Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 166

The chants started at the end of Pitt’s victory against Florida State on Monday night at Petersen Events Center. Who could blame the students in the Oakland Zoo, many of whom (mainly the younger ones) never had seen a Pitt victory against an ACC opponent in person? The chant was...

Jeff Capel knows he is in the early stages of a long ACC season that will test his players’ toughness. Pitt’s coach is aware the game sometimes won’t unfold as it did Monday night at Petersen Events Center. But Capel’s big bear hug on freshman guard Trey McGowens, who scored...

If Pat Narduzzi was looking for an experienced play-caller and quarterbacks coach in his quest to hire Pitt’s next offensive coordinator, Mark Whipple fits the description. Whipple, 61, has handled those duties at a variety of places for all but one year of the past four decades, working with prominent...

Pittsburgh Pirates season-ticket holders and other fans will be able to meet and secure autographs from as many as 15 players during PiratesFest on Jan. 26 at PNC Park. Five separate sessions, with three players in each, are scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The sessions, which will take...

Indoor football is making a comeback in Pittsburgh, only this time with a hip-hop twist. Four years after the Pittsburgh Power left the Arena Football League, the Burgh Defenders, an expansion team in the American Arena League, announced Monday they will play their inaugural season at the Robert Morris University...

No one expected Pitt to win even half of its 18 ACC games this season, and the 86-80 loss at N.C. State made it clear why expectations are low. Even when Pitt plays well, which it did for much of the game … Even when the opponent hands the Panthers...

Keith Dambrot doesn’t believe coaching Duquesne’s basketball team is the same as beating his head against a wall, but he’s prepared in any case. He is hard-headed enough to keep pushing his team toward its potential, even if the players insist on going kicking and screaming. When Dambrot was a...

Seven Pitt seniors have been invited to put on a show for NFL coaches and scouts at three all-star games this month. Offensive lineman Connor Dintino, defensive end Dewayne Hendrix and linebacker Elijah Zeise will play in the SPIRAL Tropical Bowl on Sunday in Daytona Beach, Fla. Running backs Darrin...

Pitt backup point guard Sidy N’Dir could return from his leg injury Saturday at N.C. State, slightly ahead of schedule. The original thought was that N’Dir, a graduate senior, would be out four to six weeks, but he’s missed just four games, starting with the New Orleans contest Dec. 20....

The Cincinnati Bengals caught a bargain with Tyler Boyd this season. The former Pitt and Clairton star is one of five NFL finalists for the VIZIO Top Value Performer trophy. The award is given to the NFL player whose on-field performance most exceeds the value of his contract. Boyd, who...

Pitt will shut down its intercollegiate women’s tennis program at the end of the upcoming spring season, marking the first time in nearly a quarter century the university has discontinued a sport. Men’s gymnastics and tennis were eliminated at the end of the 1994-95 academic year. The elimination of women’s...

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Neal Brown hasn’t been at West Virginia long enough to build up any malice toward Pitt, but he was quick to jump feet-first into the rivalry during his introductory news conference Thursday. At least, West Virginia’s new head coach has a sense for the intensity of the...

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Vic Koenning said his philosophy on finding good football players is simple. “You have to be able to bend your knees,” he said. “You have to be able to have balance. You have to be able to tackle, and if you’re a defensive back, you have to...

Before the start of overtime Wednesday night, Jeff Capel looked into his players’ eyes, and he didn’t like what he saw. “The guys were dejected. You could see that,” Pitt’s coach said. “I jumped on them (telling them), ‘We’re going to win. We have to fight for five more minutes.’...

The list of items Duquesne needs to start winning consistently includes improved shooting, better decision-making at the end of games and, perhaps, a little more of what Kellon Taylor can deliver. That might sound odd when you consider Taylor, a junior forward, has played only five games after joining the...

When Louisville opened its ACC season Sunday with a 90-73 victory against Miami, six of the nine players who were in the game at least 10 minutes were juniors or seniors. Someday, Pitt coach Jeff Capel might have the same luxury. But, for now, he will meet Louisville (10-4, 1-0)...

There are the one-liners that never fail to amuse his younger teammates. Plus, the stories gathered over 21 NHL seasons that serve as a learning tool for anyone in the Penguins locker room smart enough to pay attention. And, by the way, Matt Cullen still can get the job done...

Mike Sullivan’s juggling act with his goaltenders will put Matt Murray back in goal Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena against the Florida Panthers. Murray, who is riding a career-long seven-game winning streak since returning Dec. 15 from a lower-body injury, got the night off Sunday in the Penguins’ 5-3...

There might be times Terrell Brown appears to be looking in one direction while the basketball is headed somewhere else when Pitt is playing defense. Be assured, Pitt’s 6-foot-10 sophomore center is not day-dreaming, although he doesn’t mind if the other team thinks that’s the case. He knows exactly what...

Cameron Johnson was struck by the fact that no one on Pitt’s roster was on the team when he played there. And the North Carolina graduate student has been gone for only 1 ½ seasons. “It is a little weird. Every single player (wasn’t on the team for his final...

Jeff Banister is returning to the Pittsburgh Pirates. General manager Neal Huntington announced Sunday that Banister, who had been a member of the Pirates organization for 29 years, has been hired as a special assistant, baseball operations. Banister, 54, spent the past four seasons as the manager of the Texas...

Still four months shy of his 19th birthday, Pitt freshman Trey McGowens heard the noise in Petersen Events Center, felt the vibrations of a sellout crowd of 12,508 and never forgot what team he and his teammates were playing. “I was a little jittery going out,” he said. “Coach had...