Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 101

At home Tuesday night in Manhattan, Ed Gonzalez clicked on his TV to watch Pitt play Duke. Flashing across Gonzalez’s TV screen was former Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School basketball star Justin Champagnie, warming up inside Petersen Events Center. The game mattered to Gonzalez because he’s been the coach at...

Keith Dambrot said he didn’t want to scream at his players. “At 62, that’s dangerous,” Duquesne’s coach said. “It’s not good for my health.” But he walked into the locker room at halftime Wednesday night with a message for his team when the Dukes looked to be on their way...

Pitt fans are already sending out text messages to friends that say things such as, “Great win. Might get to the tournament.” It’s fine to be encouraged by the Panthers’ three-game winning streak that includes victories against ACC blue bloods Duke and Syracuse (twice). Just don’t get coach Jeff Capel...

With Duquesne looking at a week break between games and two contests with conference opponents already postponed, the Atlantic 10 has moved the Dukes’ St. Bonaventure game to Saturday. The game, originally scheduled for March 3, will begin at 7 p.m. at La Roche’s Kerr Fitness Center and will be...

Wake Forest has replaced Boston College as Pitt’s opponent Saturday after a positive test and subsequent quarantining and contract tracing within the BC program. The game, moved from its original date of Feb. 7, will be played in Winston-Salem, N.C., with the same start time (6 p.m.) and telecast venue...

For Justin Champagnie, Pitt’s 79-73 victory against Duke on Tuesday night was all about gaining respect – for his team and himself. Playing in a nearly empty Petersen Events Center that would have been rocking under normal circumstances, Pitt survived a Duke rally that three times trimmed a 15-point lead...

When Keith Dambrot played infield for the Akron Zips, he set a school record for getting hit by pitches. Which, to his way of thinking, toughened him for any hits he’s taken as Duquesne’s basketball coach. “I got hit with 18 pitches in one year, and I just got hit...

If anyone thinks beating Duke has lost some of its prestige, let Jeff Capel tell you about the 1994-1995 Blue Devils. “I was on the last (Duke) team that didn’t make the (NCAA) Tournament,” he said. “And even though we were 2-14 — we stunk — people still stormed the...

Penn State’s 2020 football season — and the days that followed — were marked by change, personnel upheaval and something that is rarely experienced by the Nittany Lions and difficult for coaches, players and fans to accept: A losing record. For the first time since 2004, Penn State (4-5) lost...

Pitt’s flurry of points against Syracuse on Saturday can be quantified in a variety of ways. • The Panthers scored 96 points, the most in a conference game that didn’t go into overtime since Pitt recorded 98 against DePaul in 2008. • It also was Pitt’s highest total against the...

Duquesne sophomore guard Maceo Austin rejoined his teammates at practice Sunday after missing the past three games while taking a leave of absence for personal reasons, coach Keith Dambrot said. “We are glad to have him back,” Dambrot said. “It means a lot.” Austin probably won’t play Wednesday against Rhode...

At one point, Justin Champagnie just laughed at Jeff Capel’s question. “I kept asking him, ‘Are you OK?’ ” Pitt’s coach said. ” ‘Are you tired? Are you tired?’ Champagnie’s answer: A definite “No!” Who could blame Capel for being concerned? Was his star forward putting too much trauma on...

Justin Champagnie beat his timetable for recovery from a knee injury by two weeks and was in the starting lineup Saturday for Pitt’s game against Syracuse at Petersen Events Center. Champagnie injured the knee in practice Dec. 20, but missed only two games after four others were postponed because of...

Perhaps to maintain his sanity and to ensure his players understand that the season is far from finished, Keith Dambrot found some little victories Friday night inside the big picture. Duquesne’s 62-48 road loss to St. Bonaventure is what matters most, however. The Dukes have lost two in a row...

Two questions quickly come to mind when pondering Pitt’s game Saturday against Syracuse at Petersen Events Center: • Will the game be played? Don’t laugh. It would be only Pitt’s third game since before Christmas. • Does Pitt’s 6-2 record (2-1 ACC) give rise to optimism? Let’s examine those questions...

Basketball coaches try to avoid a variety of circumstances that can impact a game in a negative way. Poor free-throw shooting, failure to gain proper position while rebounding, foul trouble and a lack of hustle come to mind. Those are normal issues that can be fixed, to some extent, with...

Let’s examine the state of the Duquesne basketball team through seven games after a 72-63 loss at Dayton on Wednesday night. • The Dukes (3-4, 2-3 Atlantic 10) can’t shoot well enough or find others enough open shots. The result is an unacceptable 34.8 shooting percentage over the past three...

After Robert Morris opened its season Dec. 5 with a victory against Point Park, the Colonials’ next two games were canceled. Back in business Dec. 18, Robert Morris lost nonconference games to Bowling Green and Marshall before surpassing the century mark the day after Christmas in its first Horizon League...

Duquesne will have a new Duquesne Duke mascot to greet athletes and fans when it moves the athletic department into UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse this year. The university’s athletic department introduced the mascot on its Twitter account. Behind the design. @changeupinc • #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/NQ95L0KN8N— Duquesne Athletics (@GoDuquesne) January 13, 2021 The...

Duquesne has reached a point in this covid-ravaged season of upheaval where coach Keith Dambrot hopes to set aside what has gone before it and focus on the future. Most of the team tested positive for covid-19 at one point or another, but Dambrot said Tuesday all results have been...

Several Duquesne players knelt, others stood while the national anthem was played before the game against Fordham at La Roche University on Saturday. Coach Keith Dambrot said he respects both points of view. “I believe in the First Amendment. I believe in people’s right for choice,” he said. “I understand...

By most metrics, Pitt’s defense graded out as one of the best in the FBS last season. Defensive coordinator Randy Bates, the man who unleashed Pitt’s top-20 unit, was honored Tuesday by the American Football Coaches Association as the FBS Assistant Coach of the Year. Bates, who has been on...

Pitt continued to build its football class of 2022 when Elijah Statham, a junior defensive lineman at Smyrna (Del.) High School, committed to the Panthers. Statham announced his verbal commitment on his Twitter account. pic.twitter.com/DaxgXjPJVL— EJ (@elijah_statham3) January 12, 2021 Statham, 6-foot-2, 275 pounds, will join his brother Michael, who...

A day after informing his team for the fourth time this season that a game had been postponed, Pitt coach Jeff Capel had some good news Monday morning. He expects Justin Champagnie to return from his knee injury before the original six-to-eight week timetable announced after he injured the lateral...

After missing what would have been his 64th start in less than three seasons Saturday, Duquesne junior point guard Sincere Carry is planning to transfer, a source told the Tribune-Review. Carry has been one of the team’s most important players for the past two seasons, plus the first five games...