Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 120
Pitt commit Malik Newton’s coach calls him ‘unique kind of kid’
Hank Sawyer has seen dozens of running backs come through his program while winning three state championships in 22 years as coach at Lake Taylor (Va.) High School. With all that experience, you would think he understands what makes Pitt commit Malik Newton such a successful high school player. “I...
Pitt leaders use Twitter to condemn killing of George Floyd, 2 others
From the Cathedral of Learning to Petersen Events Center to the football team’s training facility on the South Side, some of Pitt’s most high-profile officials and coaches have expressed sadness and outrage at the killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. Football coach Pat Narduzzi said in a...
In tough times, Penn State’s P.J. Mustipher eager for a return to comforts of State College
P.J. Mustipher wants to return to Penn State’s campus for an obvious reason: He loves playing football for the Nittany Lions and is beyond ready to begin preparing for the 2020 season. It’s nice back home in Owings Mills, Md., but it’s time to get to work. “I’m so eager,”...
Penn State’s C.J. Thorpe sends peaceful, but powerful, message during State College rallyVideo
At 6-foot-3, 328 pounds, C.J. Thorpe has no trouble making his presence known on the football field. But in front of a crowd of hundreds Sunday in State College, the Penn State senior offensive lineman made an impact in another way: using his words and thoughts in an effort to...
With health safeguards in place, Pitt football players returning June 8 for voluntary workouts
Pitt football is returning to the South Side next month in the form of voluntary workouts. For the first time since March, when spring drills were canceled after three days in the wake of covid-19 concerns, Pitt’s football players will be welcomed back to campus June 8, athletic director Heather...
West Virginia says football coaches, players can return to campus in June
West Virginia has put a phased plan in motion to bring football back to Morgantown in June. After the Big 12 said last week that student-athletes could return to on-campus facilities June 15 for voluntary workouts, the school followed up Friday with the announcement of its plan for coaches and...
Marketing consultant Jeremy Darlow helps Pitt athletes prepare for day they ‘take the jersey off’
Like many people, Jeremy Darlow has played sports, read about them and enjoyed virtual experiences through video games. Beyond what most people have encountered, however, Darlow has talked to the participants about their futures. A former director of marketing for Adidas who has worked with celebrities from Snoop Dogg to...
Pitt’s Kenny Pickett eager to resume preparing for the 2020 season
Kenny Pickett is home in Oakhurst, N.J., fishing with his dad, walking the dog, working out in a buddy’s garage and binge watching “Game of Thrones” and “The Office.” He is doing all the things he probably wouldn’t be doing in late spring if not for covid-19 and the pandemic...
Pitt’s recruiting class ranked No. 20 after Florida prospect gives verbal commitment
Pitt’s 2021 recruiting class bumped up to No. 20 in the nation — and No. 4 in the ACC — Thursday when cornerback Noah Biglow, a three-star prospect from Seffner, Fla., pledged to enroll next year. Coach Pat Narduzzi flipped Biglow, who had committed to Iowa State last month. Seven...
‘Burgh’s best to wear it, No. 95: Steelers’ Greg Lloyd left indelible mark
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. 95: Greg Lloyd Bryan Cox didn’t believe Greg Lloyd knocked Dan Marino “into next week” with a particularly ferocious hit in a game at...
Pitt cancels sports camps through August
In an attempt to help curb the spread of covid-19, Pitt canceled its sports camps scheduled for May, June and July, plus all its residential camps through August. Many of the camps were avenues for football prospects to be seen by coaches. The Pitt Sports Camps office will provide a...
Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth eager to embrace lofty goals
Don’t bother trying to contact Pat Freiermuth on social media. “I actually deleted my social media a week ago,” the Penn State tight end said Wednesday. If you see one of those too-soon NFL mock drafts projecting Freiermuth as a 2021 first-round choice, he would rather not talk about it...
Pitt lands commitment from 3-star RB Malik Newton, 4th prospect from Virginia
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi continued to bolster his 2021 class of verbal commits Tuesday night when running back Malik Newton of Norfolk, Va., pledged to enroll next year. Newton made his commitment on Instagram live. Newton, ranked a three-star prospect by Rivals.com, is the second running back in Pitt’s class...
