NCAA approves plan for basketball players to work with coaches
The NCAA Division I Council on Wednesday approved a plan to allow college basketball players to start working with their coaches for the first time since the pandemic wiped out March Madness. The summer access period for men’s and women’s players will begin July 20. The NCAA Tournaments were canceled...
Craig Heyward, Steve Wisniewski among those on 2021 College Football Hall of Fame ballot
Craig Heyward, Steve Wisniewski and Matt Cavanaugh are among those with local ties who were listed on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021 that was announced Tuesday. Heyward was a 1987 consensus All-American after leading the nation in rushing yards for Pitt. The late...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 79: Bill Fralic served pancakes with pleasure for Pitt
When it came to Bill Fralic’s blocking for the Pitt Panthers, there is no shortage of superlatives. A new statistic was coined, and a legendary offensive line coach gave a ringing endorsement. The Pancake Block was created in Fralic’s honor, for the ferocity with which he flattened defenders. The late...
Franklin Regional grad Fisch lives dream, earns walk-on spot with Pitt basketball
It is not quite “The Fish Who Saved Pittsburgh.” No, this story is more along the lines of, “The Fisch Who Wooed Pittsburgh,” and it is a tale of devotion, determination and fulfillment. In a couple of years, Pitt super fan Aidan Fisch went from being a team manager on...
Pitt, Penn State defenders named to preseason Walter Camp All-American team
College football is still months away, but the honors are rolling in for Pitt and Penn State players. Pitt defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman and Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons were named to the Walter Camp Preseason All-American team. (Twyman and Parsons earned second-team regular-season honors in 2019.) Twyman finished the...
Report: NCAA will vote on early start to summer football drills
College football players recently unleashed from coronavirus quarantine might be permitted to interact with coaches at workouts as early as two days after the Fourth of July. After spring practices were either truncated or canceled by covid-19, the NCAA Division I Oversight Committee is expected to vote June 17 on...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi issues statement after he was criticized for use of word ‘thug’
While racial tensions erupted across the U.S. after the death last month of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, former Pitt linebacker Elias Reynolds went on Twitter and called out coach Pat Narduzzi for the use of the word “thug.” Another former player, Justin Morgan, also tweeted dissatisfaction...
Pitt’s Troost has mixed feelings about response to his kneeling during anthem in 2017Video
During the 2017 season, Ian Troost knelt among his upright Pitt football teammates during the playing of the national anthem at Heinz Field. Peacefully, he was protesting police brutality and racial injustice, trying to create awareness and dialogue that might lead to change. “I wanted to be a white ally,”...
Pitt graduates write letter to administrators, urging support for black student-athletes
This letter was composed by former Pitt student-athletes and graduates Jordan Fields and Ian Troost and sent Monday to the school’s athletic department and administration. We write this as alumni with a complicated love for the University of Pittsburgh. We find it difficult to differentiate between our pride in our...
Pitt adds Georgia cornerback Khalil Anderson to class of 2021
Pitt continued to stockpile high school seniors Friday, adding two defensive backs to its 16-man class of 2021. Two years ago, Pitt didn’t get its first verbal commitment until June 10. COMMITTED #Hail2Pitt ?? pic.twitter.com/gSPxv1sB48— Khalil Anderson ✞ (@_KhalilAnderson) June 6, 2020 Cornerback Khalil Anderson of Riverwood High School in...
Central Valley safety Stephon Hall chooses Pitt
Stephon Hall’s path to a Pitt scholarship started six months ago. In Central Valley’s victory against Aliquippa in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game, Hall picked off two passes in the fourth quarter and helped stop the Quips’ 2-point conversion attempt in overtime to nail down a 13-12 victory. Three...
Pitt football players’ voices heard in shout-out against racial injustice
Expectations are high for the Pitt football team this season. But nothing any Pitt player will do while wearing a helmet will have the same impact as the words of nine of them in a 4-minute, 32-second video produced this week. My time on the team taught me more than...
Four Pitt voices speak loudly on the passing of coach Johnny Majors
Here’s what Pitt people are saying about Johnny Majors, who died Tuesday night in Knoxville, Tenn.: Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher “Coach John Majors was, and always will be, an important part of the University of Pittsburgh’s history. He is a celebrated championship-winning coach, but his impact on our players endured...
