Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 126
Pirates, 29 other MLB clubs pledge $1 million each to aid ballpark workers during stoppage
The Pittsburgh Pirates have joined 29 other Major League Baseball teams in pledging $1 million each for ballpark workers who will lose income because of the delay to the start of the season. The season is not expected to start until at least mid-May due to the coronavirus, and many...
Pitt lands commitment from guard Femi Odukale for its class of 2020
Pitt men’s basketball received good news Tuesday for its depth at guard when three-star Femi Odukale announced on his Instagram account his plans to enroll next academic year. Odukale’s commitment came two days after guard Ryan Murphy entered his name in the transfer portal. View this post on Instagram What...
Pirates GM Ben Cherington confident season will happen, not sure when
Not long after Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred pushed back the start of the season to as late as mid-May, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said “there is a level of confidence” there will be games in 2020 on the major and minor league levels. But the coronavirus...
Coronavirus, social distancing can’t slow down Zumba enthusiasts
If you thought coronavirus gives you an excuse to pull the covers over your head and dump your exercise ritual, Krista Bremer won’t let it happen. Bremer, owner of Regent Square Zumba, is aware that many of her members are practicing social distancing. Especially this week, with six confirmed cases...
Guard Ryan Murphy will transfer from Pitt after one season
Ryan Murphy’s time with the Pitt basketball team will last one season. Murphy, who transferred from New Mexico Junior College last year after spending the previous season at Charlotte, entered the NCAA transfer portal. Murphy will have a year of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer. “We appreciate Ryan’s efforts...
Robert Morris coaches, athletes deal with lost seasons
After leaving a meeting Friday, Charlie Buscaglia walked outside to get in his car. The only important moment left in his day was to go home. What he encountered in the Friday sunlight wasn’t the Robert Morris campus he has known for the past 17 years. “Campus is really barren,”...
Pitt postpones Pro Day after NFL bans visits with draft-eligible players
Pitt postponed its annual Pro Day for seniors wishing to work out for NFL scouts after the league banned in-person visits with draft-eligible players. The session, which typically attracts scouts and executives from most NFL teams, was scheduled for Wednesday at the South Side practice facility Pitt shares with the...
Mixed results for Pitt basketball, but things looking up
It was always Jeff Capel’s intention and the hope of Pitt fans for the Panthers to play on the last day of the ACC Tournament. Just not this way. After Pitt was eliminated Wednesday in a 73-58 second-round loss to N.C. State, the ACC canceled the remaining three days of...
ACC suspension of all spring athletic activities will impact Pitt athletes
The ACC has decided to suspend all athletic activities, which will significantly impact Pitt teams on several fronts, including participation in the NCAA Wrestling Tournament, which was subsequently canceled by the NCAA. Also, spring football practice, games and recruiting will be discontinued for the duration of the spring. The ban...
A-10 cancels tournament; Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot wonders if NCAA will do the same
Duquesne’s men’s basketball team was in Brooklyn, N.Y., less than 24 hours before the Atlantic 10 canceled the remainder of its tournament Thursday morning in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Duquesne was scheduled to play its first game in the tournament at 8:30 p.m. Thursday...
Robert Morris men, women deal with disappointment
In a span of less than 48 hours, Robert Morris’ men’s basketball team went from elation to devastation when the NCAA canceled this year’s tournament. After beating St. Francis (Pa.), 77-67, on Tuesday night in the championship game of the Northeast Conference Tournament, the ultimate prize was taken away when...
Pitt’s athletics teams plan to maintain their normal schedule
While in-person classes at the University of Pittsburgh will transition to online and “alternative learning options” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Pitt’s athletics teams will continue their previously scheduled regimen of practices and home games, university officials announced. That includes the resumption of football’s spring drills Tuesday at...
Here’s how Robert Morris women’s coach Charlie Buscaglia dominates NECVideo
If the telephone rings in Charlie Buscaglia’s office, chances are he won’t answer it. He’ll get to it, just maybe not immediately. Actually, he might be at his desk counseling one of his Robert Morris basketball players, telling her, “Let it ring. I’ll get it later. Now, about your problem...
