Pitt category, Page 105

Jeff Capel said losing Au’Diese Toney and Xavier Johnson hurts Pitt in terms of depth and experience for what’s left of this season. Yet he is optimistic his players and coaches can recover in the long term and continue to build the program. “The long term, I don’t see any...

Pat Narduzzi went outside the continental U.S. to hire Pitt’s next wide receivers coach, but he still found someone with strong Western Pennsylvania roots in Hawaii. Greensburg Salem graduate Brennan Marion, whose hiring was reported by many outlets last week, officially joined the Pitt staff Thursday. He replaces Chris Beatty,...

Craig Bokor remembers talking to an attorney about seven years ago when lawsuits were being filed regarding the likeness of college football players being used in video games. “There were a handful of us who were interviewed,” he said. Bokor, a defensive lineman at Pitt from 2005-09, said afterward that...

The destruction of Jeff Capel’s first Pitt recruiting class is complete, and it took barely one day to complete the job. Au’Diese Toney, who was Pitt’s best defender and second-leading scorer and rebounder, has left the men’s basketball program under what Capel described as a “mutual agreement.” There are now...

When Nahki Johnson committed to Pitt in the early days of the summer of 2019, he was barely removed from his sophomore year at West Mifflin. Two more seasons of high school football lay ahead. There were still 18 months before he could sign a binding letter of intent with...

An idle week turned into a tumultuous week for Pitt basketball Wednesday when point guard Xavier Johnson left the program. With three games remaining in the regular season, Johnson came to a mutual agreement with coach Jeff Capel to leave and enter his name in the NCAA transfer portal. “The...

Pat Narduzzi is putting his money to work where he works. The third-longest tenured Pitt coach in more than 50 years, Narduzzi and his wife, Donna, have made a significant donation to his football program — a six-figure financial gift to the University of Pittsburgh’s Football Championship Fund. The fund...

When he walks into the gym for practice, Jeff Capel likes to focus on his players and the gameplan for Pitt’s next opponent. But he might do well this week to stuff a phone in his pocket while running the team through drills. Who knows? Someone from the ACC might...

With so many issues facing Pitt as it works toward ending its 1-7 slide, the 2021-22 season is at the bottom of the list. But senior guard Nike Sibande was asked by a reporter Saturday night about next season. It was a pertinent question because Sibande had just played his...

There is no column in the ACC standings marked M for moral victories. Jeff Capel made that clear after Pitt’s 79-72 loss to Florida State on Saturday at Petersen Events Center. “We want to win the basketball game,” he said, “and I thought we had a chance. We did some...

Justin Champagnie’s thoughts mainly are focused on Pitt’s game Saturday against Florida State and how to reverse the Panthers’ current 1-6 slide. But during his video conference call with reporters Friday, he said he’s eager to be a part of Pitt’s reported game against St. John’s next season when he...

Although Pitt players, coaches and fans have plenty of reasons to feel frustrated, angry and let down, the season isn’t over. Although no one can be sure how many games will be played, there will be enough time for Jeff Capel to steer his team to a respectable finish, starting...

After playing, coaching and closely observing college basketball at the highest level for nearly three decades, Jeff Capel believes he knows what it takes to win. When he conducts practice, watches video with his players and gathers them around him during a timeout, he preaches his tenets of solid play....

A man named Myles stood on the side of the road in Yosemite National Park. A car approached, and he waved for it to stop. Trey Andersen and his companions decided to pull the car to the side of the road. “(Myles) said, ‘I need help,’ ” Andersen recalled. “...

After two previous postponements, Pitt’s game with Florida State has been rescheduled perhaps for the final time. The Panthers will play the No. 16 Seminoles at 4 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center, according to a revised schedule announced Wednesday by the ACC. The game had been scheduled for Jan....

While losing to a mediocre Duke team on Saturday by 16 points, N.C. State committed 18 turnovers. The next day, Pitt matched the Wolfpack for ball insecurity, turning it over another 18 times in a six-point loss at Georgia Tech. When the teams get together at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at...

Brennan Marion’s passion for football — whether it was catching passes, teaching others to throw and catch or writing about it — has brought him back home. Marion, who grew up in Pittsburgh and played wide receiver at Greensburg Salem before embarking on a far-reaching college career as a player...

Two former University of Pittsburgh football players filed separate federal lawsuits against the university and the NCAA, as well as the Big East and Atlantic Coast conferences, alleging the organizations were aware of the potential health ramifications caused by concussions and repeated blows to the head but never took action...

When Justin Champagnie attempted only eight shots against Virginia Tech, no one noticed. Or, if anyone did, the meager total was obscured by Pitt’s 83-72 victory. But the issue was raised Sunday night and Monday morning after Pitt’s 71-65 loss to Georgia Tech. Champagnie, whose lead over Duke’s Mathew Hurt...

Pitt hadn’t played in eight days and had trouble finding its offensive rhythm. Georgia Tech was playing its third game in five days and looked more refreshed than fatigued. The result was Pitt’s fifth loss in the past six games, 71-65, to the Yellow Jackets on Sunday in Atlanta. Coach...

Olivia Miller takes nothing for granted as she trains and competes for the Pitt women’s gymnastics team. The Gateway graduate remembers how quickly a season can be taken away as the Panthers’ 2020 campaign ended prematurely when the coronavirus pandemic started to take hold last March. The 2021 season has...

College basketball enters the final month of the regular season, staggered by covid-19, but somehow still standing. Most scheduled games were played Saturday, but 22 were postponed or canceled, with six more called off Sunday. Pitt-Georgia Tech isn’t one of them. The game will tip at 4 p.m. Sunday at...

At last look, the floor inside Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion isn’t made of concrete. Yet, it might feel that way for three intense competitors from Brooklyn, N.Y., who will play pivotal roles Sunday in the Pitt/Georgia Tech game in Atlanta. Pitt’s Justin Champagnie and Femi Odukale and Georgia Tech’s Jose...

Two Franklin Regional grads – Spencer Lee and Michael Kemerer – are ranked No. 1 according to the latest NCAA coaches rankings. Both wrestle for No. 1 Iowa. Lee, a two-time NCAA champion, is ranked No. 1 at 125 pounds. Kemerer, a two-time NCAA placewinner and three-time All-American, is ranked...

In a season when no one is sure whether the next game will be played, postponed or canceled, Pitt’s Jeff Capel is ready for anything. With the Louisville game postponed Wednesday, he scheduled two days off for his players this week, knowing Pitt (9-6, 5-5 ACC) is supposed to play...