Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 119
‘Burgh’s best to wear it, No. 69: Pitt’s Randy Dixon, AC/DC fan, an electric choice
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best 100 players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 69: Randy Dixon Running into defensive linemen all day takes a toll on a man. But when it was time to relax, Pitt’s...
Analysis: 10 victories represent reasonable goal for Pitt football in 2020
The magic number is 10, a victory total that has been unattainable at Pitt for the past decade, and a reality only once since 1981. But it’s a reasonable goal for Pat Narduzzi’s 2020 team, his sixth at Pitt. Narduzzi welcomes back 12 players on defense and seven on offense...
2nd WVU football player tests positive for covid-19
A second West Virginia football player has tested positive for the covid-19 and will enter self-isolation for the next 14 days, the university’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced Saturday. The player was not identified. As part of WVU’s health and safety protocol, contact tracing began and identified additional WVU players...
Miami (Ohio) transfer Nike Sibande brings scoring potential to Pitt basketball
Jeff Capel’s makeover of Pitt basketball continued Saturday when he announced the addition of former Miami (Ohio) guard Nike Sibande to the 2020-2021 roster. He has one season of eligibility remaining. Sibande must sit out this season as a transfer, unless he is granted a waiver by the NCAA. But...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear it, No. 73: Mark May sent out ‘May Day’ calls to Pitt opponents
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 73: Mark May They called him “May Day,” the international signal for distress, because that’s what Mark May created for opponents during his time...
Pitt safety Paris Ford: ‘This can be a historic season for the Panthers’Video
Taking a brief break from his offseason workouts, Paris Ford agreed Thursday to do a video interview with the ACC Network. Pitt’s junior safety enjoyed the conversation with the morning team of Mark Packer and Wes Durham — even inviting the duo to enjoy the chicken and waffles with him...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear it, No. 76: Steelers’ John Banaszak coached 2 college teams, reached 3 Halls of Fame
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 76: John Banaszak Under-recruited out of high school and undrafted after college, John Banaszak still found a way to make an indelible mark no...
Wide receiver Jahan Dotson embraces chance to replace lost parts at Penn State
Wide receiver Jahan Dotson may show up Monday at the first day of Penn State’s voluntary conditioning drills, armed with a bit more motivation than many of his teammates. The urge to prove everyone wrong can be a powerful force. At least, that’s the hope. “A lot of people have...
Source: Robert Morris likely moving to Horizon League
Robert Morris, which has been a member of the Northeast Conference since upgrading to Division I in 1981, is likely moving into the Horizon League in time for the 2020-21 academic year, a source told the Tribune-Review. The move is not official, but the university may make an announcement next...
Pirates’ Nick Gonzales went from college walk-on to 1st-round pick
Loud, stern and impactful, three words flew from Mike Gonzales’ lips to his son’s ears. “Swing the bat,” Gonzales shouted. Which is strange because there is nothing Nick Gonzales, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2020 first-round draft choice, likes more than swinging a baseball bat. That was especially true during that 2017...
Cornerback Keaton Ellis followed his dream to Penn State, now looking for starting jobVideo
The first steps taken in the direction of Keaton Ellis’ dream occurred when he ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at a Penn State camp. It was late spring, 2017. He hadn’t even started his junior year at State College High School. Later that day, when coach James Franklin invited him...
‘Burgh’s best to wear it, No. 82: Steelers’ John Stallworth went from 4th-round pick to Hall of Fame
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best 100 players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 82: John Stallworth Chuck Noll wanted to select John Stallworth in the first round of the 1974 NFL Draft. Art Rooney Jr., the...
Report: NCAA will vote on early start to summer football drills
College football players recently unleashed from coronavirus quarantine might be permitted to interact with coaches at workouts as early as two days after the Fourth of July. After spring practices were either truncated or canceled by covid-19, the NCAA Division I Oversight Committee is expected to vote June 17 on...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi issues statement after he was criticized for use of word ‘thug’
While racial tensions erupted across the U.S. after the death last month of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, former Pitt linebacker Elias Reynolds went on Twitter and called out coach Pat Narduzzi for the use of the word “thug.” Another former player, Justin Morgan, also tweeted dissatisfaction...
