Pitt set to meet `deer in headlights’ Miami team
When Pitt visits the Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday night in Coral Gables, Fla., it will meet a team just as desperate for a victory. Miami (12-16, 4-12) has lost nine of its past 12, including a 30-point loss to Zion-less Duke on Saturday. “We were like a deer in the...
What’s missing from Pitt basketball might not be all bad
With only two regular-season games left, plenty still is missing from the Pitt basketball program. Atop that list are victories. The Panthers (12-17, 2-14) are last in the 15-team ACC for the second consecutive season and will try to end its 12-game losing streak Tuesday at Miami (12-16, 4-12). Points...
Lesson learned, opportunities remain for Pitt basketball
Virginia had such an easy time with Pitt on Saturday that coach Tony Bennett found time to rest his starters for their quick turnaround game Monday at Syracuse. Even Jeff Capel used nonscholarship players Anthony Starzynski and Onyebuchi Ezeakudo in Pitt’s second-worst loss of the season, 73-49 to the nation’s...
No. 2 Virginia sends Pitt to 12th consecutive loss
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — With sore knees and another game Monday night, Kyle Guy was fine playing just 25 minutes. He did more than enough with that action, hitting five 3-pointers and scoring 17 points as No. 2 Virginia beat Pitt, 73-49, on Saturday for the Panthers’ 12th straight loss. “We’re...
7 Pitt wrestlers earn national ranking as NCAA tournament approaches
With only 19 days before the NCAA wrestling tournament opens at PPG Paints Arena, seven Pitt wrestlers are ranked among the top 33 by the Division I coaches panel. Leading the way is Micky Phillippi of Derry, who is No. 5 (4 in the RPI) and 17-2 at 133 pounds....
Pitt’s Jeff Capel seeks improvement, will worry about ACC standings, 2020 later
The words “last place” never slipped through Jeff Capel’s lips after Pitt’s loss to Clemson. Capel doesn’t concern himself with won/loss records or standings in the conference — numbers that tend to fascinate the public and media. He has a team to coach. His thoughts over the last three games...
Former Pitt linebacker Anthony McKee chooses to leave team
Less than a year after he was named most improved defensive player in the 2018 spring drills, linebacker Anthony McKee Jr. has decided to leave the Pitt program after he graduates this spring. Coach Pat Narduzzi said Thursday that McKee chose not to use his fifth year of eligibility. “Which...
Center Jimmy Morrissey accepts role as ‘vet’ of Pitt’s offensive lineVideo
Jimmy Morrissey didn’t want to use the word “power” when describing his hold on Pitt’s offensive line. He’s not that kind of leader. But he knows he has plenty of responsibility, given he’s approaching his third season as Pitt’s starting center and the guy who calls out blocking schemes. “Not...
Qadree Ollison hopes to follow Pitt script, run his way into NFLVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Qadree Ollison rushed for more than 1,000 yards in his freshman season at Pitt. It took him three years to reach that milestone again, but it provided a satisfying conclusion to the running back’s college career. “To come back my senior year and finish it the way I...
Pat Narduzzi’s tug-of-war teaches Pitt players to finish what they startVideo
Dane Jackson considers the football field his “sanctuary,” a place where he can “leave it all out there.” But Pitt’s rising senior cornerback has yet to reach fulfillment during this year’s winter conditioning sessions that coach Pat Narduzzi likes to call “fourth-quarter drills.” No one has challenged Jackson in the...
Pitt’s slow start vs. Clemson leads to 11th consecutive lossVideo
Shoulders are slumping, troubles on offense are affecting the defense and the result is Pitt can’t find a way out of its losing streak. The Panthers looked disjointed and disinterested early, rallied briefly in the second half but in the end couldn’t avoid the inevitable, a 62-48 loss to unranked...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel believes talented high school players have the right to go straight to the NBA
When he was an assistant at Duke during the 2017-18 academic year, Jeff Capel helped recruit freshmen Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish. All three will be first-round picks in this year’s NBA Draft after spending one season in college and helping the Blue Devils to – at minimum...
