Pitt’s Nelly Cummings thrives on basketball’s most intense moments
Not only does Nelly Cummings embrace the most challenging moments on a basketball floor, but he’s been known to create them in his mind — even when they don’t exist. For proof, turn back the pages of the calendar to March 21, 2014, and the PIAA Class A championship game...
Pitt Take 5: Everybody gets in the act to help winning streak reach 3 in a row
The assignment for Saturday while Pitt enjoys a weekend off is to identify the most impressive stat on the Panthers’ resume. But let’s not make it too easy. The 9-3 record in the ACC and 16 overall victories with eight regular-season games remaining give fans a chance to gloat. But...
Pitt coach Jeff Capel focused on now, not the future
The first words that came from Jeff Capel’s mouth were about the game, not the victory. “What a great, hard-fought college basketball game,” he said after Pitt’s impressive 65-64 victory Wednesday night at North Carolina’s Dean Dome. “Guys stepped up and made some big-time plays on both sides.” The man...
First Call: Titans player seeks forgiveness for ‘spitting’ at T.J. Watt; Pitt-UNC got tense during and after the gameVideo
If Taylor Lewan really wants to be a Pittsburgh Steeler, he better start making good with one of the franchise’s star players. Tom Brady’s retirement brought some fond memories to mind for a former Steeler. Kurt Warner has fun with a tough anniversary in his career. The Penguins got an...
Pitt squeaks by North Carolina on 2 free throws in final seconds
Pitt won a big game Wednesday night in front of a loud, hostile crowd of 20,421 in North Carolina’s Dean Dome. The winning points came off the sure hands of senior guard Jamarius Burton, who hit two foul shots with 3.6 seconds left, lifting the Panthers from a one-point deficit...
After adding new faces this offseason, Pitt looks for improvement in its passing game
Perhaps the biggest difference between the Pitt team that won the ACC championship in 2021 and the 2022 version that failed to repeat was the regression in the passing game. Kenny Pickett threw for 4,319 yards and 42 touchdowns in ’21, but those numbers fell precipitously to 2,898 and 13...
First Call: Return of a Heinz Field ketchup bottle; Twitter doubts Tom Brady’s retirement; Calvin Austin III runs againVideo
Wednesday’s “First Call” features a return of an Acrisure Stadium favorite and a potential return to the Pittsburgh Steelers roster. Pitt and Penn State both have big games Wednesday night. Tuesday was an exciting evening in the Metropolitan Division. And some fans are a bit dubious of Tom Brady’s latest...
Pitt’s Capel gets another chance to coach against Carolina’s Davis, whom he used to emulate
The relationship between Pitt coach Jeff Capel and North Carolina’s Hubert Davis, whose teams meet Wednesday night at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill, N.C., stretches back to the 1990s in Capel’s backyard in Fayetteville, N.C. Only Davis might not be aware of the origin. In those days, Davis was...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel talks about love of wine, fine art, friendship with Mike Tomlin
When Jeff Capel sits down for one of his regular chats with reporters, the subject is always basketball. Eventually, however, the conversation Monday flowed toward Capel’s love of wine and fine artwork and his friendship with Mike Tomlin. Right, no kidding. All three topics are parts of Capel’s life away...
Trip to Yankee Stadium highlights Pitt’s tough 2023 schedule
Seven months from kickoff, Pitt’s 2023 schedule already is shaping up as a challenge from start to finish — with 11 Power 5 opponents. After playing four Power 5 opponents in September, Pitt will visit foreign soil for four of its final six games. Overall, Pitt will play eight of...
Jerry DiPaola: Why I slipped Pitt into my AP college basketball poll ballot
At the top, the voting was easy. All 62 voters in the Associated Press poll made Purdue (21-1) the No. 1 team in college basketball this week. At the bottom, not so much. What team would slip just under the wire and claim that 25th and final spot? Some of...
Pitt football will return to the Bronx this season to play Syracuse at Yankee Stadium
Pitt is going back to the Bronx, N.Y., to meet Syracuse at Yankee Stadium and commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the first college football game played at the original “House That Ruth Built.” The game will be played between the long-time rivals Nov. 11. “We look forward to celebrating this...
Nostalgia mixes with big Pitt victory to get The Pete rocking again
Pitt went to great lengths last week to celebrate the legacy of its basketball program. First, the school honored Jerome Lane and his remarkable, backboard-shattering dunk from 35 years ago. Then, coaches and players from the 2002-03 team — the first at Pitt to win a Big East Tournament championship...
