Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 123
Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot will welcome 6-man freshman classVideo
Through his three seasons at Duquesne, Keith Dambrot has shown a willingness to change the immediate face of the program when he thought it was necessary. This offseason, however, the 61-year-old coach focused on the future, signing six players who may improve depth initially and could form a solid foundation...
Will Penn State really allow Micah Parsons to return kickoffs?
When Micah Parsons most recently wore shoulder pads, he terrorized Memphis ball carriers in one of the greatest all-time defensive spectacles by a Penn State linebacker. He recorded 14 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles in a 53-39 Cotton Bowl victory. After the game, Parsons talked of winning the...
PSU special teams coach Joe Lorig fishing for football, and maybe a day off to fish
During his Zoom conference call with reporters Tuesday, Penn State special teams/outside linebackers coach Joe Lorig talked about two of his favorite topics — kickers and fishing. Lorig said senior Jordan Stout will replace punter Blake Gilliken. But he’ll also handle his accustomed kickoff and long field goal duties and...
Pandemic temporarily derails big break for ex-Greensburg Central Catholic baseball star Warren Schaeffer
He used to hang out with Tourists and Drillers, Yard Goats and Dust Devils, Sky Sox and Nuts. And Hokies, especially the Hokies. Warren Schaeffer, who grew up in Vandergrift, was a PIAA champion at Greensburg Central Catholic and a four-year starting shortstop at Virginia Tech, finally has hit a...
Robert Morris gets 6-9 forward Tyson Brown’s signature on letter of intent
Robert Morris, the defending Northeast Conference champion, signed 6-foot-9 forward Tyson Brown to a national letter of intent Friday, giving the Colonials four committed members for its class of 2021. Brown, who played last season at Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, Va., averaged 13.7 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting...
Clarion wrestler Shae Bloom, 22, dies
Clarion’s Shae Bloom, one of most successful high school wrestlers in Pennsylvania during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, died Thursday, Clarion officials said. Bloom was 22. The cause of death was not disclosed. During his two years as an active wrestler at Clarion, Bloom compiled a 15-6 record in 2018-19...
Duquesne plans challenging start to 2020-2021 basketball season
Duquesne will confront a tough gauntlet of opponents early next basketball season when the Dukes compete in the Maryland Showcase. They will play three games in seven days and face two opponents that won 20-plus games in 2019-2020. The series will be punctuated Nov. 22 when Duquesne meets Big Ten...
Pitt extends scholarship offers to Beaver Falls’ Josh Hough, Brashear’s Ta’Mere Robinson
Pitt extended scholarship offers to two area prospects Thursday. Beaver Falls junior running back Josh Hough, who scored a touchdown an average of every 7 1/2 carries last season, and Brashear freshman safety Ta’Mere Robinson (6-3, 190) announced the offers on their Twitter accounts. Blessed to receive an offer from...
Pitt AD Heather Lyke ‘optimistic’ about return of college football, but ‘not overly confident’Video
Heather Lyke continues to remain optimistic that there will be college football this year, but she said Thursday she is not “overly confident.” “There are just a lot of unknowns still out there,” Pitt’s athletic director said on 93.7 FM. “I would categorize my expectation as optimistic. But I’m relatively...
Pitt signs guard Femi Odukale to boost 2020 class to four players
Femi Odukale, who came remarkably close to averaging a triple-double in his post-grad season, signed a national letter of intent with Pitt on Wednesday. That brings coach Jeff Capel’s 2020 class to four players. “Femi displayed outstanding versatility, talent, toughness and competitiveness during an outstanding post-grad season,” Capel said in...
Terry Smith finds one of his many niches on Penn State’s coaching staff
Terry Smith won 101 games and led Gateway High School to four WPIAL championship games while serving for more than a decade as football coach and athletic director at his alma mater. He holds a coveted berth in the WPIAL Hall of Fame. On Wednesday, he spoke of a high...
Pitt lands 2019 Mountain West Freshman of the Year Jayla Everett
Lance White can’t put Jayla Everett in his lineup until the second semester of the 2020-21 Pitt season, but he believes she will be worth the wait. Pitt’s women’s basketball coach made Everett’s transfer official Wednesday after a season and a half at New Mexico. “She is a dynamic player...