Pitt’s Trey McGowens tries to ease the pressure he puts on himself
Pitt freshman guard Trey McGowens likes to attack the rim, even when bigger, stronger men are guarding it. He did that the first time he scrimmaged with the Panthers before the season, dunking over forward Samson George, who is 4 inches taller and 25 pounds heavier than the 6-foot-3, 185-pound...
Pitt lands a transfer tight end for the 2019 season
Pat Narduzzi received news Tuesday morning that he hopes will solidify a position of weakness on his 2019 Pitt football roster. After he graduates from Rutgers this spring, tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart said he intends to transfer to Pitt and spend his final season of eligibility with the Panthers. Griffin-Stewart...
Close isn’t enough to satisfy Pitt’s Jeff Capel
Jeff Capel wants to feel good about how his team has played the past six games, but it’s not easy. Throughout the month of February, Pitt has been within a reasonable deficit of the lead – or, actually, ahead — in the latter stages of the second half and overtime....
Pitt’s Xavier Johnson honest about his talent, futureVideo
No words describe Xavier Johnson better than these three: talented, confident, honest. Pitt’s point guard, who recruited as a facilitator but has turned into the most prolific freshman scorer in school history, doesn’t back down from attacking the basket even when a taller, stronger opponent is guarding it. “I’m a...
Pitt assistant Tim O’Toole can put losing streak in a proper perspective
Trying desperately to push forward in the midst of a difficult season, Tim O’Toole isn’t afraid to reveal his feelings about Pitt’s 10-game losing streak. “Part of this profession,” Pitt’s associate head coach said, “is you absolutely abhor, detest, hate, with every cell in your body, and I mean every...
Pitt’s losing streak can be tied to the recent past
Pitt’s 10-game losing streak can be tied to many factors. Sometimes, new ones pop up unexpectedly, such as the unbelievably poor foul shooting Wednesday night in the 73-65 loss at Georgia Tech. But maybe it has a much deeper origin, one that goes back to the past Pitt administration when...
Pitt’s losing skid hits 10 with loss at Georgia Tech
ATLANTA — Georgia Tech went a month without winning a game. Even so, coach Josh Pastner had started seeing improvement in his young team over the last couple of weeks. “I think we’ve gotten better, and we have gotten better,” he said. “It just hasn’t shown up in the win...
In busy night, Pitt’s Xavier Johnson nears milestone, Duke, UNC meet in top-10 clash
College basketball fans in Pittsburgh have a decision to make Wednesday night. But if they can’t make up their minds, they need to check the batteries in the TV remote. While Pitt visits Georgia Tech and tries to end its nine-game losing streak, Duke and North Carolina renew one of...
Pitt schedules Western Michigan for 2021, 2022 football seasons
Pitt has scheduled home-and-away games with Western Michigan of the Mid-American Conference for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The teams never have met. The first game will be played Sept. 18, 2021, at Heinz Field, the week after Pitt visits Neyland Stadium to play Tennessee for the first time since...
College wrestling’s ‘passionate’ fan base prepares to descend upon PPG Paints Arena
Jennifer Tuscano has attended enough basketball tournaments to know how fans of that sport act. When a game ends and another is scheduled back-to-back, the gym empties. Fans from two schools head straight to the parking lot and two other groups take their place in the bleachers. Wrestling isn’t like...
Pitt, upcoming opponent Georgia Tech going through similar shooting woes
When Jeff Capel was a sophomore at Duke 24 years ago, he hit 3-pointers at an impressive rate of 46 percent. In today’s game, that would put him among the top-10 long-range shooters in the NCAA. Clearly, Pitt’s coach knows something about putting a basketball through the net. More than...
Small consolation, but Pitt getting closer to victory
Jeff Capel probably didn’t appreciate the question when someone asked about the mood in his locker room after Pitt had lost its ninth consecutive game. “I mean, we’re trying to stay positive,” Pitt’s coach said, without embellishment. Positivity is a good sign. Plus, Capel doesn’t want the media reminding him...
Plenty of action on and off the court Saturday at the Pete
The game will matter Saturday when Pitt tries to stop its eight-game losing streak while tangling with Virginia Tech at Petersen Events Center. But what’s going on at the edge of the court, especially what’s running through the heads of three coveted visiting recruits, might matter just as much. Pitt...
