Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 70
Pitt adds former FCS linebacker Tylar Wiltz from transfer portal
Pat Narduzzi understood the significance of losing three productive linebackers, so he went to the NCAA transfer portal that is becoming a handy tool for Pitt’s coach and added some depth. New Look, Same Mission????‼️‼️???????????????? #H2P #Committed pic.twitter.com/RvQJqixc7z— DeddyKane???????? (@tylarwiltz) March 28, 2022 Missouri State linebacker Tylar Wiltz announced Monday...
Duquesne guard Jackie Johnson III enters NCAA transfer portal
After only one season at Duquesne, freshman guard Jackie Johnson III has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Johnson (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) played in all 30 games for the Dukes this season, starting 11, and averaging 19.3 minutes per game. He was a valuable shooter from beyond the...
Pitt’s 9-year commitment to Pat Narduzzi offers him the opportunity to leave historic legacy
If we’ve read Pat Narduzzi correctly over the past seven years, three months and two days, he is not looking beyond Monday’s coaches meetings in advance of Tuesday’s practice. But all of a sudden, the year 2030 has become a talking point around Pitt football. That’s because Pitt on Monday...
Pitt signs Pat Narduzzi to new contract through 2030
Rewarding him for the stability, success and respect he has brought to the football program, Pitt gave Pat Narduzzi the ultimate vote of confidence Monday, finalizing a new contract for its ACC championship-winning coach that is scheduled to run through the 2030 season. Financial details were not available, but USA...
Dayon Hayes carves out prime spot on Pitt defensive line
At various times in the recent past, Pitt defensive end Dayon Hayes decided he no longer wanted to be a vegan. Perhaps he made the choice to resume life as a meat eater for healthy, nutritional reasons. “I wasn’t getting enough protein,” he said. Or maybe there was something else...
Pitt backup quarterback Davis Beville decides to transfer
Davis Beville, who stepped under center in an emergency situation as Pitt’s third-string quarterback during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, has placed his name in the NCAA transfer portal. After eight spring practice sessions, Beville was approaching his redshirt junior season. He said he will be a graduate transfer with three...
Robert Morris loses 3 basketball players to transfer portal
Robert Morris coach Andy Toole is in the process of looking for replacements for three players who have entered the NCAA transfer portal. Sophomore guard Kam Farris and junior forwards Brandon Stone and Justin Winston have announced plans to transfer. ⚜️ Available Transfer ⚜️ Kam Farris ????Versatile Wing???? Robert Morris**3...
After troubled season, Ithiel Horton decides to transfer from Pitt
Pitt basketball lost a starting guard and its most reliable 3-point shooter Wednesday when Ithiel Horton entered the NCAA transfer portal. Horton is the fifth Pitt player to announce plans to leave the program since the end of the season but the first starter. His departure is more striking than...
Pitt’s new-look linebacker group tackles big challenge
There’s nothing simple about playing defense at Pitt. Cornerbacks must learn to cover wide receivers without safety help. A safety better watch for running plays while making sure the quarterback doesn’t throw the ball over his head. Defensive linemen need to perfect the details preached by line coach Charlie Partridge....
Pitt AD Heather Lyke explains what’s behind her confidence in Jeff Capel
While Pitt basketball stacks losing seasons at a historic rate and fans continue to slowly wander from Petersen Events Center, athletic director Heather Lyke remains confident and comfortable that coach Jeff Capel can resurrect the once-proud program. After declaring Pitt’s commitment to Capel for the 2022-2023 season earlier this month,...
Forward Dan Oladapo will become 4th player to transfer from Pitt
Cross off another name from the Pitt basketball roster. Reserve forward Dan Oladapo, who played only one season at Pitt and didn’t get into a game past Feb. 5, has entered the NCAA transfer portal. He joins Noah Collier, Chris Payton and Onyebuchi Ezeakudo as players who hope to build...
Pitt’s Pro Day brings Kenny Pickett, Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule together again
Kenny Pickett and Matt Rhule were reunited Monday at Pitt’s Pro Day, but this time they weren’t talking about a scholarship, academics or the Temple football program. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said it best while addressing his team in the morning: “This was business out there.” Before he committed to...
