Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 73

If you want to keep up with Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, Damarri Mathis and Cal Adomitis in their quest to reach the next level of football, you need to be willing to travel as much as they do. All three Pitt products have been invited to be among the 324 former...

Jeff Capel and his Pitt basketball team have not been home since Sunday, and they won’t return to campus until Thursday. So, Pitt’s coach probably hasn’t had time to look at the ACC standings. If he did, he’d see Pitt (8-16, 3-10) has fallen into the basement, tied with N.C....

There’s not much time for players and coaches to think about all the problems plaguing Pitt’s basketball team. After another embarrassing effort Monday night turned into a 74-47 loss to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., the Panthers must find a way to regroup in time for another road test Wednesday...

Building a sport from nothing at a major university requires plenty of work and sacrifice. So, Emily Boissonneault happily grabbed a snow shovel Monday morning and began scraping away some of the excess ice that had accumulated on the edges of the turf field at Highmark Stadium. Five minutes later,...

Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke said she has made “lots of progress” toward a contract extension for football coach Pat Narduzzi, who is signed through the 2024 season. “We, hopefully, will have an announcement shortly. We’re close,” she said. Narduzzi was hired in December 2014, as a first-time head coach...

Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke expressed confidence Monday morning that men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel can reverse the team’s fortunes. “I wish we had better news there. It’s tough rebuilding it,” she told a small gathering of reporters at Highmark Stadium. Lyke was there to address the women’s lacrosse team...

A closer look at Pitt’s dramatic — but failed — comeback from a 28-point deficit against Virginia Tech exposes some surprising revelations. It was said through most of this season that Pitt was lacking in the type of quality outside shooting that could ease pressure on center John Hugley. Pitt...

Jeff Capel has been disappointed in his team this season more often than he cares to remember. Saturday night, Pitt’s coach added embarrassment to what he was feeling. But how often does a coach experience both of those emotions — and top it off with a dose of pride? All...

With the contact signed and filed, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi filled the last vacancy on his coaching staff Saturday, officially naming former NFL player Tiquan Underwood as the Panthers’ wide receivers coach — with a twist. Underwood also will carry the title of pass game coordinator. The hiring of Underwood...

Almost nothing worth mentioning happened during Pitt’s 91-75 loss to Wake Forest on Wednesday night. Double-digit losses are becoming the norm. But it was instructive to hear what sophomore guard Femi Odukale had to say in the aftermath. He offered hope that players still care after 14 losses in 22...

Pat Narduzzi’s feelings shifted from pleased to proud when he walked inside Pitt’s indoor practice facility. There, he found the defending ACC champions in the midst of workouts, preparing for the start of spring — actually, late winter — drills Feb. 28. “When you look around,” he thought to himself,...

When the Robert Morris women’s hockey program returns to the ice in time for the 2023-24 season, a familiar face will be behind the bench. Athletic director Chris King announced Thursday that Logan Bittle, who spent 10 years at Robert Morris as an assistant and associate head coach after playing...

Pitt coach Jeff Capel is well aware playing good defense is his team’s only hope this season. When he saw Wake Forest ball handlers enjoying open spaces and shooters getting time to gauge their shots, he knew his team was in trouble. So, it was no wonder Wake Forest rolled...

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said Wednesday that tampering with other schools’ players — in this age of uncontested transfers — has become a serious problem in college sports. How serious? During an interview on Sirius XM ACC Radio, he said people with connections to Notre Dame tried to get former...

Frank Cignetti Jr. took big, eager steps Wednesday when he entered Pitt’s team meeting room. There, he hugged an old friend, acknowledged another with a great-seeing-you-again wave and, truly, looked like a guy who had just returned home for the first time in years. Which is, actually, the case. “It’s...

The losses hurt so bad that Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot made a confession Tuesday night during his 20-minute postgame chat with reporters. “There are a lot of days I feel like eating this microphone,” he said. That was after the Dukes were swallowed up by Richmond in the second half...

Still months removed from his first NFL paycheck, Kenny Pickett nonethless is getting his first taste of life as pro quarterback this week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Four hours of interviews with NFL personnel Monday, followed by full schedule Tuesday that included practice, more interviews and a...

Let’s see if you can name the ACC basketball coach who said the following: “(We have to) learn from our mistakes and move on, have a short memory. Next play mentality, next game mentality.” If you assumed that was Pitt’s Jeff Capel speaking after one of the Panthers’ 13 losses...

Robert Morris has rewarded Derek Schooley for his efforts in building — and now rebuilding — the school’s men’s ice hockey program. Athletic director Chris King finalized a five-year contract for Schooley, who started men’s hockey in 2003 and has been at the forefront of plans to restore it after...

If Pitt needed a favorable launching point for next season, the schedule maker may provide it. The football team will play five of its first six games at Heinz Field, starting with the nationally televised (ESPN) 105th Backyard Brawl between the Panthers and West Virginia. It’s the first of four...

Jeff Capel began his 10-minute session on the ACC coaches’ conference call Monday with the words, “I’m OK.” Give Capel credit for not complaining about his current situation. It would be so easy to do. He and his brother and assistant coach, Jason, are in covid protocol while players and...

The message directed toward Pitt’s team Sunday afternoon was clear: No excuses. Play for each other. There’s no time to feel sorry for yourself. But when a storm that dumped 2 feet of snow on Boston mixes with the relentless effects of the covid-19 pandemic, the situation can be difficult...

Pitt has hired Tiquan Underwood to be its next wide receivers coach, according to ESPN college football reporter Pete Thamel. Underwood, 34, brings to the team eight seasons of experience playing the position in the NFL and CFL and four years coaching. He spent the past two seasons as the...

Pitt’s men’s basketball game scheduled for Boston College’s Silvio O. Conte Forum on Saturday has been postponed due to the snowstorm expected to hit the New England area this weekend. The game will tentatively be played at 4 p.m. Sunday at the same venue. This is the second time this...

The clock read 3:30 Thursday morning when Keith Dambrot finally dragged himself and Duquesne’s four-game losing streak into bed. This, after a 72-61 loss at St. Joseph’s and a six-hour bus ride home (routine for most Atlantic 10 teams traveling from Philadelphia). Dambrot’s fifth season as the steward of Duquesne’s...