Spring Breakout serves as opportunity for Pirates to showcase baseball’s top farm system
When the Pittsburgh Pirates were paired with the Detroit Tigers for the Spring Breakout, it was supposed to showcase baseball’s top two prospects in shortstops Konnor Griffin and Kevin McGonigle. That neither McGonigle nor Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler (ranked No. 15) are on their team’s respective rosters for the MLB...
A year after arriving via trade, Tommy Novak filling important role for PenguinsVideo
For a variety of reasons, things are better for Tommy Novak today than they were one year ago. Like being ambulatory. After the Pittsburgh Penguins traded for Novak from the Nashville Predators on March 5, 2025, he didn’t even last two whole games before suffering a stress fracture in his...
First Call: CeeDee Lamb gushes about Mike McCarthy; Steelers make interesting pro day choiceVideo
Thursday’s “First Call” has some opinions on the Aaron Rodgers situation from a Pittsburgh Steelers legend. Top Steelers officials went to a pro day of note in the SEC. One of Mike McCarthy’s former players is heaping praise on his former coach. And Penn State’s Gavin McKenna is getting lots...
U mad, bro?: Steelers’ offseason moves, Radko Gudas’ suspension make readers mad before March MadnessVideo
By the time many of you read this, you’ll already be mad at your own brackets in March Madness. Specifically, you’ll be angry at the advice Mike DeCourcy and I gave you for your Final Four picks. I take responsibility in advance of our inevitable failures. Between now and then,...
Why Penn State’s pro day felt so different to players bound for NFL Draft
For many of Penn State’s pro day participants, the Lasch Building and Holuba Hall look very different than the last time they were there. Gone are the “1-0” graphics and all of the markings with former coach James Franklin’s four core values. And gone are many of the players and...
NCAA Tournament East preview: No. 1 overall seed Duke motivated by last year’s Final Four loss
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Duke enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and looking to avenge last season’s missed opportunity. The Blue Devils (32-2) were bounced in the Final Four by Houston despite a team that included five future NBA players, including three lottery picks and two players...
NCAA Tournament West preview: Gonzaga still searching for elusive championship
PORTLAND, Ore. — In a season of highs and a few lows, Gonzaga is back in the NCAA Tournament and still looking for that elusive title game breakthrough. The Bulldogs (30-3) are riding 27 straight tournament appearances. They’ve twice made it to the national championship game — in 2017 and...
NCAA Tournament South preview: Houston fights the urge to look ahead to possible Florida rematch
OKLAHOMA CITY — Houston could eventually go back home for a rematch of last season’s national championship game it lost to Florida. The South regional final would be played at the Toyota Center in Houston, just a few miles from the Fertitta Center where the Cougars play their home games....
NCAA Tournament Midwest preview: Fresh off 1st NCAA Tournament win, Howard braces for No. 1 seed Michigan
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Howard coach Kenny Blakeney had a blast the last time he saw Michigan play. Following the Bison’s home win against North Carolina Central on Feb. 21, Blakeney and his family ventured over to Capital One Arena in Washington to catch Michigan’s highly anticipated showdown against Duke, which...
Minor league report: Penguins still seeking playoff berth after losing to RocketVideo
Forward Gabe Klassen scored the only goal for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 5-1 loss to the Laval Rocket at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, on Wednesday. Goaltender Sergei Murashov made 24 saves on 28 shots as his record fell to 21-8-3. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (37-16-5-2, 82 points) remains one point short...
Trib 10: In season’s final few days, new team takes over top spot in boys power rankings
We have reached the last few days of the high school basketball season with 12 PIAA championship games set to close out the season and the Road to Hershey. We finally have out first change of the season at the top of the power rankings. After being No. 1 all...
Penguins lose to Hurricanes in overtime as Sidney Crosby rejoins lineup
When it was revealed Feb. 25 that he would be sidelined for several weeks due to a presumed right leg injury he suffered while skating for Canada in the Olympics, Sidney Crosby was bullish on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ hopes. And his teammates largely validated his optimism by going 5-3-3 in...
