Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 105
Duquesne cancels Friday’s game after 2 staff members test positive for covid-19
The Duquesne men’s basketball team will not play its game Friday against Winthrop at the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic in Louisville after two staff members tested positive for covid-19. The school will return to Pittsburgh on Friday and put its program on pause for an undetermined time period while players,...
Former Pitt guard Ryan Murphy transferring to Duquesne
Ryan Murphy, who spent last season leading Pitt in 3-point shooting before transferring, will enroll at Duquesne and join the basketball team as a graduate transfer, coach Keith Dambrot said Thursday night. Murphy will be eligible to join the team Dec. 11. After leaving Pitt, Murphy initially planned to go...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel tackles long list of improvements before confronting ACC
Two games into Pitt’s season — and with a 10-point loss to a mid-major team that didn’t win its conference last season — there are more items on Jeff Capel’s to-do list than he can address in a week’s time. Especially this week, with players taking final exams while preparing...
Duquesne men’s, women’s basketball moves 11 ‘home’ games off campus to La Roche
While waiting for renovation of the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse to be completed, Duquesne’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will move 11 Atlantic 10 games to La Roche University’s Kerr Fitness Center, 10 miles from campus. This will be the second consecutive season the Dukes will play most — it not...
Duquesne bounces back to defeat UNC Greensboro
Keith Dambrot had plenty of reasons to feel good about Duquesne’s 81-68 victory Wednesday night against UNC Greensboro in the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic in Louisville, Ky. Most important for the Dukes coach was how his players recovered from a lethargic, 10-point loss to Arkansas-Little Rock on Monday. After that...
Pitt adds game vs. Northern Illinois on Saturday at the Pete
Jeff Capel wanted to enter the ACC portion of Pitt’s schedule with more than four nonconference games behind him. He made it happen Tuesday by adding No. 5. Pitt will play Northern Illinois of the MAC at 7 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Northern Illinois (0-1) suffered a tough...
Robert Morris’ first game Saturday at St. Francis canceled
The Robert Morris men’s basketball team canceled its game Saturday at St. Francis (Pa.), the fourth cancellation of the 2020-2021 season opener. The school previously called off games with Point Park, Central Michigan and Florida Gulf Coast. Instead, the Colonials will play at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at West Virginia....
Pitt’s D.J. Turner invited to Fort Worth, Texas, to work out for pro scouts
Pitt senior wide receiver/returner D.J. Turner has been invited to participate in the 2021 College Gridiron Showcase & Symposium Jan. 17-21, in Fort Worth, Texas. Turner, who joined the team in September after transferring from Maryland, is Pitt’s second-leading pass catcher, with 39 receptions for 552 yards (14.2 per catch)...
Pitt gets commitment from 6th offensive lineman in class of 2021
Pitt continued to stack offensive linemen in its class of 2021 on Tuesday when Kyle Fugedi of Livonia, Mich., confirmed his verbal commitment on Twitter. 1000% Committed @Pitt_FB @CoachDuzzPittFB @CoachBorbs @FranklinFootbal @AllenTrieu @KLAASports @TheDZone @Chris_Topher58 @fugedi_lynne @ryleeguidashh #H2P #PITT2L1TT pic.twitter.com/CSBqqn8PVG— Kyle Fugedi (@kylefugedi) December 1, 2020 With only 15 days...
Robert Morris women’s first Horizon League series canceled
The Robert Morris women’s basketball team’s inaugural Horizon League series has been canceled as a result of positive covid-19 tests within host Cleveland State’s program. Two games were scheduled for Dec. 12 and 13. Horizon League and Robert Morris officials are attempting to replace the series with another against a...
Duquesne ‘running in mud’ while losing opener to Little Rock
Duquesne’s 76-66 loss to Arkansas-Little Rock in its season opener Monday was troubling, but coach Keith Dambrot saw it coming. “We just didn’t play very well,” he said on a conference call from Louisville, the site of the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic. “Doesn’t surprise me. We haven’t practiced particularly well....
No fans at Robert Morris games through Dec. 31
The Robert Morris Department of Athletics and Horizon League are taking an additional step in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The school and the conference announced Monday that the pause on spectator attendance at men’s and women’s hockey and basketball games has been extended through Dec....
