Tim Benz: Pittsburgh-trained ice dance team competing at nationals with Olympic dreams
Let’s say you are a defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins. You’ve never played on the NHL stage before. Neither has your partner on the blue line. Your first game together is going to take place in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Let that sink in for a minute....
Wide receiver Shocky Jacques-Louis moves from Pitt to Akron
Former Pitt wide receiver Shocky Jacques-Louis needed less than a week to find a new school. Jacques-Louis, who entered the NCAA transfer portal Dec. 31, announced Thursday that he plans to enroll at Akron this year. Very grateful for the opportunity!!! Looking forward to the next chapter in my football...
First-place Louisville hands Pitt another close loss in ACC play
Pitt fought through a series of misfortunes Wednesday night before and during its 75-72 loss at Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center. • After nearly a week without practice while sitting in covid protocol, Jamarius Burton showed up the morning of the game and scored 21 points. • Center John...
Pitt, Louisville rosters sport new looks for Wednesday’s ACC encounter
When Pitt visits Louisville on Wednesday in its third ACC game, both teams will present a different look from their most recent meeting early in the 2020-21 season. Pitt’s starting lineup will include five new starters, unless Ithiel Horton somehow slips into the lineup. The game will be Pitt’s first...
Pitt’s Keyshon Camp declares for NFL Draft
Keyshon Camp, who spent six seasons at Pitt helping to anchor the defensive line from the tackle position while enduring a series of injuries, has declared for the NFL Draft. Camp (6-foot-4, 290 pounds) made the announcement on his Twitter account. Lake Gibson alum is heading to the NFL ????...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel pleased about Ithiel Horton’s return, but he must work off ‘some rust’
There’s plenty of speculation, but no one will know for sure how the first 13 games of Pitt’s season might have turned out if Ithiel Horton was a part of the team. “We felt like coming into the season, he was our best shooter,” said coach Jeff Capel, whose team...
Linebacker, co-captain Cam Bright becomes 3rd Pitt player to enter transfer portal since season’s end
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi must oversee a complete overhaul of his linebacker position this offseason now that Cam Bright, a starter on the outside and a co-captain, announced Monday that he has entered the NCAA transfer portal and will use his final season of eligibility elsewhere. I am Officially in...
Pitt signs Akron transfer Konata Mumpfield to bolster wide receiver position
A look at Pitt’s 2021 roster reveals a troubling fact that didn’t escape coach Pat Narduzzi’s eye: Pitt loses wide receivers Taysir Mack, Shocky Jacques-Louis, Melquise Stovall and Tre Tipton for the 2022 season. Mack, Stovall and Tipton exhausted their eligibility; Jacques-Louis announced Friday his intention to transfer. In response,...
Pitt’s Todd Sibley, Shocky Jacques-Louis decide to transfer
The normal attrition that occurs every year in college football started at Pitt only hours after the loss to Michigan State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Pittsburgh RB Todd Sibley Jr has entered the transfer portal. Sidelines - Transfer Portal (@SSN_Portal) December 31, 2021 Running back Todd Sibley and...
After championship season, Pitt needs to keep evolving, improving
The loss to Michigan State in the Peach Bowl stung more than most, but Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi should be ready to turn the page, put 2021 to bed and prepare for one of the most challenging periods in his seven-year tenure. The Panthers will attempt to defend a conference...
With QB Nick Patti injured, Pitt stung by Michigan State comeback in Peach Bowl
ATLANTA — Senior linebackers John Petrishen and Phil Campbell III put aside the tears that were shed in the Pitt locker room. They tried to make sense of a season that was full of joy and triumph most of the time, but ended Thursday night with a painful gut punch....
The show must go on: Pitt, Michigan State sidestep covid complications at the Peach Bowl
ATLANTA — The 60-year-old man hustled past Pitt fans congregated in large numbers in the lobby of the Omni Hotel on Thursday morning. No time for anything but his appointed destination. With his signature long strides, a quick wave and an I’m-in-a-hurry look, it was easy to identify Pitt’s interim...
Year in Review: Pitt’s run to ACC championship among top Pittsburgh sports stories
A look back at the 2021 Pitt football season is put in its best perspective by comparing it to 2020. A year ago, Pitt football was plagued by a preseason All-American who opted out, another who quit in mid-season, a quarterback who missed two important games with an ankle injury,...
