Pitt baseball beats No. 7 Georgia Tech, 18-12, for 2nd series victory against top-10 team
Pitt baseball recorded its second series victory against a top-10 team in the past three weekends, toppling No. 7 Georgia Tech (9-5, 6-3), 18-12, Sunday at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta. Pitt won two of the series’ three games after sweeping then-No. 9 Florida State on Feb. 26-28. Through three...
Pitt baseball rallies to defeat No. 7 Georgia Tech
Pitt won its fourth game in less than two weeks against a nationally ranked top-10 opponent, toppling No. 7 Georgia Tech on Friday night in an 11-9 come-from-behind victory. Pitt completed a three-game sweep of No. 9 Florida State on Feb. 28. The Panthers (8-3, 5-2 ACC) scored all 11...
Pitt’s Kenny Pickett returns for 5th season to complete ‘unfinished business’Video
Many factors led quarterback Kenny Pickett back to Pitt for a fifth season. Among them is his relationship with Mark Whipple, who enters his third season at Pitt as the longest-tenured offensive coordinator under coach Pat Narduzzi. “Coach Whipple is like family to me. If he wasn’t coming back here,...
Pitt freshman running back Malik Newton medically disqualified
Freshman running back Malik Newton, who enrolled in January to get a head start on his collegiate career, has been medically disqualified and won’t play football at Pitt, coach Pat Narduzzi said Friday. Newton, who ran for 4,053 yards in three seasons at Lake Taylor (Va.) High School, would have...
Pitt reserve Gerald Drumgoole Jr. decides to transfer, becomes 3rd to leave in 2021
Sophomore Gerald Drumgoole Jr., who caught Pitt coach Jeff Capel’s eye at the outset of his freshman season and was in the starting lineup for the first two games of the 2019-2020 season, has entered the NCAA transfer portal, Capel announced Thursday. Drumgoole was the 20th freshman in Pitt history...
5 Pitt wrestlers headed to NCAA Championships in St. Louis
A year ago, Pitt wrestlers Micky Phillippi, Jake Wentzel, Nino Bonaccorsi and Demetrius Thomas were named All-Americans by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. But in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, there was no NCAA Championships to validate the distinctions. This year, five Pitt wrestlers, including four top-three finishers at...
Pitt exits ACC Tournament in 1st-round loss to Miami, big offseason awaits
Femi Odukale shot the basketball 16 times, often fighting through traffic, slithering in and out of tiny gaps, ending up with 28 points. The total was a career-high for the Pitt freshman who showed an ability to shoulder huge amounts of responsibility over the final four games after two of...
ACC Tournament lacks star power, dominant teams in ‘down year’Video
It’s been a down year by the ACC’s own lofty standards, lacking the usual set of highly ranked teams and star-laden rosters. Instead, the league enters its tournament with no clear favorite or headlining team, just plenty of unpredictability in a chaotic season amid the covid-19 pandemic. No. 16 Virginia...
Pitt’s Justin Champagnie sets aside All-ACC talk to focus on MiamiVideo
Pitt sophomore Justin Champagnie said he called no one Monday when word reached him that he was named to the All-ACC first team. “I was happy,” Champagnie said. But … “I didn’t look at it as, ‘I did it. I did it. I did it,’ ” he said. “I feel...
Pitt’s Justin Champagnie named first-team All-ACC
Pitt sophomore Justin Champagnie, the only major conference player in the nation averaging a double-double, was named to the All-ACC first team Monday. Champagnie is the first Pitt player since the school joined the conference for the 2013-14 season to earn first-team honors. He’s also the first Pitt player to...
Pitt reprimands Jeff Capel for ‘double standard’ remarks about officiating
Pitt coach Jeff Capel’s remarks about how his team’s games have been officiated this season drew a public reprimand Sunday from his employers at Pitt. School officials said Capel violated the ACC Sportsmanship Principle when he said a “double standard” exists for his team. “There’s a double standard with us,...
Take 5: Pitt players know Jeff Capel has their backs
In the aftermath of Jeff Capel’s impassioned remarks on ACC officiating after the Clemson game — one reader didn’t think rant was an appropriate designation — Pitt stayed in the Carolinas and headed straight to Greensboro, N.C., for the ACC Tournament. It’s not a rant. It’s time to say something....
After loss to Clemson, Pitt will carry a No. 12 seed into ACC Tournament
While assessing Pitt’s 77-62 loss to Clemson on Saturday, the opponent must be taken into account. Clemson (16-6, 10-6) is one of the best teams in the ACC and will play in the NCAA Tournament. In light of recent roster upheaval and how far the program sunk before coach Jeff...