Pitt gets commitment from tight end Gavin Bartholomew; 2021 class ranked 20th in nation
All news regarding Pitt wasn’t bad this weekend. Committed!?? #H2P pic.twitter.com/Y2Pu3DpoTV— Gavin Bartholomew (@GavinBartholom6) November 30, 2020 Tight end Gavin Bartholomew, a senior at Blue Mountain High School in Schuylkill Haven, gave coach Pat Narduzzi a verbal commitment Sunday. He is the sixth recruit from Pennsylvania to join Pitt’s 2021...
Pitt’s overall 5-5 record gives defensive end Rashad Weaver no reason to smile
When at some point next year, he sets aside the failures that marked Pitt’s season, defensive end Rashad Weaver might crack a proud smile. For now, however, he is toiling for a team that has lost as many games (five) as it’s won, and that doesn’t sit well with him....
Miserable night for Pitt against ‘measuring stick’ Clemson
Pitt’s 52-17 loss to Clemson on Saturday night was bad, but no more devastating than any of the four that preceded it. Whether it was 31-19 to Miami or the three interceptions Joey Yellen threw in a 42-point loss to Notre Dame or the failure to overcome one-point deficits while...
Duquesne opens season Monday, will play three games in five days
Keith Dambrot welcomes back six players who played at least 25 minutes last season for Duquesne. That’s a strong base of experience, but if you think that gives Dambrot a cozy feeling, you don’t know Duquesne’s coach and you haven’t been paying attention the past eight months. In the midst...
Another marquee matchup offers Pitt the chance to leave its mark on college football, 2020
In most seasons, Pitt doesn’t get many chances to impact who goes — or doesn’t go — to the College Football Playoff. But for the second time in a month, the Panthers confront one of the top three teams in the nation. They lost to No. 2 Notre Dame, 45-3,...
DC Randy Bates hopes Pitt’s sacks, interceptions turn into something bigger
Ignoring Pitt’s won/loss record and focusing only on the good-news stats might raise false hope about the Panthers’ chances of upsetting Clemson on Saturday. “You are what your record says you are,” Bill Parcells famously remarked. His point was a team can look good, but if you don’t win the...
Saturday’s West Virginia-Oklahoma football game postponed until Dec. 12
West Virginia’s game against No. 11 Oklahoma, scheduled for Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va., has been postponed, Big 12 Conference officials announced Wednesday. The action stems from Oklahoma’s inability to meet the required covid-19 thresholds, as established by the Big 12. The conference has rescheduled the game...
Pitt’s Alex Kessman: ‘Every kick is a game-winning kick’
Alex Kessman is a kicker. By definition, he stops and thinks about everything. “Ninety percent of what I do is between the ears,” he said. The snap, the hold, even the wind. Why should his future get less attention? No one at Pitt has booted more field goals (64) through...
Jimmy Morrissey ventures into Death Valley, hoping to find the missing piece to his Pitt career
When he was asked how he has grown over the past four years, Jimmy Morrissey smiled and rubbed his chin with pride. “I can grow facial here now, as you guys can see,” Pitt’s senior center said Tuesday over a Zoom call with reporters. Of course, there’s more to Morrissey’s...
Pitt will limit attendance at the Pete to 500 people
The Petersen Events Center will be a relatively quiet place for the foreseeable future. Adhering to new state and local covid-19 restrictions, Pitt will not offer general seating for single game tickets for home basketball games and will limit attendance to 500 people, the university announced Tuesday morning. Total capacity...
Underdog Pitt prepares to face 4th-ranked Clemson, Trevor LawrenceVideo
The topic was quarterbacks and underdogs Monday at Pat Narduzzi’s weekly chat with reporters. It’s Clemson week. What did you expect? Certainly not a discussion of what oddsmakers are saying about Pitt’s game Saturday in Death Valley against No. 4 Clemson. Narduzzi wants no part of that particular conversation. “I...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel shepherds young team into uncertain season
While wading cautiously into his third season as Pitt’s basketball coach, Jeff Capel doesn’t know what to expect. He likes what he has seen at practice. But doesn’t everyone before the games begin? The Panthers expect to improve on last season’s shooting percentage (40.4, the program’s worst in 51 years),...
No. 1 Pitt soccer loses to Clemson in ACC championship match
After sitting on Zoom calls, remaining under quarantine and doing little more than thinking about soccer for three weeks, Pitt’s men’s soccer team found itself one victory from winning the ACC championship. But the No. 1-ranked team in the nation had its seven-game winning streak stopped Sunday in Cary, N.C.,...