Charges dismissed against Pitt basketball player Ithiel Horton, could be refiled
Criminal charges accusing Pitt basketball player Ithiel Horton of punching a city police officer were dismissed Thursday but are likely to be refiled, officials said. Magisterial District Randy Martini dismissed the charges after the prosecution attempted to postpone the case for a second time when witnesses failed to appear. Mike...
Pitt’s basketball game at Virginia Tech postponed amid Hokies’ covid complications
Pitt men’s basketball joined the growing list of teams affected by the recent covid-19 surge when the Panthers’ game scheduled for Saturday at Virginia Tech was postponed because of complications within the Hokies’ program. The ACC will attempt to reschedule the game. It’s the second postponement this week for Virginia...
First Call: Ex-Pitt kicker now on Browns practice squad; Steelers’ playoff odds may be longer than you thought
Thursday’s “First Call” shows how long the odds are against the Pittsburgh Steelers making the playoffs. A Pitt product may be kicking for the Cleveland Browns against the Steelers on Monday. And familiar names dot the scoresheets in some NHL games that were actually able to be played on Wednesday....
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi believes it’s time to name a college football commissioner
ATLANTA — Pat Narduzzi isn’t lobbying for the job of commissioner of college football (a job that doesn’t exist at the moment). But he clearly believes it’s time one is appointed. “For sure,” he said Wednesday on a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl conference call. “That’s not a slam on anybody who’s...
Pitt Take 5: After the Peach Bowl, how long does Pat Narduzzi want to coach?
ATLANTA — Nearly a month after the fact, Pat Narduzzi has not allowed himself the pleasure to reflect on the significance of Pitt winning the ACC championship. “I think that happens when you retire as a coach,” he said. OK, so what about it? How long do you want to...
After another 1-point loss, Jeff Capel challenges Pitt to have ‘confidence that we can win’
If Jeff Capel sounded frustrated by Pitt’s late lapses that allowed Notre Dame to rally from an eight-point, second-half deficit for a 68-67 win Tuesday night at Petersen Events Center, it was nothing compared to his exasperation over John Hugley’s postgame comments. Capel was lamenting the lessons his Panthers could...
Notre Dame sinks shot in final seconds as Pitt drops ACC home opener
Looking to find an open Notre Dame teammate, Prentiss Hubb dribbled through the lane and into the left corner only to find himself all alone. As the shot clock ticked, the senior guard realized he was out of options. So Hubb launched a turnaround jumper over the outstretched arm of...
When Pat Narduzzi called, Randy Bates saw nothing ‘vanilla’ about Pitt’s attacking defense
ATLANTA — At the end of the 2017 season, Randy Bates had a secure job coaching linebackers at Northwestern. He’d been there 12 years, hired in 2006 by coach Pat Fitzgerald, who has been a fixture at Northwestern for all but the first year of this century. The 2017 Northwestern...
Opportunity knocks for replacements Tim Salem, Nick Patti in Pitt’s Peach Bowl venture
Two jokes made by Tim Salem and quarterback Nick Patti during a conference call Monday morning were thoughts that randomly jumped into their heads and will mean nothing to the outcome of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Most likely, the Pitt men who carry the most responsibility into the game were...
‘Hot topics’ emerge around Pitt as team arrives in Atlanta for Peach Bowl
Pat Narduzzi called it a “hot topic.” But it was no surprise Sunday when Narduzzi named Pitt tight ends coach Tim Salem the play-caller and interim offensive coordinator, replacing Mark Whipple, for Thursday’s Peach Bowl. Salem is one of only two on-field assistants who have been with Narduzzi through all...
How does this Pitt team compare to the best in program history?
When old friends and former University of Pittsburgh football standouts Dan Marino, Jimbo Covert and John Pelusi get together to recall their playing days — perhaps rattling ice cubes in a glass or enjoying an after-dinner cigar — an argument often arises. Pelusi was the center on Pitt’s undefeated 1976...
Pitt linebacker Phil Campbell will miss confronting Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker in Peach Bowl
Phil Campbell III holds a bachelor’s degree in communications while pursuing another in sociology. Given his academic background, Pitt’s senior outside linebacker understands what makes people tick. So, when former Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III announced his plans to opt out of the Peach Bowl, avoiding a date...
