Pitt’s Jorge Diaz Graham has ankle surgery, will miss remainder of season
Pitt sophomore forward Jorge Diaz Graham, who hasn’t played since Jan. 16, is lost for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his left ankle Thursday afternoon. He is expected to return for the 2024-25 season. Diaz Graham was a significant part of coach Jeff Capel’s rotation before...
Pitt beats N.C. State to inch closer to NCAA Tournament bubble
Two years ago, Pitt had lost 12 games in a row to N.C. State, a period spanning most of the Panthers’ time in the ACC. Now, after a 67-64 victory Wednesday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., the streak is going the other way. Pitt has won the past...
Pitt notebook: Changes in college football could make NFL a welcome oasis for coaches
Over the past week, the ACC lost two important coaches to the NFL. Former Boston College coach Jeff Hafley jumped to the Green Bay Packers as their defensive coordinator. Charlie Partridge, who had been Pitt’s assistant head coach and defensive line coach since 2017 and was part of the collegiate...
Pitt’s Kade Bell on being an offensive coordinator: ‘It’s what I feel I was put on this earth to do’
At one point Wednesday during his first news conference as Pitt’s offensive coordinator, Kade Bell’s voice cracked, his emotions trickling out noticeably. He was talking about how his father, Kerwin Bell, believed in him as a 24-year-old assistant coach at Valdosta (Ga.) State. “You’re 24 years old and you’re a...
Pitt, N.C. State set to tangle in Raleigh, hoping to polish their reputations
Over the next week that includes two difficult road games, Pitt can enhance or damage its reputation relative to the rest of the ACC. Going into its game Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C., against N.C. State, Pitt (14-8, 5-6) is tied for eighth in the 15-team conference, a middle-of-the-road team...
Pitt gets verbal commitment from DE Trevor Sommers, 1st from class of 2025
Coach Pat Narduzzi received Pitt’s first verbal commitment from a member of the class of 2025 on Monday when defensive end Trevor Sommers pledged to enroll next year. Committed!! #H2P @CoachDuzzPittFB @Pitt_FB @CoachHarriott @STA_Football pic.twitter.com/BCdvi2q0NU— Trevor Sommers (@trevorsommers90) February 5, 2024 Sommers, a junior at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort...
No matter the score, Pitt’s Jeff Capel continually tries to teach players proper habits
The game was winding down Saturday night, and people inside Petersen Events Center were gathering their belongings and preparing to leave, secure in the knowledge that Pitt’s 62-46 lead with 3 minutes, 5 seconds to play would turn into a victory. But there was one more TV timeout on the...
Pitt assistant coach Charlie Partridge leaving for the NFL
In an offseason of significant staff transition, Pitt football is losing another assistant, with the news Monday morning that defensive line and assistant head coach Charlie Partridge is heading to the NFL. FootballScoop.com reported Partridge will coach the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive line. Over the past seven seasons, Partridge made his...
Continued ‘efficiency’ on offense, more ‘explosions’ would help Pitt in final stretch
The word that might best describe Pitt’s victory against Notre Dame is “efficient.” That’s how the school’s news release accurately labeled it Saturday night. After some anxious moments in the first half and a 30-30 tie early in the second, there was little doubt Pitt was destined to defeat the...
Pitt runs away from Notre Dame, wins 4th game in past 5
Pitt’s 70-60 victory Saturday night against Notre Dame at Petersen Events Center continued Pitt’s slow ascent toward respectability and a .500 record in the ACC. To be sure, Pitt put enough on display to defeat Notre Dame, a team trying to find itself amidst a 7-15 record (2-9 in the...
How Jamie Dixon, Jeff Capel almost reached the Final Four as opposing coaches
Coaches don’t typically play the what-if game. They prefer to dwell on how seasons actually develop, their logical thought process recognizing that no championships are won upon someone’s speculation. On that count, Jamie Dixon didn’t disappoint. The man deals in reality like it’s a royal mandate. On the 15th anniversary...
Pitt gets more than a good player with William Jeffress
The 2021-22 season had not gone well for coach Jeff Capel and the Pitt basketball program. After a 66-46 loss to Boston College in the ACC Tournament — the last of a five-game, season-ending losing streak — Capel needed some encouragement. He was just beginning the process of exit interviews...