Clairton’s Lamont Wade approaches senior year at Penn State, learns to confront change
The world is changing for Clairton’s Lamont Wade as he approaches his senior season at Penn State. And the covid-19 pandemic that canceled spring football and threatens the structure — if not the entirety — of the 2020 season is only partially responsible. He is 21 years old now, a...
Pitt football partners with branding expert Jeremy Darlow
In response to the NCAA Board of Governor’s vote to allow athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL), Pitt football announced Tuesday a partnership with marketing consultant and best-selling author Jeremy Darlow. Pitt’s football players will have access to Darlow’s online course, The DARLOW Rules, which is...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 97: Aaron Donald tops an impressive groupVideo
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. 97: Aaron Donald Other than a devastatingly quick first step and the brute strength forged by hours in his Penn Hills basement, nothing defined...
Trailblazing Duquesne star Jim Tucker dies at 87Video
If not for the Jim Crow laws in Kentucky in the 1950s, Jim Tucker might have been the first black basketball player at Kentucky. Instead, legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp recommended Tucker to his friend, Duquesne coach Chick Davies. And a year after Duquesne’s Chuck Cooper became the first African-American...
Pitt’s Jaylen Twyman, Patrick Jones prepare virtually, hoping for the real thing
By strict definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word virtual means “very close to being something without actually being it.” Tell that to Pitt junior defensive lineman Jaylen Twyman, who confronted a dose of reality during a recent virtual workout on the bench press by recording 33 reps of 225...
2 Pitt softball seniors will return after pandemic interrupted spring season
Pitt softball seniors Walker Barbee and Connor McGaffic will take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted to spring sports student-athletes by the NCAA, ACC and Pitt and return to school next season. Spring sports ended prematurely this year in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic. Barbee, a 2019...
Pitt, Penn State, Duquesne athletes beat national averages in classroom progress
Student-athletes from Penn State, Pitt and Duquesne surpassed national averages in academic progress over the past four years, according to data released Tuesday by the NCAA. At Penn State, a school-record 20 teams earned perfect APR scores of 1,000 during the 2018-19 academic year, an increase of seven from the...
Controversy, intensity, sharp elbows marked previous chapters of Pitt/Duquesne rivalry
The Pitt/Duquesne basketball rivalry has cooled over the years. In 2020, for the second consecutive season, it won’t appear on the Pittsburgh sports calendar. Yet there are several moments that made it the most intense rivalry in the city’s history. Duquesne’s Andy Sisinni played in nine of the 87 games...
Pitt may sport new, more athletic look in Jeff Capel’s third season
Jeff Capel was disappointed with how his second season as Pitt’s coach ended, with losses in seven of the last eight games and losing records overall (16-17) and in the ACC (6-14). It was especially distressing because he believed as late as Feb. 8 that Pitt was on the brink...
Former Bucknell shot blocker Kahliel Spear transfers to Robert Morris
Kahliel Spear, who led Bucknell in blocked shots last season mainly in a reserve role, has transferred to Robert Morris with two years of eligibility remaining. He won’t be eligible until the 2021-22 season, according to NCAA transfer rules. Spear (6-foot-7, 207 pounds) played the past two seasons at Bucknell,...
Covid-19 forces ACC commissioner John Swofford to prepare for Plans ‘B, C and D’
ACC commissioner John Swofford is an optimist — but also a realist — about the immediate future of intercollegiate athletics in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic. “We have to prepare for a somewhat normal return to play,” he said Thursday in a conference call with reporters, “and we have...
Dukes AD, Keith Dambrot sound off as City Game between Pitt, Duquesne not on schedule
The City Game, which used to be an annual grudge match between Pitt and Duquesne, has been kicked off the area sports calendar again. Pitt coach Jeff Capel said Thursday the Dukes won’t be on his nonconference schedule for the second year in a row. When asked if Pitt will...