Pitt’s Troost has mixed feelings about response to his kneeling during anthem in 2017Video
During the 2017 season, Ian Troost knelt among his upright Pitt football teammates during the playing of the national anthem at Heinz Field. Peacefully, he was protesting police brutality and racial injustice, trying to create awareness and dialogue that might lead to change. “I wanted to be a white ally,”...
Pitt graduates write letter to administrators, urging support for black student-athletes
This letter was composed by former Pitt student-athletes and graduates Jordan Fields and Ian Troost and sent Monday to the school’s athletic department and administration. We write this as alumni with a complicated love for the University of Pittsburgh. We find it difficult to differentiate between our pride in our...
Pitt adds Georgia cornerback Khalil Anderson to class of 2021
Pitt continued to stockpile high school seniors Friday, adding two defensive backs to its 16-man class of 2021. Two years ago, Pitt didn’t get its first verbal commitment until June 10. COMMITTED #Hail2Pitt ?? pic.twitter.com/gSPxv1sB48— Khalil Anderson ✞ (@_KhalilAnderson) June 6, 2020 Cornerback Khalil Anderson of Riverwood High School in...
Central Valley safety Stephon Hall chooses Pitt
Stephon Hall’s path to a Pitt scholarship started six months ago. In Central Valley’s victory against Aliquippa in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game, Hall picked off two passes in the fourth quarter and helped stop the Quips’ 2-point conversion attempt in overtime to nail down a 13-12 victory. Three...
Pitt football players’ voices heard in shout-out against racial injustice
Expectations are high for the Pitt football team this season. But nothing any Pitt player will do while wearing a helmet will have the same impact as the words of nine of them in a 4-minute, 32-second video produced this week. My time on the team taught me more than...
Penn State’s return to campus begins Monday with 75 football players
The first phase of Penn State athletes returning to campus after a nearly three-month shutdown will begin Monday with 75 football players. Penn State officials released a series of protocols Thursday night that includes quarantine and testing. Those athletes who are medically cleared may participate in voluntary on-campus workouts beginning...
Four Pitt voices speak loudly on the passing of coach Johnny Majors
Here’s what Pitt people are saying about Johnny Majors, who died Tuesday night in Knoxville, Tenn.: Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher “Coach John Majors was, and always will be, an important part of the University of Pittsburgh’s history. He is a celebrated championship-winning coach, but his impact on our players endured...
Years after leaving, Johnny Majors told John Pelusi, ‘I should have never left Pitt’
Johnny Majors walked down the steps into John Pelusi’s basement, picked up a cue stick, surveyed the pool table and laid down a challenge. “He said to my dad, ‘If I beat you at pool, your son’s going to come to Pitt,’” Pelusi said. “My dad says, ‘He’s not going...
Penn State’s Shaka Toney pushes teammate P.J. Mustipher beyond his perceived limits
Shaka Toney earned second-team All-Big Ten honors while recording 6½ sacks last season. That makes him the sack leader among Penn State’s returning players. But that’s only part of the reason junior defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher respects the Nittany Lions’ fifth-year senior defensive end. The other part stems from a...
Jackie Sherrill says Johnny Majors was his ‘father figure’
Jackie Sherrill said he had little trouble replacing Johnny Majors as Pitt’s coach in 1977. He had recruited and coached most of the players over three seasons at Pitt. After spending the 1976 season as coach at Washington State, Sherrill was the logical choice to replace Majors, who left for...
’Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 89: Mike Ditka came to Pitt to be a dentist, left a legendary football playerVideo
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 89: Mike Ditka Mike Ditka forged his reputation on toughness, running over defenders as a tight end and challenging his players as a Super...
