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Pitt category, Page 44

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
First Call: Ben Roethlisberger asks Bill Cowher about ’04 draft; over-under odds for local college football teams
Tuesday’s “First Call” has quite a personal conversation about Pittsburgh Steelers history between Ben Roethlisberger and Bill Cowher. We have a positive report about one of the Steelers draft choices. The Brewers keep in line with the Pirates atop the NL Central. Duquesne is in the hunt for a big-conference...
Pitt fires softball coach Jodi Hermanek after 5 seasons
Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke continued to weed out the unsuccessful coaches in her department Monday when softball’s Jodi Hermanek was dismissed after five seasons. In the past two months, women’s basketball coach Lance White and gymnastics’ Samantha Snider were fired. Hermanek was hired at the end of the 2018...
Pitt basketball’s nonconference plans include trip to Brooklyn for Preseason NIT
Add Brooklyn to the travel destinations for the Pitt basketball team this year. Pitt will play two games in the 2023 Preseason NIT at the Barclays Center. NEWS: Baylor, Pitt, Florida, and Oregon State will headline the 2023 Preseason NIT at the Barclays Center, according to a source.There was no...
Pitt gets commitment from high school linebacker Davin Brewton
Pitt has been busy collecting verbal commitments for its class of 2024, but coach Pat Narduzzi needed a linebacker or two. That pursuit found Davin Brewton, a rising senior at Red Bank Catholic (N.J.) High School, who gave Narduzzi a verbal commitment Thursday. Time (2) Commit- Through The Grace of...
Pitt secures verbal commitment from transfer offensive lineman Jackson Brown, formerly of California
Three people led freshman offensive lineman Jackson Brown to transfer from California to Pitt — coach Pat Narduzzi, line coach Dave Borbely and Brown’s father, Tony, who was an offensive lineman for the Panthers from 1983-1985. Sadly, Tony Brown’s contribution came from afar. Tony Brown died in 2010, but his...
Pitt basketball plans summer tour of Spain, Diaz Graham twins’ hometown in Canary Islands
The Diaz Graham twins are going home — and taking their Pitt teammates with them. Pitt’s basketball team is crossing the Atlantic Ocean this summer for a 10-day trip to Spain, including Tenerife in the Canary Islands, the home of Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham. The team departs Aug. 5...
Herb Douglas remembered as an athlete, executive and inspiration 
Those who knew Herb Douglas, those who entrusted their futures with him and those who credit him for helping them succeed in life filled almost all of the pews inside Heinz Chapel on Wednesday afternoon. They were not there to mourn Douglas, an Olympic bronze medalist, a Pitt man (football...
Pat Narduzzi teams with ex-Steelers OC Chan Gailey to win Peach Bowl charity golf event
Pat Narduzzi and Chan Gailey, football coaches with strong ties to Pittsburgh and the ACC, teamed up to win the Southern Company Peach Bowl Challenge and $32,500 each for their respective charities Tuesday. The team of Narduzzi and Gailey recorded an eagle and six birdies, including three on holes 16-18,...
First Call: Ex-Pitt, Duquesne players earn shot with Steelers; any truth to Patriots-Jets subplot before Broderick Jones pick?
Tuesday’s “First Call” gives us players from Pitt and Duquesne who will have rookie minicamp tryouts with the Pittsburgh Steelers. We get a little intel on that Steelers-Patriots trade in Round 1 of last week’s draft. A former Steeler decides to revisit the coaching path. And a high grade for...
Pitt punter Sam Vander Haar enters NCAA transfer portal
Punter Sam Vander Haar, who spent one season at Pitt, has announced his intention to transfer, according to FarrellSports’ Mike Farrell. Vander Haar, who turns 26 on Thursday, is a native of Melbourne, Australia, where he played Australian rules football and attended the well-known Prokick Australia program that has produced...
With an eye toward the 2024 draft, NFL scouts will continue monitoring how Pitt players develop
The target number is 11. That’s the record for the most Pitt players chosen within the first seven rounds of the NFL Draft. In 1981, after the 1980 team finished 11-1 and mauled South Carolina, 37-9, in the Gator Bowl, 11 Pitt players were drafted in the first five rounds....
Brandon Hill chosen by Texans, 8th Pitt defensive back drafted in past 6 years
The list of Pitt defensive backs recruited and developed under coach Pat Narduzzi and eventually drafted by an NFL team grew by two to eight Saturday when the Houston Texans selected strong safety Brandon Hill in the seventh round (No. 249 overall). Hill’s partner at safety, Erick Hallett II, was...
