Jeff Capel looks for Pitt to put 2 good games back-to-back vs. ACC foe
The following information is factual but drawn from a small sample size: two games. So, please, no overreaction. Pitt is 3-4 in the ACC and coming off a victory Saturday against North Carolina. After the first two victories, Pitt didn’t play as well in its next games and lost to...
Martin Luther King Day important to Pitt’s Jeff Capel and his family
Pitt coach Jeff Capel likes talking to his players about the opportunities they have as student-athletes at a major university. But he didn’t need a holiday Monday to underscore what the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. means to him and his family. Capel grew up listening to the...
3-star junior safety Javon McIntyre commits to Pitt
With Pitt’s 2020 recruiting class nearly complete, coach Pat Narduzzi received the third verbal commitment from a member of the class of 2021 when safety Javon McIntyre tweeted his intention to enroll next year. He committed to Pitt over the weekend while visiting campus with several teammates from the Imhotep...
Pitt finally makes an impact in the ACC
Jeff Capel loves to beat North Carolina — he’s a Duke guy, after all — but he was careful not to put too much significance on Pitt’s 66-52 victory Saturday at Petersen Events Center. “It’s a step,” he said. “I don’t know what it speaks to, but it’s a step...
Kevin Gorman: Jeff Capel gets cutthroat against Carolina, as Pitt gets sweep to savorVideo
Jeff Capel wasn’t aware of the last time the Pitt Panthers pulled off a regular-season sweep in conference play, claiming he hadn’t studied the program’s history well enough to know. What the Pitt coach does know — perhaps better than any of his players could ever imagine — is the...
Pitt topples North Carolina to sweep season series with Tar HeelsVideo
If anyone knows where to draw the line between good and great, it’s Jeff Capel, who won a national championship as an assistant at Duke and coached 18 players who turned into first-round draft choices in the NBA. “I’ve been around a lot of greatness,” he said. “I think great...
2 strength assistants leaving Pitt football to join Dave Andrews at Iowa State
Two strength assistants are leaving Pitt’s football program to re-join former head strength and conditioning coach Dave Andrews at Iowa State. Freddie Walker and Trever Ryen have been named assistant strength and conditioning coaches for the Cyclones, an Iowa State spokesman said Friday. Walker was at Pitt for the past...
Pitt’s clash with North Carolina will pull 1 team out of its slump
There is no need to place any additional importance on the men’s basketball game Saturday at Petersen Events Center matching a team stuck in a three-way tie for 11th-place and another that is one slot from the bottom of the 15-team ACC. But Pitt and North Carolina better start winning...
Pitt guard Trey McGowens’ improved play may be tied to something you can’t seeVideo
Trey McGowens said he worked “harder than ever” getting ready for his sophomore season at Pitt. He also watches video with a more experienced eye, looking for an edge that might mean the difference between winning and losing — some things he might have missed last season as a freshman....
Pitt safety Damar Hamlin returning for 5th year
The Pitt defense received more good news Tuesday when free safety Damar Hamlin said he is returning for his fifth year of eligibility after getting a waiver from the NCAA. Hamlin’s freshman year in 2016 was limited by injuries to three appearances without a start. He is the fourth Pitt...
Former Pitt star Jimbo Covert selected to Pro Football Hall of Fame
Jimbo Covert was in San Francisco on business Wednesday, so he set his alarm for 4 a.m. He didn’t want to sleep through one of the greatest moments of his life. The former Pitt and Chicago Bears offensive lineman had known for a week he was one of the finalists...
Coach Emily Boissonneault up to task of building Pitt women’s lacrosse from scratchVideo
Start-ups are nothing new to Emily Boissonneault. When she entered Donald A. Wilson Secondary School in suburban Toronto as a sophomore, the school was new. She became a member of its first girls basketball team and, at the urging of a gym teacher who owned the local lacrosse club, first...
Pitt loses lead late, falls to Louisville in overtimeVideo
Pitt coach Jeff Capel couldn’t believe what he saw. There were 21 seconds left in overtime Tuesday night in a game Pitt finally lost 73-68 to No. 11 Louisville. With Pitt down two, 6-foot-10 center Terrell Brown reached over — or so he thought — Louisville’s 6-11 Malik Williams and...