Prairie View A&M beats Lehigh in First Four for 1st March Madness win
DAYTON, Ohio — Dontae Horne scored 25 points, and Cory Wells had 19 points and 11 rebounds as Prairie View A&M earned its first NCAA Tournament victory 67-55 over Lehigh on Wednesday night in the First Four. Lance Williams added 10 points for the Panthers (19-17), making their third tournament...
PIAA takes 1st step toward approving fall playoff brackets
It is going to be a few more months before the PIAA releases the fall playoff brackets. During the March board of control meeting Wednesday, the board voted on first reading to approve the fall brackets. The PIAA needs to approve the fall brackets two more times. WPIAL executive director...
Braxton Ashcraft leaves Tigers looking with 8 strikeouts as Pirates end 3-game skid
Braxton Ashcraft didn’t just wow the Detroit Tigers. The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander left them looking. Ashcraft drew 22 called strikes, including on four of his eight strikeouts without a walk in 5 1/3 innings, as the Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-1, on Wednesday night to end a three-game Grapefruit...
Jeannette grad Ethan Berginc leads WPIAL contingent at NCAA wrestling championships
The start of March Madness officially gets underway at noon Thursday. But so does the NCAA Division I wrestling championships at Cleveland, and the WPIAL will be well represented. There are 50 wrestlers from Pennsylvania who are entered in the tournament, 21 from the WPIAL, including Jeannette grad Ethan Berginc....
Bryan Hodgson’s NCAA Tournament homecoming filled with painful, uplifting memories for South Florida coach
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Bryan Hodgson’s celebrated homecoming comes with both deeply painful and joyously uplifting reminders of South Florida’s full-circle journey in preparing to make his NCAA Tournament coaching debut not far from his Jamestown, N.Y., roots. There are the mental and physical scars — two burn marks on the...
MLB might consider moving thriving World Baseball Classic to midseason
MIAMI — Having set attendance and broadcast viewer records, the World Baseball Classic will return in 2029 or 2030 and at some future point could be moved to midseason, when clubs would be less likely to restrict players. Since the WBC’s inception in 2006, it has been played during spring...
Transfer portal means March Madness at multiple schools for some
Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd’s NCAA Tournament experiences have run the gamut at his previous schools. Boyd reached the Final Four with Florida Atlantic in 2023, endured an overtime loss in the round of 64 with the Owls a year later and then lost in the First Four with San Diego...
3-point attempts keep ticking up heading into March Madness
No team has made more 3-pointers, nor launched more, than Alabama in the past four seasons. And nothing will shake coach Nate Oats from believing they’re at the core of building a winner in modern basketball. Teams might struggle to match the Crimson Tide’s sheer volume heading into March Madness,...
Kyle Louis, Desmond Reid among 15 players to partake in Pitt’s Pro Day
Fifteen former Pitt players will look to solidify their NFL Draft prospects March 26 at the Panthers’ Pro Day at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side. Pitt announced Wednesday the details of its annual Pro Day, which will feature scouts on hand to watch participants conduct the vertical...
Defensive end Jimmy Scott, guard BJ Williams offer Pitt veteran leadership to build around
Pitt is leaning on established veterans this spring while facing question marks at several positions. The list of returning players expected to play large roles in 2026 includes Mason Heintschel at quarterback, Cruce Brookins at safety and Braylan Lovelace at linebacker. Also prominent within the team’s group of veterans are...
Penn State favored for a 5th straight NCAA Division I men’s wrestling title
Penn State is out to claim an elusive fifth straight NCAA Division I men’s wrestling title this weekend. The Nittany Lions have won four straight championships three times under coach Cael Sanderson, including the current run. He said the pressure to win a 13th title overall and make this the...
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby set to return from injury after 11-game absenceVideo
Sidney Crosby will re-enter the Pittsburgh Penguins’ lineup Wednesday evening against the Carolina Hurricanes after missing 11 games because of injury. Crosby partook in the Penguins’ morning skate at the Lenovo Center ahead of their game at Carolina and, following the session, Crosby indicated he will return to action. Coach...
WNBA and players union have reached an agreement in principle on a transformational new CBA
NEW YORK — The WNBA and its players’ union reached an agreement in principle on a transformational new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning. Specifics still need to be finalized over the next few weeks as lawyers on both sides work on the new CBA. A term sheet should be...