Years after leaving, Johnny Majors told John Pelusi, ‘I should have never left Pitt’
Johnny Majors walked down the steps into John Pelusi’s basement, picked up a cue stick, surveyed the pool table and laid down a challenge. “He said to my dad, ‘If I beat you at pool, your son’s going to come to Pitt,’” Pelusi said. “My dad says, ‘He’s not going...
Jackie Sherrill says Johnny Majors was his ‘father figure’
Jackie Sherrill said he had little trouble replacing Johnny Majors as Pitt’s coach in 1977. He had recruited and coached most of the players over three seasons at Pitt. After spending the 1976 season as coach at Washington State, Sherrill was the logical choice to replace Majors, who left for...
Former Pitt coach Johnny Majors, who led Panthers to 1976 national title, dies
Johnny Majors, a devoted son of the South whose single act of reviving Pitt football endeared him to a very northern city, died Tuesday night in Knoxville, Tenn. He had turned 85 on May 21. Jackie Sherrill, who followed him from Iowa State to Pittsburgh and became his eventual successor...
’Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 89: Mike Ditka came to Pitt to be a dentist, left a legendary football playerVideo
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. 89: Mike Ditka Mike Ditka forged his reputation on toughness, running over defenders as a tight end and challenging his players as a Super...
Pitt commit Malik Newton’s coach calls him ‘unique kind of kid’
Hank Sawyer has seen dozens of running backs come through his program while winning three state championships in 22 years as coach at Lake Taylor (Va.) High School. With all that experience, you would think he understands what makes Pitt commit Malik Newton such a successful high school player. “I...
Pitt leaders use Twitter to condemn killing of George Floyd, 2 others
From the Cathedral of Learning to Petersen Events Center to the football team’s training facility on the South Side, some of Pitt’s most high-profile officials and coaches have expressed sadness and outrage at the killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. Football coach Pat Narduzzi said in a...
Love of basketball, family carries Jennifer Bruce Scott into Pitt hall of fame
Jennifer Bruce Scott began her AAU and high school girls basketball coaching career more than two decades ago, hoping to pass along the same passion and dedication to the game that drove her to four standout seasons at Pitt in the early 1980s. The Monroeville resident started in high school...
Former Upper St. Clair heavyweight Jake Slinger transfers from George Mason to Pitt
As a kid, Former Upper St. Clair wrestler Jake Slinger frequently attended Pitt wrestling matches at the Fitzgerald Field House. He remembered the atmosphere, the energy in the arena and the reaction of the crowd after a Panthers victory. “I loved the atmosphere, wrestling in the Fitzgerald Field House,” Slinger...
With health safeguards in place, Pitt football players returning June 8 for voluntary workouts
Pitt football is returning to the South Side next month in the form of voluntary workouts. For the first time since March, when spring drills were canceled after three days in the wake of covid-19 concerns, Pitt’s football players will be welcomed back to campus June 8, athletic director Heather...
Marketing consultant Jeremy Darlow helps Pitt athletes prepare for day they ‘take the jersey off’
Like many people, Jeremy Darlow has played sports, read about them and enjoyed virtual experiences through video games. Beyond what most people have encountered, however, Darlow has talked to the participants about their futures. A former director of marketing for Adidas who has worked with celebrities from Snoop Dogg to...
Pitt’s Kenny Pickett eager to resume preparing for the 2020 season
Kenny Pickett is home in Oakhurst, N.J., fishing with his dad, walking the dog, working out in a buddy’s garage and binge watching “Game of Thrones” and “The Office.” He is doing all the things he probably wouldn’t be doing in late spring if not for covid-19 and the pandemic...
Pitt’s recruiting class ranked No. 20 after Florida prospect gives verbal commitment
Pitt’s 2021 recruiting class bumped up to No. 20 in the nation — and No. 4 in the ACC — Thursday when cornerback Noah Biglow, a three-star prospect from Seffner, Fla., pledged to enroll next year. Coach Pat Narduzzi flipped Biglow, who had committed to Iowa State last month. Seven...