Jeff Capel rants about ‘double standard’ against Pitt after Clemson loss
Pitt coach Jeff Capel sounded off for nearly three minutes Saturday on a “double standard” he said exists with regard to how officials call his team’s games. In Pitt’s 77-62 loss at Clemson on Saturday, Justin Champagnie, the second-leading scorer and leading rebounder in the ACC, scored only 13 points...
Pitt’s Justin Champagnie focuses on team while trying to ignore ‘outside noise’
Distractions rush toward Justin Champagnie at a dizzying rate. • Will he win ACC Player of the Year? • Can he wrestle the conference scoring title from Duke’s Matthew Hurt? • What if the lure of the NBA becomes too strong for the Pitt sophomore to ignore? • And what...
Take 5: Pitt’s Jeff Capel says team has ‘bonded’ as season end approaches
Only a handful of games remain for Pitt in another losing ACC season, but it seems different this time. In his chats with reporters and on his radio show, Jeff Capel seems relaxed — content is not the right word, but he’s eager to continue rebuilding his program in the...
First Call: JuJu and J.J. together in Arizona?, Larry Fitzgerald’s future, Baker Mayfield saw a UFO
Friday’s “First Call” is stacked with news about JuJu Smith-Schuster, J.J. Watt, Larry Fitzgerald and Baker Mayfield. Also, UFOs and ice baths. I’ll let you guess the order. My turn! Now that Ben Roethlisberger’s contract is done, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster wants the Steelers to turn their attention to someone...
Pitt senior Nike Sibande says he’ll use bonus season of eligibility, return in 2021-22
A week after two players left the Pitt basketball program, coach Jeff Capel found one who could leave but wants to stay. Guard Nike Sibande, a senior transfer from Miami (Ohio), announced Thursday night on “The Jeff Capel Show” on 93.7 FM, that he plans to take advantage of the...
Greensburg Salem grad Brennan Marion’s dream leads him back home to Pitt
His knee weakened by three ACL tears and his dream of playing in the NFL squashed, Brennan Marion needed another road. It was more than a decade ago and he was living in California, a long way from Homewood, his boyhood home. He had been a star athlete at Greensburg...
Pitt senior Nike Sibande embraces increased opportunities, takes brief look at 2021-22
Jeff Capel said he doesn’t worry about what people say about his team. There’s no need. “I don’t pay attention to what’s said or talked about or written because I’m in it. I know,” Pitt’s men’s basketball coach said. But he can’t expect his players to do the same. Young...
Pitt stops 5-game losing streak with victory against Wake Forest
Long before what remained of Pitt’s basketball team banded together to save what looked like a lost season, freshman William Jeffress did something that amazed coach Jeff Capel. And he did it days before the 70-57 victory against Wake Forest on Tuesday stopped Pitt’s five-game losing streak — away from...
Oldest to youngest: Pitt’s Terrell Brown, William Jeffress have chance to step up
During the final two games of the regular season — plus, whatever magic can get conjured up in the ACC Tournament — Pitt will be relying on a new cast. Among them are the oldest player on the team (senior Terrell Brown, age 22) and the youngest (freshman William Jeffress,...
Pitt basketball attendance at the Pete will stay ‘status quo,’ capped at 500 people
Despite Pennsylvania government officials easing covid-19 restrictions on indoor gatherings Monday, attendance at Pitt’s last basketball game of the season Tuesday at Petersen Events Center will remain capped at 500 people. “Status quo,” a university spokesman said, adding that the Pitt campus is under “elevated risk” status. Pitt has played...
Pitt remains unbeaten in ACC after 3-game sweep of Florida State
Pitt’s baseball team will continue its journey through the ACC on Friday when it travels to Duke after a historic three-game sweep of No. 9 Florida State. The Panthers (6-1, 3-0) rallied for a 9-7 victory in 13 innings Sunday at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla. Kyle Hess drove...
Pitt wrestlers Jake Wentzel, Nino Bonaccorsi win ACC championships
Pitt wrestlers Jake Wentzel and Nino Bonaccorsi became 2021 ACC champions Sunday at N.C. State’s Reynolds Coliseum and will join teammates Micky Phillippi and Cole Matthews at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis on March 18-20. Wentzel (South Park) defended his championship at 165 pounds, recording shutout victories (1-0 and...
