Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 102

Pitt’s men’s basketball season has been interrupted again after the ACC postponed the Panthers’ game Wednesday at Georgia Tech. The postponement is because of a positive covid-19 test and subsequent contact tracing within the Yellow Jackets program. The postponement is Pitt’s fourth this season, one more conference game than the...

Keith Dambrot has experienced a variety of emotions in what might be the strangest week of his 23-year coaching career. His Duquesne team lost two of its past three games, barely salvaging a 48-45 victory against Fordham on Saturday at La Roche University. Yet, the dominant issue six games into...

Duquesne is playing short-handed Saturday afternoon against Fordham after starting guards Sincere Carry and Maceo Austin left the team. It is not clear if the players’ absences are permanent. A Duquesne spokesman said Carry “has decided to take time away from the program.” Austin has “stepped away for personal reasons,”...

Pitt joined Alabama, Ohio State and Notre Dame as the only schools with multiple consensus All-Americans after the NCAA on Thursday bestowed that designation on senior defensive ends Patrick Jones II and Rashad Weaver. Pitt hasn’t had two consensus All-Americans in the same season since 1986 (offensive tackle Randy Dixon...

There will be no spectators at Robert Morris men’s and women’s basketball games the rest of the season after the Horizon League Board of Directors voted to play in empty arenas. In an attempt to curtail the spread of covid-19, the directors previously decided not to allow people inside through...

There might be two ways of looking at Pitt’s bad luck within the protocols of covid-19. The most obvious would be that the momentum created after starting 6-2 (2-1 in the ACC) has been interrupted. Pitt must wait a week for its next game Wednesday at Boston College. The team...

Duquesne’s men’s basketball team will appear on an ESPN network for the first time in more than four years Jan. 15 when the Dukes travel to St. Bonaventure. The game, originally scheduled for Jan. 16, will be televised on ESPN2 and will be part of the A-10 Friday Night Showcase....

Pitt will play Notre Dame on Jan. 30 at Petersen Events Center, one of three games that were postponed because of covid-19 concerns. The game, originally scheduled for Jan. 2, will begin at 8 p.m. and will be televised by the ACC Network. The other two postponements — games at...

Penn State coach James Franklin will work with his third offensive coordinator in three seasons after hiring Mike Yurcich on Friday as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach to replace Kirk Ciarrocca, who is gone after one season. Welcome Coach Yurcich (@Coach_Yurcich)!?: pic.twitter.com/eddLVIg5TJ— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) January 8, 2021...

After a stellar regular season, Rashad Weaver and Patrick Jones closed out their All-American postseason Thursday when the Pitt defensive ends were named to the Walter Camp Football Foundation first team. Weaver and Jones comprised half of the first-team defensive line on the oldest All-America squad in the nation. Selected...

For the third time this season, Pitt’s men’s basketball team is faced with a postponement due to covid-19 concerns. Pitt was scheduled to return to the Petersen Events to play No. 25 Florida State on Saturday in its first home game since Dec. 22. But the ACC postponed the game...

Jamie Dixon didn’t hear Jeff Capel’s remarks after Pitt defeated Syracuse. He was too busy preparing his TCU team for back-to-back games against No. 6 Kansas (a 93-64 loss Tuesday) and No. 2 Baylor (Saturday in Fort Worth). “My goal is to be in the toughest league in the country...

A week ago, Pitt coach Jeff Capel had more players coughing, sniffling and sneezing at practice than he had healthy bodies. When he finally got most of the group together Saturday, Pitt was forced to practice in three groups. Social distancing might work at the grocery store, but try it...

If he was prone to making excuses and covering up for his team’s problems, Keith Dambrot could have blamed fatigue and a crowded schedule for Duquesne’s 61-48 loss to Davidson on Tuesday night. After shedding the cloak of covid-19 that canceled or postponed multiple practices and games last month, the...

After starting the first four games and averaging the fourth-most minutes on the team, Duquesne junior guard Lamar Norman Jr. has decided to transfer. He announced his decision on Twitter about two hours before the Dukes were scheduled to play Davidson on Tuesday at La Roche. i would like to...

There are no secrets when a team confronts Syracuse. Jim Boeheim, 76, has been its head coach since 1976, stubbornly – and effectively – using the 2-3 zone defense that’s marked by long arms, steals and contested shots. Pitt’s Jeff Capel has played and coached against the Orange for many...

Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim and Jeff Capel have been head basketball coaches for a combined 97 seasons, leading teams into gymnasiums all over the world. But they can draw on nothing from their pasts that would help them shepherd their teams — Duke, Syracuse and Pitt — through the covid-19...

Jimmy Morrissey played center and was a two-year captain at Pitt. In those roles, he was expected to notice everything on and off the football field. It might be the way the middle linebacker shifts his weight before blitzing. Or, perhaps, the look in a teammate’s eyes when he might...

Off since Dec. 22, Pitt will return to action Wednesday with a game against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome under a reconfigured ACC men’s basketball schedule. Tipoff will be at 4:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by the ACC Network. Syracuse was originally scheduled to play Florida State...

For an instant, Duquesne appeared to have a difficult victory nailed down Sunday against George Washington. But that instant lasted no more than a second or two, and the Dukes were forced to shoulder a 75-73 defeat in the second of two games in two days at the Charles E....

Penn State’s men’s basketball team won’t get the chance to stop its three-game losing streak Sunday after its game against No. 6 Wisconsin, scheduled for the Bryce Jordan Center, was postponed. School officials said the postponement was mutually agreed upon between the schools due to “an abundance of caution for...

Robert Morris’ home game against Milwaukee, scheduled for Saturday at UPMC Events Center, was canceled less than two hours before tipoff after a positive covid-19 test and related safety concerns emerged within the Colonials’ program. The cancellation is the fifth for Robert Morris this season. The Colonials (3-3, 2-1 Horizon...

Even after a month of covid-related inactivity, no one should be surprised Duquesne defeated George Washington, 75-63, on Saturday in its first game since Dec. 2. There is experience in the starting lineup and depth on the bench, a fact proven by 43 points from four players who didn’t start....

In a normal season, Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot would welcome the presence of four players who already have earned their college degrees. Marcus Weathers, Michael Hughes, Tavian Dunn-Martin and Pitt transfer Ryan Murphy can be mentors for young players and important liaisons between the locker room and the coach’s office....

Since the start of the season, Jeff Capel has wondered about the wisdom of playing college basketball games in the midst of a pandemic. Now, only seven games into the season, the coronavirus is leaving Pitt’s coach and his players no choice. Late Thursday afternoon, Pitt (5-2, 1-1 ACC) postponed...