Pitt great Clancy: Size doesn’t matter when it comes to rebounding
Sam Clancy played in 116 games at Pitt, which leaves him 20 short of standing among the school’s top 10 players in that category. He stands 6-foot-7, but nearly four decades later, he remembers vividly how often there were taller players on the floor. “Every game,” he said. But no...
Pitt OC Mark Whipple has done it all, but quarterbacks are his specialtyVideo
If necessary, Mark Whipple can perform almost any task on a football field. You need chalk lines drawn on the field before a game? He’s done that as a small-college coach. How about something a little more challenging, such as winning a national championship? Did that at UMass in 1998....
Pitt wrestlers upset No. 8 N.C. State, 18-16
The Pitt wrestling team continued building momentum for the postseason, upsetting N.C. State, the No. 8 team in the nation, 18-16, Sunday in Raleigh, N.C. It was Pitt’s first victory against N.C. State since the teams first met in 2014 and the Panthers’ first in Raleigh. Pitt improves to 11-3...
Pitt’s losing streak reaches 7 games with loss to N.C. StateVideo
An array of emotions flew around Petersen Events Center on Saturday before, during and after Pitt’s 79-76 loss to N.C. State. Senior Jared Wilson-Frame remained confident but also angry while his team’s losing streak reached seven games. Coach Jeff Capel lamented his team’s “very, very, very small margin for error”...
Malik Ellison injured, won’t play against N.C. State
Pitt junior Malik Ellison, who came close to a double-double in each of the past two games, won’t play Saturday when the Panthers meet N.C. State at 2 p.m. at Petersen Events Center. Pitt basketball’s Twitter account reported Ellison was hurt late in the overtime loss to Wake Forest on...
Former Pitt offensive coordinator Shawn Watson lands in Georgia
Shawn Watson, fired as Pitt’s offensive coordinator shortly after the season, has found work with SEC powerhouse Georgia. He joins the Bulldogs as an offensive quality control analyst, working with new coordinator and quarterbacks coach James Coley, who was promoted after Jim Chaney, another former Pitt coordinator, left for the...
Pitt has time for a reversal of fortuneVideo
Perhaps the cynics among Pitt basketball fans will find this hard to believe, but there’s still time — and resources — to salvage the season. With eight games remaining, starting Saturday at Petersen Events Center against slumping N.C. State, Pitt should be competitive in most games. The only ranked teams...
Pitt wrestler Jake Wentzel out for season with knee injury
Pitt’s wrestling team suffered a significant blow to its postseason hopes Thursday when coach Keith Gavin announced that redshirt sophomore Jake Wentzel will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Wentzel, a starter at 165 pounds, is 9-6, with a career record of 29-24. “It’s obviously unfortunate...
Qadree Ollision gets only Pitt invite to NFL Combine
If one is the loneliest number, then former Pitt running back Qadree Ollison will feel like the ultimate outcast at the NFL Combine. Ollison is the only Pitt football player to receive an invitation to the annual college football testing showcase, which will be held from Feb. 26-March 4 at...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel: Collective effort necessary to end 6-game skid
The concept of team means a lot to Jeff Capel, and getting his young team to think that way is just one of the challenges the Pitt coach faces in the midst of a six-game losing streak. “No one accomplishes anything that’s great or that’s really good by themselves,” Capel...
Pitt softball awaits curtain call Friday in Charleston, S.C.
The bar is set high for first-year Pitt softball coach Jodi Hermanek, whose team opens the season Friday with the first of five games at the Cougar Classic in Charleston, S.C. Hermanek replaces Holly Aprile, who left for the same job at Louisville after leading Pitt (33-18-1) to its first...
With strong intentions and some luck, Pitt adds 2 prospects on signing day
Just like he has done at the end of four previous signing days as Pitt’s coach, Pat Narduzzi stepped in front of assembled media Wednesday, wearing a wide smile, optimistic about the future of his program. The scene was a bit different this year, with Pitt getting signatures from only...
Pitt’s skid hits 6 after OT loss to Wake Forest
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Chaundee Brown scored eight points in overtime, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 35.1 seconds to play as Wake Forest beat Pitt, 78-76, on Tuesday night in a battle of teams attempting to end five-game losing streaks. Brown’s crucial shot gave the Demon Deacons a 77-74 lead. Xavier...
