Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 80
Pitt guard Nike Sibande will miss entire 2021-22 season with knee injury
Nike Sibande was one of the loyalists through the trying times of Pitt’s 2020-21 basketball season. While others were leaving the team and making plans to transfer in the final days of the season, Sibande decided to stay when he could have gone elsewhere. But his 2021-22 season ended Monday...
Rebuilding Pitt opens with exhibition victory against Gannon
Pitt coach Jeff Capel was pleased by what he saw come together on the floor of the Petersen Events Center on Monday night. Sophomore point guard Femi Odukale scored 20 points and added seven rebounds and three assists with no turnovers in almost 28 minutes. Senior transfer Mouhamadou Gueye, one...
Pat Narduzzi thinks twice about moments that led to Pitt’s loss to Miami
Mistakes were plentiful during Pitt’s loss to Miami on Saturday, and Pat Narduzzi made a list. He wasn’t shy about talking about them Monday during his weekly news conference, perhaps hoping that getting the angst off his chest might be therapeutic. The second-guessing included: • A better gameplan against Miami’s...
Analysis: Championship or bust, Pitt defense needs to give Kenny Pickett more support
After Pitt lost to Miami on Saturday, there was a tendency (not among its irritated fans, of course) to excuse the penalties, middle school tackling display and Kenny Pickett’s two interceptions with the old platitude, “Nobody’s perfect.” Not true. There are six teams in college football that haven’t lost, including...
Pat Narduzzi: ‘No comment’ when calls went against Pitt in loss to Miami
During his postgame news conference Saturday – after Pitt lost 107 yards in penalties and, finally, the game to Miami, 38-34 — Pat Narduzzi had no interest in talking about the officials. When asked what led to the nine penalties marched off against his team, he said, “No comment.” When...
Kenny Pickett throws two interceptions, defense struggles in No. 17 Pitt’s loss to Miami
When Pitt’s players, coaches and their somber faces gather Sunday to point the finger of blame, there will be many appropriate places where it should land. Start with the defense — a repeat offender — that kept missing tackles while allowing five touchdowns in Miami’s 38-34 victory Saturday in front...
Tom Richards, point guard on Pitt’s 1974 NCAA Elite Eight team, dies
Thomas E. Richards, who directed traffic as the point guard on one of greatest basketball teams in Pitt history and later became chairperson of the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees, died Thursday at his home in Naples, Fla. He was 66. Richards, a star guard at Moon High School...
Pitt Take 5: Panthers hope to end touchdown drought against Miami
Let’s get the obvious facts out in the open immediately. Although it’s true Pitt takes a three-game losing streak against Miami into its game Saturday at Heinz Field, those three games have nothing to do with what will happen after someone’s toe hits the football at noon. For the record,...
Pitt’s Izzy Abanikanda, Jordan Addison gametime decisions; TE Gavin Bartholomew could play bigger role
Sometimes, first impressions can be misleading, but that wasn’t the case last year when Pat Narduzzi was recruiting tight end Gavin Bartholomew. Before Bartholomew even said a word on their first zoom call, Narduzzi liked what he saw. “The very first thing that impressed me about him was he had...
Pitt’s John Hugley hopes to turn his back on the past while resuming basketball career
The first thought that comes to mind when you see John Hugley is this: Living with mom’s home cooking for much of the past 10 months did Pitt’s big sophomore forward some good. He is now listed at 6-foot-9, 280 pounds, 40 over his weight as a freshman last year....
Florida natives, Pitt defensive stars Calijah Kancey, Brandon Hill unconcerned by Miami snub
Pitt players talk all the time about how they support each other. If someone misses a tackle, the expectation is another player will fill the gap. Injuries happen, but offensive lineman Jake Kradel, tight end Gavin Bartholomew and running back Rodney Hammond Jr. — among others — have stepped up...
Former Duquesne star Sidney Dambrot, father of Dukes’ coach, dies at age 90
Sidney Dambrot, who played for Duquesne’s nationally ranked basketball teams in the 1950s and passed on his love for the university to his son Keith, died Tuesday in Akron, Ohio. He was 90. Keith Dambrot, who is entering his fifth season as Duquesne’s coach, turned 63 on the day his...
Randy Bates: Pitt defense took Western Michigan loss personally
Randy Bates is usually a jovial man, quick with a quip and a smile, a 61-year-old coach who likes to do push-ups and sit-ups in front of his players to motivate them. But while chatting with reporters Tuesday, Bates’ voice fell to a sober tone when a certain subject was...