Pitt rallies from 11-point deficit for 71-68 victory against No. 20 Miami
If you didn’t know better, you might too quickly call Pitt’s improbable 71-68 victory Saturday against No. 20 Miami a defining moment in a season of rebirth. The truth: Sure, Pitt was down 11 points in the second half and eight with under 2½ minutes to play. But this wasn’t...
Pitt wrestling moves into 1st place in ACC after upset of No. 7 Virginia Tech
Pitt wrestling holds first place in the ACC dual standings after a decisive upset of nationally ranked Virginia Tech, 26-12. The Panthers won 7 of 10 bouts from the Hokies (7-3, 1-1) on Friday night in Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. It was Pitt’s first victory in Blacksburg since 2004....
Pitt Take 5: Miami game starts 10-game stretch that will define Panthers’ season
Pitt embarks on a crucial 10-game stretch Saturday when it attempts to rise above third place in the ACC with a game against No. 20 Miami at Petersen Events Center. Both teams are 7-3 in the conference. A victory probably adds another brick to Pitt’s status as an NCAA Tournament...
If there’s McDonald’s in that bag, Miami coach Jim Larranaga might be ‘lovin’ it’Video
If the celebrated prankster, who appeared to carry a bag of food onto the court at Duquesne on Wednesday, wants to move his act a couple miles up to the road to Petersen Events Center, Miami coach Jim Larranaga probably won’t have him removed. “I love McDonald’s,” Larranaga said Thursday...
2 Penn State athletes, 1 from Pitt land NIL deal with WWE
Two Penn State University athletes have landed Name-Image-Likeness deals with WWE through its “Next In Line” program. WWE said this is its third class of 15 college athletes to join the program. This class includes Penn State athletes, two-time NCAA All-American wrestler Greg Kerkvliet and Nick Dawkins, a lineman for...
There’s no explaining some of the plays that led Pitt to victory against Wake Forest
There were a few funny elements to Pitt’s 81-79 victory against Wake Forest on Wednesday night. Not funny, “ha-ha,” but funny strange. Set aside for a moment that Pitt won its seventh of 10 ACC games, a victory total that’s been unreachable by a Panthers team for the previous six...
Pitt rides hot hand beyond the arc to 81-79 victory against Wake Forest
For the past 30 years, Jeff Capel has been true to the basics of good basketball. Play solid defense, share the basketball, take appropriate shots inside and outside the 3-point line, step up and take a charge once in while and, for goodness sakes, rebound. But at the age of...
Former WPIAL football stars return home to accept new challenges at Pitt
Donovan McMillon remembers the first time he was on the same football field with Phil Jurkovec. From McMillon’s perspective, it wasn’t a pretty sight. Jurkovec’s Pine-Richland team beat McMillon and Peters Township, 56-7, on the way to the Rams winning WPIAL and PIAA 6A championships in 2017. “I was a...
Pitt’s bubble status at stake this week vs. Wake Forest, Miami
Jeff Capel wouldn’t take the bubble bait. Of course, Pitt’s coach understands the significance of the last 11 regular-season games. After all, Capel and his players created this NCAA Tournament talk — as premature as it might be — by winning their 13th game Jan. 18 (faster than any of...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel makes connecting with his players a priority
There was a moment Saturday in the heat of Pitt’s loss to Florida State that players gathered around Jeff Capel during a timeout. With passion showing in his face, he was teaching, encouraging and making his players aware of all that was awaiting them on the court. At one point,...
Jerome Lane’s rim-rattling, glass-breaking dunk still a grand slam 35 years laterVideo
Jerome Lane, a player who dominated Big East backboards for two seasons, said his legendary slam was “just another dunk.” The only difference? “Just the glass coming down,” he said. Oh, is that all? The dunk occurred Jan. 25, 1988, in Pitt’s Big East game against Providence at Fitzgerald Field...
Matriculating from the Canary Islands, Diaz Graham twins make Pitt their 2nd home
He attacks from behind, always with a weapon in his hands. Every day. And gets away with it. “When he has that blocking pad in his hand, you better be ready for anything,” Pitt freshman Guillermo Diaz Graham said of associate head coach Tim O’Toole. It’s all part of how...