Pitt athletics floods Twitter with year-end awards
Pitt’s athletic department refused to allow the covid-19 quarantine to shut down its presentation of the most accomplished student-athletes of the past academic year. So, the third annual Panthers’ Choice Awards went viral via Twitter on Wednesday. Several staff members, including Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, and former student-athletes, including Dan Marino,...
Recruiting calls keep Penn State’s Terry Smith busy
Penn State might get about 10 fewer names on national letters of intent than it received last year, but that doesn’t mean Terry Smith’s job will be any easier. While quarantined at home, Smith said he is on his phone so much that at night he’s forced to give in...
To celebrate Jackie Robinson, Pirates will make deliveries to people affected by covid-19
Need toilet paper, or, perhaps, lunch? Pirates Charities will help those in need Wednesday while celebrating the 73rd anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the MLB color barrier. MLB typically marks the occasion of the Dodgers infielder’s memorable achievement by having every player wear Robinson’s No. 42. The games are canceled...
Journey Brown leads Penn State’s deep stable of running backsVideo
Ja’Juan Seider meant no disrespect when he arrived at Penn State to coach running backs two years ago and declared Journey Brown was “a track kid playing football.” Of course, that’s what Brown was. He won back-to-back 100-meter PIAA Class AAA championships at Meadville, clocking 10.73 seconds in 2016 and...
Local agent Alex Guminski helps athletes chase a dream
Aaron Mathews only wanted the opportunity to get noticed. Alex Guminski helped make that happen. Guminski, a Pittsburgh-based NFL agent, found a way for local football players to get exposed to pro scouts — while adhering to social distancing guidelines — by organizing workouts for Mathews, Pitt teammate Jazzee Stocker...
Former Pitt wrestler Joe Solomon named to Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame
Joe Solomon, a Pitt wrestler who won an NCAA championship in 1954, has been named to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Solomon, a Canonsburg native, won his title at 167 pounds, but that was only one achievement in a long wrestling career. In four years at Pitt, he was...
Disjointed NBA season leaves unanswered questions for WVU’s Oscar Tshiebwe
While NBA teams have no idea when — or if — their season will resume, there has been talk of postponing the draft from June 25 until sometime in August. It is a situation watched closely by West Virginia coach Bob Huggins and Mountaineers freshman Oscar Tshiebwe, who has filed...
West Virginia’s Bob Huggins calls NCAA transfer proposal ‘ridiculous’
Aside from the obvious pandemic-related hurdles that confront every college program, Bob Huggins has fewer problems than most coaches. There are issues, however. West Virginia’s basketball coach would like to see his team improve its free-throwing shooting. The Mountaineers were 333rd of 350 schools last season (64.2%). “That’s why they...
Displaced marathoners hope to reach their goals virtually
In Erin Donahue’s mind, 2020 was the year it would happen. She had been training diligently. She felt good. She would reach her goal to complete the Pittsburgh Marathon in under four hours. Donahue, a distance runner since her days at Blackhawk, had been running at least 30 hours a...
Duquesne lands three-star forward Toby Okani
Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot continued to build his class of 2020 on Friday when forward Toby Okani verbally committed to enroll. Okani made the announcement on his Twitter account. ???? Ramiir Dixon-Conover (@1neRDC) April 11, 2020 Okani, 6-foot-7, played at Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Mass., last season. He is...
With family by his side, Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi prepares for football
One minute, a recruit will send Pat Narduzzi a text message while he’s on a conference call with reporters. Then, Marty, the family dog, might bounce into the room, perhaps looking for something to eat or checking to make sure Pitt’s football coach is hard at work and not sneaking...
Penn State gets commitments from three prospects in a busy afternoon
Penn State received verbal commitments from three prospects within an hour’s time Friday afternoon. Four-star safety Jaylen Reed of Detroit posted on Twitter his intention to enroll Thursday night. Then, four-star safety Zakee Wheatley of Severn, Md., and four-star cornerback Kalen King of Cass Technical in Detroit committed Friday afternoon,...
Penn State coaches will seek big plays, leadership from Clairton’s Lamont Wade
Whether Lamont Wade was at Clairton or Penn State, one or two doses of a good thing wasn’t enough. While leading Clairton to the WPIAL Class 1A championship in 2016, he returned interceptions for touchdowns in three consecutive playoff games. The last of the picks turned into an 83-yard score...