Jaguars pick Pitt safety Erick Hallett II in 6th round
If there’s one trait the NFL values over almost every other, it’s reliability. And former Pitt free safety Erick Hallett II certainly showed that by finishing his college career by making 31 consecutive starts. The Jacksonville Jaguars were paying attention, and they made Hallett a sixth-round draft choice Saturday (the...
Pitt LB SirVocea Dennis drafted by Buccaneers in 5th round, 1 of 6 Panthers selected
Unless your last name is Manning, college players can’t manipulate the NFL Draft to land in a desired spot. Former Pitt linebacker SirVocea Dennis’ professional fate rested with the 32 NFL teams, but ending up in Tampa, Fla., with the Buccaneers on Saturday surely looked like a predestined event. Dennis,...
Jets pluck Pitt running back Izzy Abanikanda in 5th round
After Izzy Abanikanda worked out for pro scouts inside Pitt’s indoor practice facility last month, he was asked what he wanted the NFL to know about him. “I want them to know I’m a dedicated, disciplined, humble man, on and off the field,” he said. But he added, without shame,...
Jets select Pitt offensive tackle Carter Warren in 4th round
Carter Warren’s loyalty, sadly, was not rewarded after he decided — with his teammates on Pitt’s offensive line — to return for a sixth season in 2022. After eschewing an invitation to the 2023 Senior Bowl, Warren played and started in only the first four games before suffering a season-ending...
Casey Jo MacPherson brings assertive nature to Pitt gymnastics
Casey Jo MacPherson’s competitive mindset first surfaced on her preschool playground in Eugene, Ore. Pitt’s new gymnastics coach was so young at the time, her parents had to relate the story to her. “When I was really little, my parents told me about (how) I was at preschool, and I...
Another 1st rounder for Pitt: Calijah Kancey goes to Buccaneers 19th overall
When Calijah Kancey was chosen 19th overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night, Pitt could boast of first-round choices in consecutive drafts for the first time in 15 years. Kancey joins quarterback Kenny Pickett who went 20th overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022. Defensive back Darrelle Revis...
Pitt AD Heather Lyke hopes Victory Heights project leads to further success
At the moment, the space that will house Pitt’s $240 million Victory Heights Arena and Sports Performance Complex is occupied by a tall crane and several construction vehicles moving tons of dirt. But athletic director Heather Lyke sees the facility that will rise from that dirt setting Pitt up for...
Before becoming friends with Dick Groat, Pitt’s Jeff Capel studied, marveled at his life, career
When Jeff Capel was an assistant coach at Duke in 2014, he accompanied the team to the Petersen Events Center for a game against Pitt. He walked onto the floor to carry out his duties, but that was only part of what he wanted to accomplish that night. He also...
Bill Hillgrove was witness to Dick Groat’s toughness
Dick Groat, who died Thursday of complications from a stroke at the age of 92, played baseball and basketball with equal flair. • Baseball MVP, two-time World Series champion and 14-year MLB pro with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals. • Star basketball player at Duke, college Hall of...
First Call: Joey Porter Jr. on prospect of falling to Steelers — or beyond; 40 years since Steelers passed on Dan Marino
Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. seems to have the Pittsburgh Steelers in mind as a potential end to his NFL Draft wait Thursday night. Wednesday marked the 40th anniversary of an infamous Steelers draft memory. The Pirates look to take a third straight series from the Los Angeles Dodgers. And...
ACC spring wrap: 14 players ready to break out in 2023
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A look at football players in the Atlantic Coast Conference this spring who are poised to have standout seasons this fall in the now division-less league: BOSTON COLLEGE: OL Christian Mahogany was a second-team all-ACC selection in 2021 who missed all last year with a knee injury....
Even at 6-foot-1, Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey will cost a premium pick in NFL Draft
From Hank Poteat in 2000 to Damarri Mathis last year, the names of 57 Pitt players were called in 21 of the past 23 NFL drafts. The exceptions: 2012 and 2013 when Pitt’s recruiting and player development were set back by the loss of two head coaches – Dave Wannstedt...
Oldest living U.S. Olympic medalist, Pitt great Herb Douglas dies at 101
Roger Kingdom spoke to Herb Douglas only a week ago. Thinking about their final chat, Kingdom was saddened like so many others when he heard Herbert P. Douglas Jr., the oldest living U.S. Olympic medalist, died Saturday at the age of 101. Pitt Icon Herb Douglas, the oldest living US...


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