Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 74

If you were paying attention this season, you’ve heard about how far the ACC has fallen. ACC coaches disagree, of course, but the league has had trouble gaining respect across the nation. Only No. 9/7 Duke is mentioned in the Associated Press and USA Today/Coaches Top 25 polls. The Blue...

For the second consecutive year, Pitt senior guard Nike Sibande has been faced with a major decision — stay or go. A year’s time and a season-ending knee injury didn’t change his mind. Sibande, who was expected to be a starter, said Thursday night on the “Jeff Capel Show” on...

Duquesne’s 72-61 loss to St. Joseph’s on Wednesday night offered evidence of the players’ effort, but it also showed the Dukes’ rebuilt lineup has a long way to go before it can contend in the Atlantic 10. “We’re just not cohesive enough as a group, physically, mentally and relationship-wise,” coach...

Jeff Capel spends as much time talking with his players off the court as he does chasing them at practice with a whistle around his neck. Pitt’s fourth-year coach lived in similar sneakers when he was a four-year starter at Duke, and he knows what it’s like to confront the...

It was midnight Sunday morning when Pitt arrived home from, perhaps, its worst performance of the season. Coach Jeff Capel wasn’t happy about the 27-point loss at Clemson on Saturday night, but he decided the best tact was to give his players an opportunity to get a good night’s sleep,...

Two weeks ago, Pitt’s John Hugley received his first taste of Syracuse’s distasteful (to opponents, at least) 2-3 zone defense. In a 77-61 loss inside Syracuse’s Carrier Dome on Jan. 11, Hugley scored eight points, more than seven off his team-leading average of 15.8 per game. It was one of...

No need to sift through long lists of seasons and scores to find a game in which Pitt suffered a worse loss than the 75-48 outcome Saturday night at Clemson. It was near the end of the forgettable (though no one does forget) 2017-2018 season, the last of Kevin Stallings’...

Jeff Capel spoke with reporters and answered their questions for five minutes Saturday after Pitt’s embarrassing 75-48 loss to Clemson. But he didn’t have much to say. “They were terrific and we were really bad,” he said in a recurring theme of the conference call. He sounded like a coach...

When a coach becomes accustomed to winning, accepting defeat is like swallowing bitter medicine. But Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said after the Dukes’ 64-56 loss to St. Bonaventure on Friday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse that his team made important strides toward becoming a better team. Maybe not a good...

It’s not every day you see a 6-foot-10 forward shooting 3-pointers at a success rate better than one in every three. Mouhamadou Gueye fits that profile — he leads Pitt with 19 3s and is second in percentage at 34.5% — but he knows of another 6-10 guy who is...

Pitt made it official Friday, confirming what had been widely reported for the past week that Frank Cignetti Jr. will be the Panthers’ next offensive coordinator. Here are few facts about Cignetti and the hire: • Cignetti will be coach Pat Narduzzi’s fifth offensive coordinator since 2015. Jim Chaney and...

The most memorable conversation Bill Stull had with Frank Cignetti Jr. during their season together at Pitt was the time the coach barely spoke a word. Oct. 10, 2009: A season that became Pitt’s best this century until 2021. The Panthers were playing UConn at Heinz Field. In the second...

Keith Dambrot understands the gravity of the situation at Duquesne, but he vows to keep fighting. “This dog ain’t going to quit,” he said. The Dukes are 6-9 (1-2 in the Atlantic 10) and losers of two in a row. Most recently, they lost to Fordham by one point in...

In games that matter most (those against ACC opponents), only four people have been on the floor as long as Pitt senior guard Jamarius Burton: Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim, who played 40 minutes against Pitt on Jan. 11, and the three officials in each game. In seven conference games, Burton has...

Pitt keeps getting hit in the face with lessons on how to build a championship basketball program. The one that evolved Wednesday night – in the midst of a 66-61 loss to Virginia (11-7, 5-3 ACC) at Petersen Events Center — hurt like they all do. But this one prevented...

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds signed defender Robby Dambrot to a one-year contract Wednesday, securing a player who logged more than 2,000 minutes last year for divisional opponent Loudoun United FC. Dambrot, the son of Duquesne men’s basketball coach Keith Dambrot, spent the past three seasons with Loudoun. Dambrot (6-foot-2) began his...

Atlantic 10 schedule changes will create a busy week for the Duquesne men’s basketball team next month. Two of the three games postponed by covid complications earlier this season will be played over three days, giving the Dukes four games in eight days. After a regularly scheduled matchup against Fordham...

Get ready for basketball almost every other day. In a span of seven days, starting at 9 p.m. Wednesday against Virginia at Petersen Events Center (ACC Network), Pitt will play three games. After Virginia leaves town, the Panthers travel deep into the ACC footprint to confront Clemson on Saturday, followed...

Tony Bennett couldn’t help himself. He’s proud of his father, proud of his father’s Pittsburgh roots and he doesn’t mind letting people know it. The Virginia coach’s connection to Pittsburgh largely is limited to an 11-1 record against Pitt since the Panthers joined the ACC in 2014. But after answering...

Jamarius Burton’s mom, Kimberly, and two aunts played college basketball. Sisters Kimera and Destani went to college on full athletic scholarships. Uncle Todd Peat had a six-year career in the NFL. Cousin Austin Peat played on Stanford’s offensive line and was drafted 13th overall by the New Orleans Saints in...

The range of John Hugley’s confidence is as broad as his shoulders. At a listed weight of 280 pounds (he could have dropped a few since the beginning of the season), that’s a lot of shoulders. And — the way he’s been playing — that’s a lot of confidence. Hugley...

The NCAA transfer portal swung in Pitt’s direction Saturday when former Notre Dame outside linebacker Shayne Simon committed to the Panthers and coach Pat Narduzzi. All Praise to the Most High ???????? #H2P pic.twitter.com/dRLIohlD53— Shayne Simon (@SimonShayne) January 15, 2022 Simon, 6-foot-3, 233 pounds, joins the program two days after...

Anyone with children knows it’s not easy to walk the line between work and family. Imagine walking it as Jeff Capel — husband, father of three and Pitt basketball coach. In the midst of a difficult season, Capel talked extensively about that tricky maneuver earlier this week on 93.7 FM....

Consider the misfortune that has struck Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot in the past three months: • The day Dambrot turned 63 — two weeks before the Dukes’ first game — his father, Sidney, died at the age of 90. Sidney Dambrot played on Duquesne’s great teams of the 1950s, and...

Onyebuchi Ezeakudo can omit the adjective walk-on from in front of his name. Ezeakudo, a 6-foot-1 senior point guard, was rewarded Thursday by Pitt coach Jeff Capel with a scholarship for the winter semester. A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., Ezeakudo has been with the Panthers for four seasons as...