Villanova eliminates Ohio State in NCAA Tournament with 2nd-round victory
Eric Dixon has spent too many hours in Villanova’s practice gym — some with teammates shouting and defending, some by himself when the only sound was the bounce of the basketball off hardwood — to have any doubt. He is one of the Wildcats’ least likely candidates to shoot a...
Cal Adomitis ready to perform for NFL scouts at Pitt’s Pro Day
The long hair is long gone, replaced by a full beard that Cal Adomitis said might one day be prime for shearing. For a good cause, of course. Adomitis was one of the stars of Pitt’s run to an ACC championship last year, on and off the field. He concluded...
Big East ‘statesman’ Jay Wright says transfer portal, NIL, covid lead to better basketball
Jay Wright has been Villanova’s basketball coach for 21 years, winning two national championships and averaging more than 29 victories per season since 2014. Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann called Wright the “statesman” of the Big East. His voice carries more weight than most coaches. When Wright was asked about...
Ohio State meets Villanova in Pittsburgh with Sweet 16 berth on the line
After two victories at the outset of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, Chris Holtmann and his Butler players were on their way to the school’s first Sweet 16 berth in six years. His phone was buzzing, as victors’ phones often do after a big win. A text message caught his eye...
Houston knocks off UAB, marches into NCAA Tournament 2nd round
There was plenty for Houston coach Kelvin Sampson to like Friday night when his Cougars rolled to an 82-68 victory against UAB in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. • There was the 18-point lead (34-16) in the first half that got everything started. UAB rallied to within nine...
Ohio State smothers Loyola, advances in NCAA Tournament
Humbled and hobbled, Ohio State walked inside PPG Paints Arena on Friday morning determined to defeat Loyola Chicago, quiet its critics and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Under one condition, however. The Buckeyes wanted to do it on their terms. And so they did, decisively, with...
Scheduled to graduate in May, ex-Pitt walk-on Onyebuchi Ezeakudo leaves program to explore transfer, job opportunities
Pitt basketball lost another player Friday, but this one was not unexpected. Guard Onyebuchi Ezeakudo, who is on schedule to graduate in May with a degree in bioengineering, has decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal in an attempt to continue his playing career. Ezeakudo, who is also evaluating job...
Pitt notebook: Defensive line coach Charlie Partridge preaches accountability
Charlie Partridge leads a group of 20 Pitt defensive linemen, the largest position group on the team. But it’s not the quantity that most intrigues Partridge, who is in his sixth season on Pat Narduzzi’s staff after five years earlier this century under Walt Harris and Dave Wannstedt. It’s the...
Villanova coach Jay Wright worried Delaware’s Dylan Painter may know too much
Other than five Big East rivals, there may be no team in the NCAA Tournament field of 68 that Jay Wright knows better than Delaware. Yet, the Villanova coach isn’t ashamed to tell you about the “fear” he has felt preparing his Wildcats (26-7) to meet the Blue Hens (22-12)...
Pitt loses backup forward Chris Payton to transfer portal
Pitt basketball lost another player Thursday when sophomore forward Chris Payton, who spent only one season on the team, entered the NCAA transfer portal. Payton joins former Pitt teammate Noah Collier, who entered the portal earlier this week. Pitt coach Jeff Capel is beginning to reconstruct his roster after a...
Loyola Chicago’s Sister Jean still working on Ohio State scouting report
Before he sends his Loyola Chicago team onto the PPG Paints Arena hardwood Friday to face Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, coach Drew Valentine will step aside for a moment. Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, college basketball’s most celebrated team chaplain, will have a few choice...
Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour plans to retire this summer
Sandy Barbour, who provided oversight for seven of Penn State’s top 10 fundraising years off the field and numerous championships on it, announced plans Wednesday to retire this summer as the school’s vice president of intercollegiate athletics. Barbour was hired as Penn State’s ninth athletic director in 2014 before assuming...
Pitt hopes to build foundation this spring for improved run game
Kenny Pickett showed up Tuesday for Pitt’s fourth practice of the spring. Likewise, Damarri Mathis and Lucas Krull were there, scoping out what they left behind while taking a break from preparations for Pitt’s Pro Day next Monday. All three played major roles last season in helping Pitt capture its...