Pitt running back V’Lique Carter enters NCAA transfer portal
Running back V’Lique Carter, who made his Pitt freshman debut in 2018 by rushing for 137 yards and two touchdowns against Duke, said Tuesday he has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal with the intent of transferring. As a sophomore in 2019, Carter was part of a crowded Pitt running back...
Pitt hopes Victory Heights will raise bar for athleticsVideo
Alonzo Webb has been a coach without a home for each of his 18 years leading the Pitt track and field/cross country programs. The longest-tenured coach on campus, he’s sat in meetings with multiple athletic directors who spoke hopefully of building his team the track that disappeared and never resurfaced...
Kevin Gorman: A Pitt, Penn State or WVU national football title unlikely, not impossible
LSU’s decisive 42-25 victory over Clemson in the national championship game Monday night had analysts gushing about how it might be the best team in college football history. Not only did the Tigers beat seven top-10 teams, including the top four in the AP preseason poll, but they also ended...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel warns players, parents about too much basketball
Jeff Capel encourages young people, including and especially his 7-year-old son Elijah, to enjoy playing basketball. But the Pitt coach issued a warning Monday to parents and players that too much of a good thing isn’t necessarily for the best. The subject surfaced on the ACC coaches conference call Monday...
Pitt hopes to find its legs after exhausting loss to MiamiVideo
Jeff Capel made a thought-provoking observation after Pitt’s loss at Miami. “I thought we were exhausted,” he said Sunday night moments after Miami’s 66-58 victory. That’s a disturbing comment, especially with Pitt (11-5, 2-3 ACC) facing two more games in the next five days, starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday against...
Pitt prepares to announce plans for Victory Heights training facility
Pitt will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Petersen Events Center to reveal plans for Victory Heights, a training facility proposed by athletic director Heather Lyke in 2018 for the university’s upper campus. Lyke will be joined by Chancellor Patrick Gallagher. Also expected to attend are coaches...
Pitt rallies fall short in 7th straight loss to Miami
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes squandered a lead of 16-0, so they built a bigger one — and nearly blew that. Kameron McGusty scored 19 points, and freshman Harlond Beverly came to the rescue off the bench as Miami withstood a late rally by streaky Pitt and won...
Pitt hopes to reverse trend against Miami
The record for Pitt is not good when it comes to playing Jim Larranaga’s Miami Hurricanes. Never mind the Panthers trail in the overall series, they are 1-6 when facing Miami under Larranaga, the veteran coach in his ninth season with the Hurricanes after long, successful runs at Bowling Green...
Pitt basketball looks to carry momentum to Miami
For all the cranky comments about the progress of the Pitt basketball team, or the perceived lack of it, the fledgling Panthers find themselves with a golden opportunity Sunday to win over some of those “Doubting Thomases.” Or “Debbie Downers,” as coach Jeff Capel referred to his team’s detractors Friday...
Strength coach Dave Andrews leaving Pitt for Iowa State
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi has described strength and conditioning coach Dave Andrews as “a highly disciplined coach who instills toughness in our entire program.” Now, Andrews will attempt to do the same for the Iowa State football program. Iowa State coach Matt Campbell announced Friday that Andrews will join the...
After signing with Chicago Bears, Pitt product J.P. Holtz looks ahead to NFL future
When the call came, J.P. Holtz didn’t hesitate to get his things packed. The Shaler Area and Pitt graduate was released by the Washington Redskins in early September and was scrambling to try to catch on with the Chicago Bears a few days later. “It was pretty crazy,” Holtz said....
Central Catholic’s Gusty Sunseri commits to Pitt
Central Catholic linebacker/safety Gusty Sunseri will attend Pitt and join the football team as a preferred walk-on, he announced Thursday morning on his Twitter account. Sunseri, 6-foot, 200 pounds, was a first-team selection last season on the Pennsylvania Football News 6A all-state team. COMMITTED #H2P @coachcsanders @Pitt_FB @CoachDuzzPittFB pic.twitter.com/nk7Fo45Md6— Gusty...
