Isolated college coaches, players deal with change in recruiting landscape
When it’s time to get serious about next football season, Ethan Carr will get down on the floor and do a series of push-ups and sit-ups, followed by some challenging pull-ups. Then, he might open the front door and run through the mostly deserted streets of Harrison City. It is...
Former Pitt forward Samson George enters transfer portal
Samson George, who was honored as a departing member of the Pitt basketball team at the final home game Feb. 26, wants to continue his collegiate career. George, a native of Minna, Nigeria, who expects to graduate from Pitt this year, has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal....
Burrell grad Scherer eager for big finish to Pitt track career after breakout seasonVideo
Sprinter Nikki Scherer arrived at Pitt two years ago with a plethora of WPIAL and PIAA gold medals, eager to soak up all college life had to offer while still leaving her competition in the dust. But the Burrell grad quickly found out it wasn’t going to be that easy....
WVU basketball will play Pitt, Robert Morris during 2020-21 nonconference season
Pitt and West Virginia basketball teams will play the last of a four-game series Nov. 13 at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. The series, negotiated in 2016 by former Pitt athletic director Scott Barnes and West Virginia’s Shane Lyons, ended a five-year period in which the two long-standing rivals did...
Pitt product Kevan Smith trying to catch on with Tampa Bay Rays
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Kevan Smith took some blindside hits during his days as a quarterback at Seneca Valley and Pitt. However, no blitzing linebacker or safety ever hit Smith in quite the way Los Angeles Angels general manager Billy Eppler did during a phone conversation in November. Eppler informed...
Pitt offensive coordinator Mark Whipple seeks more balance in Year 2
After three days of football practice in March, it is impossible to build momentum or make definitive declarations, especially when players donned pads only one day. Doesn’t matter. Mark Whipple is giving it his best shot. Before the coronavirus outbreak halted spring drills at Pitt and everywhere else and the...
Pitt’s Trey McGowens enters transfer portal, joins Ryan Murphy as departing guards
Sophomore guard Trey McGowens, one of the building blocks coach Jeff Capel put in place at the outset of his Pitt tenure, entered the NCAA transfer portal. Pittsburgh sophomore Trey McGowens just informed @Stockrisers that he will enter his name in the transfer portal. He averaged 11.5 points last season...
Pitt lands commitment from guard Femi Odukale for its class of 2020
Pitt men’s basketball received good news Tuesday for its depth at guard when three-star Femi Odukale announced on his Instagram account his plans to enroll next academic year. Odukale’s commitment came two days after guard Ryan Murphy entered his name in the transfer portal. View this post on Instagram What...
ACC officially cancels spring sports season
The ACC announced Tuesday it is shutting down all athletic-related activities, including all competition and practices, through the end of the 2019-20 academic year. It was a unanimous decision made to mitigate the further spread of coronavirus. Each university will continue to work in accordance with its school and state...
First Call: Coronavirus crisis may keep Raiders in Oakland; Tom Brady’s options narrowing; Xavier Johnson staying at Pitt
In “First Call” for Monday, we defend the NFL’s decision to move forward with the start of its league year. Coronavirus may impact the Raiders’ ability to move to Las Vegas on time. And potential landing spots for Tom Brady are disappearing. Look a little deeper The NFL took heat...
Guard Ryan Murphy will transfer from Pitt after one season
Ryan Murphy’s time with the Pitt basketball team will last one season. Murphy, who transferred from New Mexico Junior College last year after spending the previous season at Charlotte, entered the NCAA transfer portal. Murphy will have a year of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer. “We appreciate Ryan’s efforts...
North Allegheny grads make impact at ACC swimming championships
North Allegheny graduates Jack Wright and Jerry Chen were top contributors to their teams at the ACC men’s swimming championship meet Feb. 26-29 in Greensboro, N.C. Wright, a Virginia freshman, made the A final of the 200-yard freestyle, the only freshman in the 12-team field to do so. He placed...
Pitt postpones Pro Day after NFL bans visits with draft-eligible players
Pitt postponed its annual Pro Day for seniors wishing to work out for NFL scouts after the league banned in-person visits with draft-eligible players. The session, which typically attracts scouts and executives from most NFL teams, was scheduled for Wednesday at the South Side practice facility Pitt shares with the...
