Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 71
Pitt backup forward Noah Collier enters NCAA transfer portal
The first move of Pitt basketball’s offseason occurred Tuesday when backup forward Noah Collier entered the NCAA transfer portal. Collier, a sophomore, entered games when center John Hugley was in foul trouble or needed a break. He made only two starts in two seasons, averaging 9.4 minutes, 1.3 points and...
NCAA sets practice times Thursday at PPG Paints Arena for 8 tournament teams
The eight teams competing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament will begin arriving in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, and fans will be able to get a close look Thursday. Practices are open to the public for 40 minutes each at no cost at PPG Paints Arena. The schedule is...
Guy Junker’s broadcasting career coming to close after 44 years
Now that he has announced plans to retire after a 44-year career as a sports broadcaster on radio and TV, Guy Junker sat down Monday and contemplated all of his jobs. At age 13, he was a newspaper delivery boy and a pin setter before bowling alleys were modernized. He...
Sister Jean, 102, will be courtside at PPG Paints Arena with Loyola Chicago
Sticking to one of her favorite sayings (“It’s better to wear out than to rust out.”), 102-year-old Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt will accompany the Loyola Chicago Ramblers to Pittsburgh for their first-round game in the NCAA Tournament. Contacted Monday morning, Loyola Chicago associate athletic director Bill Behrns said, “We are...
A closer look at the NCAA Tournament teams coming to Pittsburgh
All games Friday No. 7 Ohio State Tip time: 12:15 p.m. vs. Loyola Chicago Record: 19-11 Coach: Chris Holtmann Leading scorer: E.J. Liddell (19.6) How they got here: A 71-66 victory against Duke on Nov. 30 helped lead Ohio State to a 9-2 start, but the Buckeyes have lost four...
Villanova returns to Pittsburgh for NCAA Tournament
Villanova coach Jay Wright was a frequent visitor to Pittsburgh when Pitt was a member of the Big East. Since then, someone in the NCAA office apparently decided that if the first- and second-round games of the NCAA Tournament come to Pittsburgh, Wright’s Wildcats must be included. Villanova will be...
Pitt AD Heather Lyke says coach Jeff Capel will return for 2022-23 season
Pitt will give coach Jeff Capel at least one more season to reverse the misfortunes of its men’s basketball program. Not long after athletic director Heather Lyke told CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein that Capel will return next season, Lyke released a statement Friday night declaring Pitt’s commitment...
Pitt will return to Barclays Center next season for Legends Classic
Pitt started assembling its men’s basketball schedule for the 2022-23 season Friday, announcing plans to return to Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., for the 16th annual Legends Classic Nov. 16-17. Pitt ended its 2021-22 season at Barclays on Tuesday in the ACC Tournament. Pitt is a familiar Legends participant, after...
Rebuilding Pitt’s basketball program will require several difficult decisions
Perhaps the two most difficult jobs in the Pitt athletic department belong to Heather Lyke and Jeff Capel. Lyke must decide what action — if any — she might take to jolt the basketball program back to life. Does she give Capel, who is signed through 2027, a fifth season?...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel: Better players, recruiting needed in wake of ACC tourney loss to Boston College
In the moments after Pitt bowed out of the ACC Tournament and walked away from another miserable season, Jeff Capel didn’t need to be reminded of what is required to shake Pitt basketball out of six years of lethargy. “It takes discipline. It takes commitment. It takes sacrifice,” he said....
Pitt Take 5: Panthers drag 4-game losing streak into ACC Tournament
Perhaps Jeff Capel’s most difficult task this season will surface Tuesday afternoon in Brooklyn, N.Y., when Pitt opens the 2022 ACC Tournament against Boston College. Tipoff is 2 p.m. on the ACC Network. Pitt’s coach must find a way extract a few more determined efforts from his players, who are...
Former Pitt volleyball, basketball player dies in Blair County car crash
Monica Wignot, who played four seasons for Pitt volleyball before becoming one of the top all-time shot blockers for the women’s basketball team, died in an automobile crash Friday in Antis Township, near Altoona, in Blair County. She was 29 years old. Wignot, a native of Wilkes-Barre, was a volleyball...
Many factors contribute to Pitt basketball’s fall from NCAA contender to bottom of ACC
Noise used to sweep Petersen Events Center like a tidal wave. So did great teams and iconic players. Focus was difficult for opponents while the home team fed off the atmosphere. Conversations with the person in the next seat were nearly impossible. The noise was so pervasive, even the screens...
