Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 165

Darrin Hall’s all-star tour will continue Saturday when the Pitt running back suits up for the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where he’ll attempt to improve his NFL Draft stock. He will become the first Pitt running back since Kevan Barlow in 2000 to appear in the Senior Bowl. Hall...

After he had answered all the mundane questions about Duquesne’s 77-73 victory against Saint Louis on Wednesday night, coach Keith Dambrot fielded one on his second-favorite subject — LeBron James. “What would be a bigger deal?” a reporter wanted to know. “Jay-Z going to a Pitt game or LeBron going...

The coaches and media of the Atlantic 10 conducted their preseason poll back in September, when few people were giving Duquesne a second thought. Four months later, the vote that projected Duquesne as an 11th-place team and Saint Louis as the conference champion mattered to Duquesne sophomore Marcus Weathers. Especially...

Petersen Events Center is energized again, with two Pitt basketball crowds already topping 12,000. How different is that? Average attendance at the Pete has fallen every season since 2014-15, finally hitting an all-time low of 4,117 last year. Students seated in the Oakland Zoo sections take great glee in cheering...

Indoor football has failed twice in Pittsburgh, but that isn’t stopping hip-hop artist Antjuan Washington from trying to revive it. “I’m living out part of a childhood dream,” said Washington, head coach and part owner of the Burgh Defenders, an expansion team that plans to play this year in the...

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski professed great love for Pitt coach Jeff Capel after his team’s 79-64 victory Tuesday night at Petersen Events Center. Not surprising since Capel started for Krzyzewski for four years at Duke and was his trusted assistant coach for the past seven. But there are limits to...

After the Oakland Zoo’s confetti was swept off the floor of Petersen Events Center and Pitt’s game against Duke on Tuesday night became a memory, another pressing matter remained for the Panthers. The rest of the season. Pitt will play only one game at Petersen Events Center through Feb. 5,...

Duke’s 79-64 victory against Pitt in front of a noisy, sellout crowd at Petersen Events Center made coach Jeff Capel think. About his past and, of course, the present as his Panthers try to keep up with more talented teams in the ACC. Duke freshman forward Zion Williamson, projected to...

Former Pitt pitcher T.J. Zeuch is making strides after only three seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Zeuch, the highest MLB draft choice in Pitt baseball history and the 21st overall selection in the first round of the 2016 draft, has been invited to the Blue Jays’ major-league spring...

Keith Dambrot, Duquesne’s 60-year-old coach, has been in too many games (672 in 21 seasons) to be fooled by something as unimportant as January’s conference standings. So when reporters and TV cameras arrived for practice Wednesday to chronicle the good news on the Bluff — the third-place Dukes are 13-5...

Kellon Taylor reached a unique arrangement with Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot that keeps him on the men’s basketball team – but only at practice. “Kellon made a personal business decision,” Dambrot said. “He just wanted to practice, just to stay in shape for football and put all his eggs into...

Chris Beatty, who worked with Pitt assistant coaches Tim Salem and Dave Borbely in previous coaching stops and served under Penn State coach James Franklin at Vanderbilt, has been named wide receivers coach at Pitt. Beatty, 45, arrives at Pitt following three seasons at Maryland, where he coached receivers and...

Jeff Capel said his team will take an important step in its rebuilding season Tuesday when it meets No. 2 Duke at Petersen Events Center. Duke is the gold standard of college basketball, according to Capel. “As you are trying to build a program, you want to play against the...

The play authored by Duke’s Zion Williamson was so impressive, Jeff Capel was still talking about it two days later. The fact it happened Saturday against No. 3 Virginia, the nation’s top defensive team allowing only 52.9 points per game, just added to Williamson’s growing legend as a freshman. “He...

Growing pains reached up and stung Pitt on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Although Pitt trailed by only one point early in the second half, Syracuse led by 20 at one point before finally winning, 74-63. The Panthers looked befuddled in the face of Syracuse’s 2-3 zone and ended up...

Keith Gavin was pleased with the most notable occurrence of the day when Pitt redshirt freshman wrestler Micky Phillippi defeated Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix, 3-1, at 133 pounds. But Pitt’s coach left Fitzgerald Field House on Saturday afternoon knowing there’s still a lot of work to do. Oklahoma State, the...

Jeff Capel has taught his team plenty of basketball this season. Pitt’s players know how to drive to the hoop, draw fouls and rebound against bigger opponents. But there’s more to building a winning program than talented athletes trying to execute Xs and Os. Capel is hoping to build a...

Robert Morris coach Andy Toole will make no apologies for employing the same starting lineup through the first 17 games of the season. “Usually, I change starters every day,” said Toole, noting he might have set some unofficial school record. “Those guys have been some of our most consistent performers....

West Virginia coach Neal Brown didn’t waste any time replenishing his roster at a position where he may need some depth. Brown, who was announced as Dana Holgorsen’s replacement Jan. 11, said Friday that quarterback Austin Kendall has enrolled for West Virginia’s spring semester and will have two years of...

Norwin’s Alayna Gribble, who has been a part of the Pitt women’s basketball program for the past three seasons, is giving up the game. Pitt coach Lance White announced Friday that Gribble, a junior, has received a medical disqualification from the team due to multiple concussions. “Alayna Gribble is the...

Sophomore guard Khameron Davis appeared to be offended Thursday when he was asked if Pitt is playing above the players’ expectations. “No, not at all,” said Davis, one of only four scholarship players who returned from last season’s disaster. “We put in so much work during the summer, so much...

James Patton, who has been a quality control assistant at Pitt the past two seasons, has been named offensive line coach at Eastern Michigan. Patton has 26 years of coaching experience, including seven at Northwestern, four at Indiana University and seven at Oklahoma. “I feel very fortunate to be able...

Pitt’s 2019 football schedule was released Wednesday, and it revealed some good news for the Panthers. Pitt will play seven of its 12 regular-season games at Heinz Field for the third time in the past four seasons. Plus, the first five games will be contested within the confines of Pennsylvania....

Steve Blass can captivate an audience like few announcers before him, and he was at his best Tuesday at PNC Park. A room full of family members and friends listened while he recounted his 60 years with the Pittsburgh Pirates and told them 2019 would his 34th and last in...