Mixed results for Pitt basketball, but things looking up
It was always Jeff Capel’s intention and the hope of Pitt fans for the Panthers to play on the last day of the ACC Tournament. Just not this way. After Pitt was eliminated Wednesday in a 73-58 second-round loss to N.C. State, the ACC canceled the remaining three days of...
NCAA cancels men’s, women’s basketball tournaments
March Madness came to a screeching halt before a bracket could even be filled out. The NCAA canceled its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments Thursday because of the spread of coronavirus, putting an abrupt end to the season less than a month before champions were to be crowned. The unprecedented...
ACC suspension of all spring athletic activities will impact Pitt athletes
The ACC has decided to suspend all athletic activities, which will significantly impact Pitt teams on several fronts, including participation in the NCAA Wrestling Tournament, which was subsequently canceled by the NCAA. Also, spring football practice, games and recruiting will be discontinued for the duration of the spring. The ban...
Pitt’s athletics teams plan to maintain their normal schedule
While in-person classes at the University of Pittsburgh will transition to online and “alternative learning options” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Pitt’s athletics teams will continue their previously scheduled regimen of practices and home games, university officials announced. That includes the resumption of football’s spring drills Tuesday at...
Pitt loses to N.C. State in 2nd round of ACC TournamentVideo
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Devon Daniels and his N.C. State teammates know their chances of securing an NCAA Tournament bid could come down to how they play in this week’s ACC Tournament. “We know we can’t go where we want to go, like unless we take care of the game at...
Slighted Justin Champagnie takes it out on Wake Forest; Pitt advances in ACC tourney
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Justin Champagnie felt snubbed after being left off the ACC’s All-Freshman team. So he decided to take it out on Wake Forest in the opening round of the conference tournament Tuesday, scoring a career-high 31 points to lead Pitt to a 81-72 victory over the Demon Deacons....
Pitt carries little hope into ACC Tournament, but even that’s something
Since the middle of the previous decade, there’s been a common thread to the latter stages of Pitt’s basketball seasons: The team has staggered to the finish line every year since 2015. No matter the coach. Jamie Dixon ended his final two seasons 0-5 and 1-4, including NIT and NCAA...
Pitt’s Micky Phillippi, Jake Wentzel, Demetrius Thomas win ACC wrestling championshipsVideo
After all the numbers were counted, Pitt finished second to N.C. State in the team standings Sunday night at the ACC Wrestling Championship in front of a crowd of 1,714 at Petersen Events Center. But the 81-77 loss to defending champion N.C. State in the six-team tournament meant far less...
Pitt will open ACC Tournament on Tuesday against Wake Forest
Pitt will be the No. 13 seed and open the 14-team ACC Tournament at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday against No. 12 Wake Forest at the Greensboro Coliseum. It’s officially #ACCTourney Time! Here's the bracket ↓↓ pic.twitter.com/JNRl6siTQx— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) March 8, 2020 Pitt (15-16, 6-14) will attempt to stop a...
Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates pushes players, himself with equal vigor
Every week, Randy Bates adds another pushup to his daily regimen, another milestone. Bates is up to 36, representing the number of weeks since doctors cleared him for activity after cancer surgery on his tonsils 12 months ago. “It just reminds me of where I was,” Pitt’s defensive coordinator said....
Pitt freshman running back Izzy Abanikanda puts on pads, makes an impactVideo
When the hole opened in the middle of Pitt’s defense, Izzy Abanikanda zigged and zagged through traffic. All of sudden, the freshman running back, only three months removed from high school, was in the open. That’s when he turned on his speed and outran sophomore A.J. Woods, one of the...
Pitt’s Rashad Weaver recovered from knee injury, ready to take next step
Rashad Weaver retweeted the slight against his teammates without comment, which says something about Pitt’s senior defensive end. It merely was a listing of someone’s ranking of the top 10 defensive lines in college football. Clemson’s line is No. 1 on the list for 2020. Pitt’s Coastal division rival Miami...
