’Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 45: Schenley’s DeJuan Blair stayed home, almost led Pitt to Final Four
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 45: DeJuan Blair DeJuan Blair stood 6-foot-4 in eighth grade when he was first spotted dunking a basketball. That feat occurred at the Ammons...
With Virginia high school football canceled, Pitt prospect Malik Newton plans to enroll early
After the Virginia High School League canceled high school football in the fall, Pitt running back commit Malik Newton announced Thursday on Twitter his intention to skip his senior season and join the Panthers for the winter semester. With VHSL canceling all fall sports, and most likely to play football...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi eager to begin ride on college football’s wave of uncertainty
With the Atlantic Ocean at his back, Pat Narduzzi looked happy and relaxed Monday morning while sitting on the porch of his Rhode Island vacation home. “I feel good about everything this time of year,” Pitt’s coach told ACC Network hosts Mark Packer and Wes Durham during a live interview....
3 Pitt players named to Bednarik watch list
Only three Division I college football programs have three players on the 2020 Bednarik Award Watch List released Monday. Pitt is one of them, joining defending national champion LSU and USC. Selected to the list from the Panthers are safety Paris Ford, defensive end Patrick Jones II and defensive tackle...
ACC postpones its annual football media event
With major decisions pending, including possible reconfiguration of the football schedule, the ACC has postponed until further notice its Media Days event originally scheduled to be held virtually July 21-23. JUST IN: @theACC virtual preseason football media day PPD until further notice. Oh boy. @Sports_Night pic.twitter.com/gxobtnQ1Li— Mike Solarte (@MikeSolarte) July...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ JuJu Smith-Schuster ‘won’t be very good, then he’ll leave,’ Notre Dame should ‘kick rocks’
If you listen to our “Madden Monday” podcasts weekly, then you know Mark Madden’s strong affection for Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Obviously, Mark is JuJu’s biggest fan. So when Smith-Schuster celebrated subscriber No. 1,000,000 to his YouTube channel, you knew Mark would be the first one in line to...
Pre-pandemic schedule might have given Pitt a liftVideo
The first four weeks of the season appeared set up neatly for Pitt to write its name across the college football skyline. For a month, at least. There were three non-Power 5 opponents — Miami (Ohio), Marshall and Richmond — and an ACC home game against Duke, a team that...
First Call: How the Big Ten’s decision may impact Pitt, Notre Dame, West Virginia and others
Sometimes this job requires you to act like you have all the answers. All the time. Immediately. Even if you don’t. Saying “I don’t know” feels like a cop-out. But when it comes to asking what the football ripple effects will be from Thursday’s decision by the Big Ten to...
Pitt, ACC to delay start of fall competitions
Six athletic teams at Pitt will experience a slight delay in the start of fall competition. The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Thursday that the season starts for each of its Olympic sports at its 15 members schools will be no earlier than Sept. 1. The delay includes all exhibition and...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 54: Jerry Olsavsky could be counted on to make the stop
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 54: Jerry Olsavsky No matter what number he wore — and he wore both Nos. 54 and 55 playing football in Pittsburgh — there...
U mad, bro?: Readers emote about fans at games, protests, anti-maskers, Cam Newton and … Dan Marino?
There’s no reason to ask if you were mad this week. Everybody got mad at something at some point. Coronavirus numbers spiked. Bars were shut down again. A partial travel quarantine went back in place. Worst of all, the New England Patriots upgraded at quarterback! Yuck! What a terrible week....
Pitt adds tight end Trey Andersen to 2021 recruiting class
Pat Narduzzi and his staff have been busy over the past year trying to recruit tight ends, and their efforts paid off Tuesday when Trey Andersen verbally committed to the class of 2021. Pitt’s coach has high hopes for tight end Lucas Krull this season, but the transfer from Florida...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear it, No. 65: Pitt’s Joe Schmidt grew tough playing sandlot football vs. convicts
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 65: Joe Schmidt Joe Schmidt did not play in the golden age of Pitt football. In his three varsity seasons, the Panthers won 10...
