Pitt category, Page 155

Former Pitt pitcher T.J. Zeuch is making strides after only three seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Zeuch, the highest MLB draft choice in Pitt baseball history and the 21st overall selection in the first round of the 2016 draft, has been invited to the Blue Jays’ major-league spring...

Redshirt freshman Micky Phillippi was a bright spot for the 13th-ranked Pitt wrestling team last weekend in a 36-9 loss to No. 3 Oklahoma State. Phillippi, a Derry graduate, stunned No. 2-ranked Daton Fix, 3-1, at 133 pounds. The fourth-ranked Phillippi (13-1) handed Fix (21-1) his first loss as Pitt...

Chris Beatty, who worked with Pitt assistant coaches Tim Salem and Dave Borbely in previous coaching stops and served under Penn State coach James Franklin at Vanderbilt, has been named wide receivers coach at Pitt. Beatty, 45, arrives at Pitt following three seasons at Maryland, where he coached receivers and...

Jeff Capel understood when he accepted the Pitt coaching job that it would be an uphill climb, one for which he had been prepared for as a player and assistant coach at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K isn’t just a mentor but one who did a masterful job building...

Jeff Capel said his team will take an important step in its rebuilding season Tuesday when it meets No. 2 Duke at Petersen Events Center. Duke is the gold standard of college basketball, according to Capel. “As you are trying to build a program, you want to play against the...

The play authored by Duke’s Zion Williamson was so impressive, Jeff Capel was still talking about it two days later. The fact it happened Saturday against No. 3 Virginia, the nation’s top defensive team allowing only 52.9 points per game, just added to Williamson’s growing legend as a freshman. “He...

Growing pains reached up and stung Pitt on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Although Pitt trailed by only one point early in the second half, Syracuse led by 20 at one point before finally winning, 74-63. The Panthers looked befuddled in the face of Syracuse’s 2-3 zone and ended up...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. Last Monday, the basketball teams that played Saturday at the Carrier Dome took big steps forward. Pitt toward becoming a legitimate ACC program again by upsetting 11th-ranked Florida State at home. Syracuse toward being a legitimate Sweet 16 threat again by upsetting top-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium....

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim breathed a sigh of relief. Five days after his Orange’s biggest win of the season, there was no letdown. Tyus Battle scored 22 points, Boeheim’s son Buddy had a season-high 13 points and Syracuse beat Pitt, 74-63, on Saturday, the Orange’s zone defense...

Keith Gavin was pleased with the most notable occurrence of the day when Pitt redshirt freshman wrestler Micky Phillippi defeated Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix, 3-1, at 133 pounds. But Pitt’s coach left Fitzgerald Field House on Saturday afternoon knowing there’s still a lot of work to do. Oklahoma State, the...

Jeff Capel has taught his team plenty of basketball this season. Pitt’s players know how to drive to the hoop, draw fouls and rebound against bigger opponents. But there’s more to building a winning program than talented athletes trying to execute Xs and Os. Capel is hoping to build a...

Norwin’s Alayna Gribble, who has been a part of the Pitt women’s basketball program for the past three seasons, is giving up the game. Pitt coach Lance White announced Friday that Gribble, a junior, has received a medical disqualification from the team due to multiple concussions. “Alayna Gribble is the...

Sophomore guard Khameron Davis appeared to be offended Thursday when he was asked if Pitt is playing above the players’ expectations. “No, not at all,” said Davis, one of only four scholarship players who returned from last season’s disaster. “We put in so much work during the summer, so much...

James Patton, who has been a quality control assistant at Pitt the past two seasons, has been named offensive line coach at Eastern Michigan. Patton has 26 years of coaching experience, including seven at Northwestern, four at Indiana University and seven at Oklahoma. “I feel very fortunate to be able...

Pitt’s 2019 football schedule was released Wednesday, and it revealed some good news for the Panthers. Pitt will play seven of its 12 regular-season games at Heinz Field for the third time in the past four seasons. Plus, the first five games will be contested within the confines of Pennsylvania....

The chants started at the end of Pitt’s victory against Florida State on Monday night at Petersen Events Center. Who could blame the students in the Oakland Zoo, many of whom (mainly the younger ones) never had seen a Pitt victory against an ACC opponent in person? The chant was...

Jeff Capel knows he is in the early stages of a long ACC season that will test his players’ toughness. Pitt’s coach is aware the game sometimes won’t unfold as it did Monday night at Petersen Events Center. But Capel’s big bear hug on freshman guard Trey McGowens, who scored...

If Pat Narduzzi was looking for an experienced play-caller and quarterbacks coach in his quest to hire Pitt’s next offensive coordinator, Mark Whipple fits the description. Whipple, 61, has handled those duties at a variety of places for all but one year of the past four decades, working with prominent...

No one expected Pitt to win even half of its 18 ACC games this season, and the 86-80 loss at N.C. State made it clear why expectations are low. Even when Pitt plays well, which it did for much of the game … Even when the opponent hands the Panthers...

RALEIGH, N.C. — No. 15 North Carolina State lost both a starting big man and its point guard. Good thing for the Wolfpack their depth is the envy of most teams. DJ Funderburk scored 12 of his career-high 18 points in the second half, and N.C. State beat Pitt, 86-80,...

Seven Pitt seniors have been invited to put on a show for NFL coaches and scouts at three all-star games this month. Offensive lineman Connor Dintino, defensive end Dewayne Hendrix and linebacker Elijah Zeise will play in the SPIRAL Tropical Bowl on Sunday in Daytona Beach, Fla. Running backs Darrin...

Pitt backup point guard Sidy N’Dir could return from his leg injury Saturday at N.C. State, slightly ahead of schedule. The original thought was that N’Dir, a graduate senior, would be out four to six weeks, but he’s missed just four games, starting with the New Orleans contest Dec. 20....

Pitt will shut down its intercollegiate women’s tennis program at the end of the upcoming spring season, marking the first time in nearly a quarter century the university has discontinued a sport. Men’s gymnastics and tennis were eliminated at the end of the 1994-95 academic year. The elimination of women’s...