Armand Dellovade’s generosity took many forms
Ralph Cindrich knows all about the financial contributions Armand C. Dellovade made toward the University of Pittsburgh. Before his unexpected death Monday at the age of 81, Dellovade donated more than $1 million to his beloved Pitt. But, in Cindrich’s mind, that’s not what set this philanthropic captain of industry...
Second signing day still offers intrigue to Pitt, Penn State, WVU fans
The NCAA’s decision to split national signing day into two windows nearly two months apart has had a profound effect on coaches, prospects and fans. Most players in the Class of 2019 signed in December, largely to avoid protracted periods of uncertainty for everyone involved. But if the volume (as...
Pitt, Wake Forest desperate for win in ACC
No one needs to tell Jeff Capel that Wake Forest is having trouble making shots. In preparation for his game against the Demon Deacons on Tuesday in Winston-Salem, N.C., Pitt’s coach watched video of his opponent’s two most recent losses: 64-37 at Clemson on Sunday and 82-54 to Louisville four...
Pitt adds a linebacker to its 2019 recruiting class
Pitt continued to fortify a position where it is losing three prominent seniors when linebacker SirVocea Dennis said Saturday night he gave coach Pat Narduzzi a verbal commitment. Dennis, 6-foot-1, 214 pounds, attends the Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J. Unranked by Rivals.com, he nonetheless signed with the Air Force Academy...
Kevin Gorman: Pitt trying to remain positive in the face of adversity
Where Jim Boeheim was impressed with Pitt’s freshman guards for the way they aggressively attacked Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, Jeff Capel was learning to live with every mistake the young Panthers made. There were ill-advised passes that led to turnovers, open looks that resulted in missed shots and controversial calls for...
Pitt’s losing streak reaches five in 65-56 loss to Syracuse
When two teams get together and one has trouble shedding the other and building a comfortable advantage, the outcome is often decided by moments. Plays that last mere seconds, but ultimately determine a winner and loser. Pitt’s 65-56 loss to Syracuse on Saturday at Petersen Events Center had three of...
Fatigue, Syracuse next on Pitt’s list of problems to solve
No one should be surprised if Pitt’s players are showing signs of fatigue as they approach the end of the first half of the ACC season. Game 9 is Saturday at Petersen Events Center against Syracuse, and it will be a good test for two reasons. It will reveal: •...
Jeff Capel works to boost Pitt players’ spirits without accepting defeatVideo
Jeff Capel grew up in an atmosphere of winning: state championship in high school; Final Four berth as a player; and national championship as an assistant at Duke. Winning matters to Pitt’s coach, who has presided over 174 victories with three teams. Yet, Pitt’s slide toward the bottom of the...
Pitt 4-star basketball target Wahab chooses Georgetown
Jeff Capel continues trying to recruit some of the top high school players on the East Coast, especially those who can score in the paint, but he struck out Wednesday when four-star center Qudus Wahab chose Georgetown. Wahab (6-foot-10, 230 pounds) was rated the 20th center in the U.S. (115th...
Are better days ahead for ‘fatigued’ Pitt?
Jeff Capel chuckled, but you could tell he really wasn’t in a joking mood. He was talking about how easily Clemson, a team that had lost five of its first six ACC games, hit shots in the first half of the Tigers’ 82-69 victory against Pitt on Tuesday night. Capel,...
Pitt loses another road game, this time to ACC foe Clemson
CLEMSON, S.C. — Senior guard Marcquise Reed scored 26 points, and Clemson rediscovered its touch from long range Tuesday night in an 82-69 victory against Pitt in an ACC game at Littlejohn Coliseum. Reed, the Tigers’ leading scorer at 19.3 points per game, enjoyed another big night, making 8 of...
Pitt’s Olivia Gray gets spot on preseason All-ACC softball team; Panthers 4th
Pitt senior infielder Olivia Gray was named to the preseason All-ACC softball team while the defending Coastal Division champion Panthers were projected to finish fourth by the coaches poll. Gray was an All-ACC first-team selection last year after hitting .311, with four home runs and 25 RBIs. She also finished...
