cardinals are shooting better, hitting 47.8% of their shots in the past four games, compared to 33.9%...

Predictably, Jeff Capel didn’t want to talk Monday about Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s charge that Pitt, Miami and Wake Forest “bought” their teams. With Pitt’s next game Tuesday night against Louisville at Petersen Events Center, Capel’s mind is far from the name, image and likeness question and what an opposing...

Perhaps the true indication of how far the Pitt basketball team’s notoriety has carried this season is that its name is in the news even on an off day. The first story Saturday was how Pitt was on the cusp of moving into a tie for first place in the...

Duquesne and coach Keith Dambrot reached four historic milestones Saturday in a 93-67 victory against George Washington at Charles E. Smith Center in Washington D.C. • The 26-point margin of victory was Duquesne’s largest in an Atlantic 10 road game, dropping George Washington to 11-12, 5-5. • The Dukes’ 28-0...

Not only does Nelly Cummings embrace the most challenging moments on a basketball floor, but he’s been known to create them in his mind — even when they don’t exist. For proof, turn back the pages of the calendar to March 21, 2014, and the PIAA Class A championship game...

The assignment for Saturday while Pitt enjoys a weekend off is to identify the most impressive stat on the Panthers’ resume. But let’s not make it too easy. The 9-3 record in the ACC and 16 overall victories with eight regular-season games remaining give fans a chance to gloat. But...

The first words that came from Jeff Capel’s mouth were about the game, not the victory. “What a great, hard-fought college basketball game,” he said after Pitt’s impressive 65-64 victory Wednesday night at North Carolina’s Dean Dome. “Guys stepped up and made some big-time plays on both sides.” The man...

Pitt won a big game Wednesday night in front of a loud, hostile crowd of 20,421 in North Carolina’s Dean Dome. The winning points came off the sure hands of senior guard Jamarius Burton, who hit two foul shots with 3.6 seconds left, lifting the Panthers from a one-point deficit...

Perhaps the biggest difference between the Pitt team that won the ACC championship in 2021 and the 2022 version that failed to repeat was the regression in the passing game. Kenny Pickett threw for 4,319 yards and 42 touchdowns in ’21, but those numbers fell precipitously to 2,898 and 13...

The relationship between Pitt coach Jeff Capel and North Carolina’s Hubert Davis, whose teams meet Wednesday night at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill, N.C., stretches back to the 1990s in Capel’s backyard in Fayetteville, N.C. Only Davis might not be aware of the origin. In those days, Davis was...

West Virginia’s 2023 football schedule opens with a distinctly Pennsylvania flavor, featuring back-to-back-to-back nonconference games against Penn State, Duquesne and Pitt. The Mountaineers open Sept. 2 at Penn State in the third-longest series in school history. The series has been dormant since the most recent meeting in 1992, but it...

When Jeff Capel sits down for one of his regular chats with reporters, the subject is always basketball. Eventually, however, the conversation Monday flowed toward Capel’s love of wine and fine artwork and his friendship with Mike Tomlin. Right, no kidding. All three topics are parts of Capel’s life away...

Seven months from kickoff, Pitt’s 2023 schedule already is shaping up as a challenge from start to finish — with 11 Power 5 opponents. After playing four Power 5 opponents in September, Pitt will visit foreign soil for four of its final six games. Overall, Pitt will play eight of...

At the top, the voting was easy. All 62 voters in the Associated Press poll made Purdue (21-1) the No. 1 team in college basketball this week. At the bottom, not so much. What team would slip just under the wire and claim that 25th and final spot? Some of...

Pitt is going back to the Bronx, N.Y., to meet Syracuse at Yankee Stadium and commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the first college football game played at the original “House That Ruth Built.” The game will be played between the long-time rivals Nov. 11. “We look forward to celebrating this...

Pitt went to great lengths last week to celebrate the legacy of its basketball program. First, the school honored Jerome Lane and his remarkable, backboard-shattering dunk from 35 years ago. Then, coaches and players from the 2002-03 team — the first at Pitt to win a Big East Tournament championship...

If you didn’t know better, you might too quickly call Pitt’s improbable 71-68 victory Saturday against No. 20 Miami a defining moment in a season of rebirth. The truth: Sure, Pitt was down 11 points in the second half and eight with under 2½ minutes to play. But this wasn’t...

Pitt wrestling holds first place in the ACC dual standings after a decisive upset of nationally ranked Virginia Tech, 26-12. The Panthers won 7 of 10 bouts from the Hokies (7-3, 1-1) on Friday night in Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. It was Pitt’s first victory in Blacksburg since 2004....

Pitt embarks on a crucial 10-game stretch Saturday when it attempts to rise above third place in the ACC with a game against No. 20 Miami at Petersen Events Center. Both teams are 7-3 in the conference. A victory probably adds another brick to Pitt’s status as an NCAA Tournament...