Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Blue Devils put on a show, roll past Panthers
With the Oakland Zoo bouncing and hip-hop legend Jay-Z bobbing his head to the beats of his own songs courtside, the Pitt-Duke game brought back memories of Petersen Events Center as an intimidating home court. That first-year Pitt coach Jeff Capel was coaching for the first time against his alma...
Schedule remains daunting for Pitt basketball
After the Oakland Zoo’s confetti was swept off the floor of Petersen Events Center and Pitt’s game against Duke on Tuesday night became a memory, another pressing matter remained for the Panthers. The rest of the season. Pitt will play only one game at Petersen Events Center through Feb. 5,...
Pitt puts up little resistance in home loss to No. 2 Duke
Duke’s 79-64 victory against Pitt in front of a noisy, sellout crowd at Petersen Events Center made coach Jeff Capel think. About his past and, of course, the present as his Panthers try to keep up with more talented teams in the ACC. Duke freshman forward Zion Williamson, projected to...
Former Pitt pitcher T.J. Zeuch earns invitation to Blue Jays’ major-league camp
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...
Pitt’s Phillippi tabbed ACC wrestler of week
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...
Narduzzi hires ex-Maryland assistant to coach wide receivers
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...
Kevin Gorman: Pitt’s Jeff Capel learned the greatest lesson from Coach K at Duke
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...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel calls Duke `the premier program in all of college athletics’
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...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel recruited Zion Williamson to Duke. Now he must solve him.
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...
Loss to Syracuse part of Pitt’s growing-up phase
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...
Tim Benz: Pitt draws high praise from Syracuse despite loss
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....
Second-half surge leads Syracuse past Pitt
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...
Micky Phillippi’s victory not enough in Pitt wrestlers’ 36-9 loss to Oklahoma State
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...
Solving Syracuse’s vaunted zone next lesson for Pitt
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...
Concussions force Pitt’s Alayna Gribble to retire from basketball
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...
Pitt’s revival under Jeff Capel a surprise to many … but not Pitt
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...
Derry’s Micky Phillippi leads No. 14 Pitt wrestling against No. 3 Oklahoma StateVideo
Keith Gavin looks at the lineup of wrestlers Oklahoma State will bring to Pitt’s Fitzgerald Field House on Saturday, and he quickly understands the enormity of the challenge facing his team. Oklahoma State is ranked third in the nation by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, and nine of its top...
Pitt quality control assistant James Patton named O-line coach at Eastern Michigan
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 released with seven home games
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....
3 thoughts on Pitt basketball: Panthers show drive for more success
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...
Trey McGowens powers Pitt to upset win over No. 11 Florida State
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...
Pitt hires Mark Whipple as offensive coordinator
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...
5 observations from Pitt’s 1st 3 ACC games
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...
Pitt gives undermanned N.C. State scare in ACC loss
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,...
Jeff Capel hopes Pitt can turn page quickly with ACC road game loomingVideo
Jeff Capel is no killjoy. He enjoyed Pitt’s victory against Louisville as much as his players, even remarking it was a fun game in which to coach. But not long after he walked off the court and left the locker room celebration Wednesday night, he spoke with reporters about the...