Pitt 5 Things: With Irish, past Pitt stars in town, Panthers have reason to pay attention to history
Saturday is a big night for Pitt fans eager to see what the immediate future holds but remain tethered to the past for all the right reasons. While the Panthers attempt to return to relevance this season, members of the 1974 and 2009 Pitt teams will be honored at Petersen...
First Call: 2 NFL coaching moves have Steelers ties; bar set for Jake Guentzel’s trade return?
Friday’s “First Call” spotlights a pair of NFL coaching moves that tie into the Pittsburgh Steelers. We reflect on a very important Steelers Super Bowl anniversary. The market for a Jake Guentzel trade may have just been set for the Penguins. Also, both Robert Morris hockey teams have important conference...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel believes his 7-man rotation is sustainable ‘if it needs to be’
For the second time this season, Pitt freshman guard Bub Carrington walked off the floor Wednesday night only at halftime and during timeouts. The seat offered to him during those moments felt good. Yet Carrington wasn’t asking for one while the outcome of Pitt’s 77-72 victory against Wake Forest was...
Pitt rallies in 2nd half to defeat Wake Forest, 77-72
The raw numbers in the box score will show that Pitt defeated Wake Forest, 77-72, on Wednesday night by scoring 50 points and seizing nine offensive rebounds after halftime and rallying from a 12-point deficit. It also will give Pitt’s defense credit for harassing the Demon Deacons with 11 steals...
After transferring from Alabama, quarterback Eli Holstein seeks ‘new, fresh start’ at Pitt
Eli Holstein was the scout quarterback last season at Alabama, a freshman thrown into practice situations with the intent of emulating that week’s opponent. Sometimes, he got hit with friendly fire from what he called “the best defense in the country.” “I got popped a couple times by some big...
Pitt looks to duplicate its road success when Panthers come home to meet Wake Forest
Pitt reaches the halfway point of its ACC season Wednesday night looking to prove a point. Those two road victories at Duke and Georgia Tech raised hopes that another run toward the NCAA Tournament was possible, if extremely difficult considering the circumstances. Then, they fell behind Miami by 19 points...
Pitt freshman guards Jaland Lowe, Bub Carrington learning tough lessons
Pitt coach Jeff Capel was properly complimentary of freshman guards Jaland Lowe and Bub Carrington during his regular Monday chat with reporters on the ACC conference call. But in the wake of Pitt’s sixth conference loss in nine games Saturday at Miami, Capel’s overall point is more important and goes...
Analysis: Time has come for pride to turn into consistent victory for Pitt
The question in the wake of Pitt’s dramatic, but inadequate, rally from a 19-point deficit in Miami is this: What really matters? Is it the way players never quit when the cause looked hopeless less than 10 minutes from the end of the game? Or, is it Pitt’s poor shooting...
Pitt fails to complete rally from 19-point deficit against Miami
Jeff Capel is too smart and has seen too many close calls in 30 years playing and coaching college basketball to get drawn into the eternal question: Was he fouled, or wasn’t he? Knowing that, no one should be surprised that Pitt’s coach declined definitive comment Saturday on the decisive...
Pitt Take 5: Panthers’ road less rocky away from The Pete
Home games are supposed to generate comfort and confidence. Players sleep in their own beds. There’s no need for 7-foot centers to fold themselves into airplane seats. Students looking to get on TV don’t hurl insults at foul shooters. None of that has been enough to deter the Panthers, who...
Pitt, West Virginia extend basketball Backyard Brawl through 2027-28 season
Pitt and West Virginia can’t get enough of each other. Officials at both schools Thursday announced a four-game extension of the basketball version of the Backyard Brawl that will run through the 2027-28 season. The teams will meet at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center during the 2024-25 and 2026-27 seasons and...
Pitt’s 2024 football schedule features another Backyard Brawl, matchup with Clemson
Pitt will play seven of its 12 regular-season games at Acrisure Stadium in 2024, including an Oct. 12 date with California, one of three new ACC member schools. Pitt and Cal haven’t met on the football field since a 30-15 Golden Bears victory in 1966. Two other highlights of Pitt’s...
Pitt transfer defensive linemen credit assistant Charlie Partridge for tilting scale toward Pitt
Smoked wings on Carson Street, french fries and cole slaw on sandwiches and, of course, Charlie Partridge are among the benefits in and around town that made Pitt an attractive option for transfer football players this offseason. Pat Narduzzi’s makeover of his 3-9 team began hours after the last game...
