Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 27

For the second time this season, Pitt freshman guard Bub Carrington walked off the floor Wednesday night only at halftime and during timeouts. The seat offered to him during those moments felt good. Yet Carrington wasn’t asking for one while the outcome of Pitt’s 77-72 victory against Wake Forest was...

The raw numbers in the box score will show that Pitt defeated Wake Forest, 77-72, on Wednesday night by scoring 50 points and seizing nine offensive rebounds after halftime and rallying from a 12-point deficit. It also will give Pitt’s defense credit for harassing the Demon Deacons with 11 steals...

Eli Holstein was the scout quarterback last season at Alabama, a freshman thrown into practice situations with the intent of emulating that week’s opponent. Sometimes, he got hit with friendly fire from what he called “the best defense in the country.” “I got popped a couple times by some big...

Pitt reaches the halfway point of its ACC season Wednesday night looking to prove a point. Those two road victories at Duke and Georgia Tech raised hopes that another run toward the NCAA Tournament was possible, if extremely difficult considering the circumstances. Then, they fell behind Miami by 19 points...

With immediate NCAA FCS Playoff eligibility, Robert Morris football will play its first Northeast Conference game since announcing its return to the league when it visits Wagner on Sept. 21. The NEC released its 2024 schedule Tuesday, with seven teams playing each other in six games: three at home, three...

Duquesne football will play six of its 11 games away from Rooney Field during the 2024 season. University officials and the Northeast Conference released the Dukes’ schedule Tuesday. Duquesne will open the season with three road games in a row, its longest stretch away from home to start a season...

While many college football traditions are dying across the country, West Virginia will keep two alive during the 2024 season. The Mountaineers’ opening game will be Aug. 31 at Milan Puskar Stadium against Penn State, marking the Nittany Lions’ first visit to Morgantown, W.Va., since 1992. It’s the third-longest series...

Pitt coach Jeff Capel was properly complimentary of freshman guards Jaland Lowe and Bub Carrington during his regular Monday chat with reporters on the ACC conference call. But in the wake of Pitt’s sixth conference loss in nine games Saturday at Miami, Capel’s overall point is more important and goes...

The question in the wake of Pitt’s dramatic, but inadequate, rally from a 19-point deficit in Miami is this: What really matters? Is it the way players never quit when the cause looked hopeless less than 10 minutes from the end of the game? Or, is it Pitt’s poor shooting...

Jeff Capel is too smart and has seen too many close calls in 30 years playing and coaching college basketball to get drawn into the eternal question: Was he fouled, or wasn’t he? Knowing that, no one should be surprised that Pitt’s coach declined definitive comment Saturday on the decisive...

Home games are supposed to generate comfort and confidence. Players sleep in their own beds. There’s no need for 7-foot centers to fold themselves into airplane seats. Students looking to get on TV don’t hurl insults at foul shooters. None of that has been enough to deter the Panthers, who...

Pitt and West Virginia can’t get enough of each other. Officials at both schools Thursday announced a four-game extension of the basketball version of the Backyard Brawl that will run through the 2027-28 season. The teams will meet at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center during the 2024-25 and 2026-27 seasons and...

Pitt will play seven of its 12 regular-season games at Acrisure Stadium in 2024, including an Oct. 12 date with California, one of three new ACC member schools. Pitt and Cal haven’t met on the football field since a 30-15 Golden Bears victory in 1966. Two other highlights of Pitt’s...

Smoked wings on Carson Street, french fries and cole slaw on sandwiches and, of course, Charlie Partridge are among the benefits in and around town that made Pitt an attractive option for transfer football players this offseason. Pat Narduzzi’s makeover of his 3-9 team began hours after the last game...

During his team’s journey from Pittsburgh to Durham, N.C., to Atlanta, Pitt coach Jeff Capel used only seven players to craft two important victories. William Jeffress came off the bench for a total of six minutes. Jorge Diaz Graham didn’t play at all. This is not meant as a criticism...

The box score from Pitt’s 72-64 victory against Georgia Tech on Tuesday night shows Bub Carrington scored 19 points, his largest point total in five games. But assistant coach Tim O’Toole was more interested in talking about Carrington’s defensive efforts after Pitt’s second consecutive road victory and third overall in...

The Pittsburgh Pirates made a serious move to shore up their bullpen Monday when they agreed to terms on a one-year, $10.5 million contract with seven-time All-Star reliever Aroldis Chapman, a source confirmed to TribLive. The deal is pending a physical examination. Chapman, 35, would give the Pirates a left-handed...

If Jeff Capel had anything to say about it (and he did), Blake Hinson has moved on from his record-setting seven 3-pointers and Pitt’s victory against Duke. Social media might never end its fun with Hinson’s table-hopping interaction with the Cameron Crazies. But at least the last of those angry...

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced several minor-league staff changes Monday, including new managers for three of the four full-season affiliates. Only manager Miguel Perez at Triple-A Indianapolis remains in his 2023 role. Robby Hammock, who spent last season managing at High-A Greensboro, is the new manager at Double-A Altoona. Hammock will...

Pitt coach Jeff Capel gave his team a few hours before lights-out in Durham, N.C., to enjoy the upset victory of Duke. Actually, there wasn’t even time to go home. After the game Saturday, Pitt’s traveling party went directly to Atlanta on Sunday to get settled and prepared for the...

Pitt continued to add potential playmakers to new coordinator Kade Bell’s offense Sunday when coach Pat Narduzzi secured a verbal commitment from wide receiver Tyreek Robinson of Evangel Christian in Shreveport, La. Robinson announced his decision on his X (formerly Twitter) account. Robinson (5-foot-9, 170 pounds) is unranked among prospects...

Blake Hinson crosses paths with Sam Clancy on occasion while both men go about their daily business on Pitt’s campus. Two stout men, with a gift for basketball and big-time plays, separated by 41 years in age, now linked forever in Pitt, Duke and college basketball lore. It’s a good...

If anyone in the crowd of 9,314 at Cameron Indoor Stadium did not see Blake Hinson’s passion overflowing Saturday night, he offered an encore performance moments after Pitt’s stunning 80-76 upset of the No. 7 Blue Devils. Hinson jumped up on a table — inches from the Duke student section...

The story of how Dwight Clay ended up making the long journey — geographically and culturally — from Pittsburgh’s Hill District to Notre Dame’s South Bend campus where he impacted college basketball like no one before him starts with Mary Clay, his mom. “Everyone knew Mary Clay,” Dwight Clay said....

No one should be surprised North Carolina and Duke are the only two ACC teams that appear to have Final Four potential. At least, to this point of the season, with seven weeks left before the conference tournament. Yeah, it’s early, but ESPN’s Joe Lunardi posts his bracketology in June....