Mel Kiper slots Pitt’s Kenny Pickett No. 1 among quarterbacks in 2022 NFL Draft
Only a few days after ESPN’s Sean McDonough and Todd Blackledge gushed over Kenny Pickett during the Clemson game, the sports network has bestowed another honor on Pitt’s quarterback. ESPN’s Mel Kiper placed Pickett atop his quarterback ranking for the 2022 NFL Draft. Also, Kiper ranks Pickett 15th among his...
Pitt secures verbal commitment from 2023 wide receiver Zion Fowler
Wide receiver Zion Fowler of Jersey City, N.J., became the first high school prospect from the class of 2023 to make a verbal commitment to Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi when he announced Tuesday his plans to enroll. First off I would like to thank allah for allowing me to be...
Pitt senior running back A.J. Davis plans to transfer
Senior running back A.J. Davis, who was celebrated as a coveted four-star recruit when he signed with Pitt in 2017, has entered the NCAA transfer portal. Davis appeared in only three of the Pitt’s seven games this season, recording two carries for 21 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown run against...
Pitt secures verbal commitment from New Jersey linebacker
Kyle Louis, who is ranked as the No. 11 player in New Jersey, flipped his commitment from Temple and joined Pitt’s 2022 recruiting class Monday night. I want to thank Coach Infante and Temple U for their belief in me. However, I have decided to decommit and commit to the...
Pitt back to work; Jordan Addison, Izzy Abanikanda questionable
When Pat Narduzzi returned home Saturday night after Pitt’s decisive victory against Clemson, he declined to celebrate. Maybe he sat down, ate a late supper with his family and put his feet up after a long day of standing and pacing the sideline. Such is the life of a coach...
Kenny Pickett’s Heisman candidacy is legit, but other QBs can make same claim
He cut through strong winds in Blacksburg, Va., and penetrated what Pat Narduzzi referred to as the “Steel Curtain” on Saturday in a big victory against Clemson. But can Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett earn enough respect from the Heisman Trophy committee to get invited to the ceremony in New York...
Former Miami coach Mark Richt offers high praise for Pitt’s Kenny Pickett
Mark Richt analyzes football for the ACC Network. So, perhaps, you should temper your enthusiasm when the former Miami coach talks about ACC quarterbacks. But it’s becoming impossible to ignore Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, who cemented another brick onto his Heisman Trophy candidacy Saturday when he led the Panthers to a...
Kenny Pickett shines as Pitt knocks off Clemson, tightens grip on 1st place in ACC Coastal
Pitt needs the yards and touchdowns through the air, and the sharp, snap decisions that set Kenny Pickett apart from most quarterbacks. But his worth to the No. 23 Panthers goes far beyond the stat sheet. Early Saturday evening at Heinz Field, Pickett showed 60,594 patrons and nine NFL representatives...
Peach Bowl CEO ponders possibility of Pitt, Penn State clashing in Atlanta
Beechview native Gary Stokan is in town this week on official business. The CEO and President of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will attend the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame dinner Friday night at Heinz Field and stick around for a scouting mission — Clemson vs. Pitt at 3:30 p.m. Saturday....
Pitt Take 5: Significance of Clemson game soars beyond ACC Coastal standings
A look at the ACC standings shows Pitt in first place in the Coastal Division. Even if Pitt (5-1, 2-0) loses to Clemson (4-2, 3-1) on Saturday at Heinz Field, the Panthers will remain in the lead and might stay there until almost Thanksgiving. Pitt’s next three opponents — Miami,...
Whiffing on sacks no fun for Pitt’s Habakkuk Baldonado, but he still leads team
Charlie Partridge is serious about showing Pitt’s defensive linemen the best way to topple a quarterback. And it shows: Pitt’s linemen have accounted for 13 of the team’s ACC Coastal-leading 21 sacks. But he also knows a good-natured joke when he hears one. Partridge, who is Pitt’s assistant head coach...
On a busy Wednesday, Pitt’s Kenny Pickett focuses on settling a score with Clemson
Kenny Pickett walked with long, purposeful strides down the steps into the auditorium where Pitt players gather. A busy day already was underway, with Wednesday morning practice concluded. But more meetings and video sessions were scheduled – some after dark — with offensive coordinator Mark Whipple and teammates. There was...