Keith Dambrot: Duquesne Dukes entering ‘the den’ of coronavirusVideo
Before the Atlantic 10 decided Wednesday night to play the rest of its tournament without fans in attendance, Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said he understood why such a drastic measure might be necessary. Especially in the New York City area where 212 cases of the COVID-19 virus have been reported,...
Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot congratulates NCAA-bound Robert Morris
Before he embarked on his own tournament journey, Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot congratulated Robert Morris for winning the Northeast Conference and earning a berth in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. “They did a terrific job,” Dambrot said Wednesday before leaving with his team for the Atlantic 10 Tournament in Brooklyn, N.Y....
Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot irked at snub of ace shot blocker Michael HughesVideo
Keith Dambrot walked toward a small group of reporters and cameramen Wednesday morning with a purposeful stride and something he wanted to say. No one plays defense better than Dambrot when he decides it’s time to defend his players. His frustration was clear and, perhaps, has been building during his...
Robert Morris coach Andy Toole knows 3 fans who won’t miss NCAA tourney game
Now that Robert Morris is champion of the Northeast Conference and headed to the NCAA Tournament next week, there’s a chance the Colonials will get sent to Dayton, Ohio, for one of the First Four games Tuesday or Wednesday. Amidst concerns for the coronavirus, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is urging...
Robert Morris punches NCAA ticket for 9th time, beats St. Francis (Pa.) for NEC titleVideo
Only a few minutes into the Northeast Conference championship game Tuesday night, blood already was trickling from Dante Treacy’s mouth. Then, he missed his first three shots. In the end, none of it mattered. Treacy, a sophomore point guard from Orlando Fla., responded by stepping onto the brightest stage of...
Duquesne’s Marcus Weathers named to Atlantic 10 second team
Junior forward Marcus Weathers became the first Duquesne player in nine years named to an All-Atlantic 10 first or second team when he was selected Tuesday to the conference’s second team. The most recent Dukes player so honored was Damian Saunders in 2011. It’s an especially prestigious honor for Weathers...
Pitt carries little hope into ACC Tournament, but even that’s something
Since the middle of the previous decade, there’s been a common thread to the latter stages of Pitt’s basketball seasons: The team has staggered to the finish line every year since 2015. No matter the coach. Jamie Dixon ended his final two seasons 0-5 and 1-4, including NIT and NCAA...
Robert Morris, St. Francis split first two games; No. 3 all that mattersVideo
The sweat was real. The passion was clear. The victories were sweet. The defeats decisive and sour. There were plenty of displays of good basketball by both teams and other times when no one could find the net for several minutes. All those things described how Robert Morris (19-14) and...
Pitt’s Micky Phillippi, Jake Wentzel, Demetrius Thomas win ACC wrestling championshipsVideo
After all the numbers were counted, Pitt finished second to N.C. State in the team standings Sunday night at the ACC Wrestling Championship in front of a crowd of 1,714 at Petersen Events Center. But the 81-77 loss to defending champion N.C. State in the six-team tournament meant far less...
Duquesne seeded 6th, earns bye into 2nd round of Atlantic 10 Tournament
Duquesne earned a No. 6 seed, received a bye into the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament and will play the George Washington/Fordham winner at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Duquesne (21-9, 11-7) split two games against No. 11 George Washington (12-19, 6-12). The Dukes...
Pitt will open ACC Tournament on Tuesday against Wake Forest
Pitt will be the No. 13 seed and open the 14-team ACC Tournament at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday against No. 12 Wake Forest at the Greensboro Coliseum. It’s officially #ACCTourney Time! Here's the bracket ↓↓ pic.twitter.com/JNRl6siTQx— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) March 8, 2020 Pitt (15-16, 6-14) will attempt to stop a...
Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates pushes players, himself with equal vigor
Every week, Randy Bates adds another pushup to his daily regimen, another milestone. Bates is up to 36, representing the number of weeks since doctors cleared him for activity after cancer surgery on his tonsils 12 months ago. “It just reminds me of where I was,” Pitt’s defensive coordinator said....