Pitt loses to Notre Dame, stretches streak to 4 in advance of ACC Tournament
Pitt’s three most recent opponents have shot the basketball at a 56.8% success rate — 160 shots, 91 makes. The past three defeats to Miami, No. 4 Duke and Notre Dame — part of a four-game losing streak the Panthers will drag into the ACC Tournament on Tuesday — occurred...
Predictably, minor skirmish breaks out between 2 Pitt teammates on 1st day of padded practice
Pitt players donned their big-boy pads Friday for the first time since the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 30, and three elements surfaced, according to coach Pat Narduzzi. Intensity. Enthusiasm. A fight. Friendly fire is nothing new to football practices, and Narduzzi was not upset by it. Nonetheless, he declined...
‘What’s up, Junk?’ For longtime Pitt coach, recruiter Bob Junko, it’s time to retire
For Bob Junko, the best moments of his 54 years as a football coach and administrator weren’t the Missouri Valley Conference and ACC championships he helped bring to Tulsa and Pitt, respectively. They weren’t his role in recruiting future Pro Football Hall of Famers Steve Largent (to Tulsa) and Jason...
Season’s final games will offer additional insight into present, future of Pitt program
The calendar, finally, has turned to March, and the madness that has been Pitt’s season soon will end. But the remaining games — starting Saturday at Notre Dame and continuing Tuesday with Pitt’s ACC Tournament opener — are not meaningless. Keeping watch over the game will be TV cameras, announcers,...
Pitt’s Jordan Addison eager to accept increased expectations
If you’re a wide receiver and you insist on running past opposing players like they’re fence posts … If you get your kicks wrestling the football from a cornerback, turning and running into the end zone to clinch a championship … If you must make 166 catches at more than...
Nearing the end of his farewell tour, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s emotions run high, but he said it’s all about team
There were grown men holding back tears on the floor of the Petersen Events Center on Tuesday, but emotions might flow more freely Saturday night in Durham, N.C. Before its 86-56 loss to the Blue Devils, Pitt honored retiring Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski with a ceremony recognizing his 47 years...
Duke treats Mike Krzyzewski to 86-56 victory against Pitt in his last game at the Pete
Reality and emotion – large doses of both – surrounded Jeff Capel on Tuesday night almost from the moment he walked inside Petersen Events Center. Pitt’s 86-56 loss to No. 4 Duke was not unexpected. Even the 30-point margin of defeat – Pitt’s most decisive since a 94-60 loss to...
Pitt Take 5: Jeff Capel recalls 11 seasons with Mike Krzyzewski
There isn’t much for fans to savor while Pitt trudges toward the end of its sixth consecutive losing season. But there’s a nice treat at Petersen Events Center on Tuesday night when No. 4 Duke (25-4, 15-3) and Mike Krzyzewski arrive for the coach’s final ACC game in Pittsburgh. He...
High expectations greet Pitt on 1st day of spring practice
The football sailed on a high arc toward the far corner of the end zone. It didn’t look like the intended receiver had a chance. But Jared Wayne was there, making the catch over his shoulder. If this had been a game at Heinz Field, ESPN’s SportsCenter would have showcased...
NCAA Tournament returns to PPG Paints Arena carrying history of upsets
Dave Saba was there the first time the NCAA Tournament came to Pittsburgh. It was 1997, and the Civic Arena (where it all happened) was still standing. Today, that site features a big pile of dirt in an empty lot. Then, Saba was seen as an outsider from Texas whose...
Ex-Robert Morris star Lucky Jones back home after 90-hour journey from Ukraine
Lucky Jones kept looking into the Ukrainian sky, praying mostly, but also squinting, hoping not to see airplanes emerge from behind the clouds. “I didn’t know what to expect,” said Jones, the former Robert Morris basketball star who was playing professionally in Ternopil, Ukraine, until Russia invaded the country Thursday....
Pitt Take 5: 2 months after bowl game, spring drills kick off Monday
Never mind the loss of Heisman Trophy finalist Kenny Pickett. He was one of the best players to wear a Pitt uniform this century, and now he’s gone. Never mind that starting linebackers John Petrishen, Phil Campbell III and Cam Bright — the heart of a good defense — must...