Pitt secures verbal commitment from Florida linebacker, 17th prospect in class of 2021
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi added a third Florida prospect to his class of 2021 when inside linebacker Derrveron Maxwell-Black of St. Petersburg pledged to enroll next year. Maxwell-Black made the announcement Thursday on Twitter. I will like to thank God,my mother,grandfather, and the rest of my family and also my...
Commissioner John Swofford, who ushered Pitt into the ACC, plans to retire in 2021
John Swofford, who watched over the ACC while it expanded from nine to 15 schools, said Thursday he plans to retire after the 2020-21 athletic year. Swofford, 71, is the longest-tenured of the ACC’s four commissioners, serving 24 of the conference’s 67 years. He will continue as commissioner until a...
Pitt basketball, soccer and volleyball athletes scheduled to return Monday
Pitt’s efforts to return its athletic programs to normal offseason schedules will continue Monday when five teams — men’s and women’s basketball and soccer and volleyball — are welcomed back to campus for voluntary activities. As with the football team that began returning June 8, each player will undergo a...
Pitt’s Heather Lyke hopes schools can ‘lift’ student-athletes’ voices
In a time of social injustice and student-athletes developing a voice in response, Heather Lyke said Tuesday universities “need to be there to lift it.” “Our student-athletes need to have a voice if they want to have a voice,” she said Tuesday on 93.7 FM. “A lot of us need...
Heather Lyke believes Pitt can ‘weather this storm’
Faced with the possibility of canceling football games, losing revenue and limiting crowds at Heinz Field — perhaps even the sellout expected for Notre Dame — Heather Lyke said Tuesday that Pitt can “weather this storm” created by the covid-19 pandemic. Speaking on 93.7 FM, Pitt’s director of athletics admitted,...
‘Burgh’s best to wear it, No. 69: Pitt’s Randy Dixon, AC/DC fan, an electric choice
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best 100 players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 69: Randy Dixon Running into defensive linemen all day takes a toll on a man. But when it was time to relax, Pitt’s...
Analysis: 10 victories represent reasonable goal for Pitt football in 2020
The magic number is 10, a victory total that has been unattainable at Pitt for the past decade, and a reality only once since 1981. But it’s a reasonable goal for Pat Narduzzi’s 2020 team, his sixth at Pitt. Narduzzi welcomes back 12 players on defense and seven on offense...
Miami (Ohio) transfer Nike Sibande brings scoring potential to Pitt basketball
Jeff Capel’s makeover of Pitt basketball continued Saturday when he announced the addition of former Miami (Ohio) guard Nike Sibande to the 2020-2021 roster. He has one season of eligibility remaining. Sibande must sit out this season as a transfer, unless he is granted a waiver by the NCAA. But...
Cam Heyward: NFL Hall of Fame Game doubtful, thrilled about his dad’s Pitt honors
Defensive end Cameron Heyward is the Pittsburgh Steelers NFLPA union rep now that Ramon Foster has retired. And, given the coronavirus uncertainty, he seems dubious of the chances that the NFL can pull off the Hall of Fame Game between the Steelers and Cowboys. “It’s just my point of view,”...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear it, No. 73: Mark May sent out ‘May Day’ calls to Pitt opponents
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 73: Mark May They called him “May Day,” the international signal for distress, because that’s what Mark May created for opponents during his time...
Pitt safety Paris Ford: ‘This can be a historic season for the Panthers’Video
Taking a brief break from his offseason workouts, Paris Ford agreed Thursday to do a video interview with the ACC Network. Pitt’s junior safety enjoyed the conversation with the morning team of Mark Packer and Wes Durham — even inviting the duo to enjoy the chicken and waffles with him...
Pitt, West Virginia ink deal to extend basketball ‘Backyard Brawl’ for 2 more seasons
West Virginia coach and alumnus Bob Huggins called Pitt “our biggest rival.” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said Panthers-Mountaineers is “one of the best (rivalries) in the country.” When hired as WVU athletic director, Shane Lyons reiterated a primary objective was to get Pitt and West Virginia playing again. Soon, despite...
