In the immediate aftermath of a third straight disappointing season, Pitt fired women’s basketball coach Tory Verdi on Tuesday morning, athletic director Allen Greene announced.
The Panthers this season went 8-23 (1-17 ACC), finishing second-to-last in-conference while tying for the second-fewest league wins in an individual year in program history.
“After a thorough and thoughtful evaluation of our women’s basketball program, it has been determined that we have not progressed enough competitively and now is the right time to seek a new leader for our program,” Green said in a statement. “We thank Tory for his dedication over the past three seasons and wish him and his family nothing but the best in their future endeavors. The search process for our next leader is already underway.”
Pitt Athletics Announces Leadership Change for Women’s Basketball Programhttps://t.co/rF7Ejey4Ck
— Pitt Panthers (@Pitt_ATHLETICS) March 3, 2026
Verdi, who was hired by former athletic director Heather Lyke ahead of the 2023-24 season, ends his tenure at Pitt with an overall record of 29-66 (8-46 ACC).
In three seasons under his leadership, the Panthers never had a winning season or won more than 13 games. The highest Pitt finished in the ACC with Verdi at the helm was tied for 14th in 2023-24, his first season.
Verdi’s firing also comes a few weeks after six individual lawsuits were filed against him in federal court in Pittsburgh, which included allegations of psychological abuse, retaliation and creation of a hostile environment.
The lawsuits, filed Feb. 9 as reported by TribLive, also included claims against Pitt for violations of Title IX, including creating a hostile educational environment, retaliation, breach of contract for depriving students of their scholarships, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring and supervision.
A Pitt spokesperson denied the allegations, calling them “without merit.”
Former Pitt women’s basketball players Favor Ayodele, Raeven Boswell, Makayla Elmore, Brooklynn Miles, Isabella Perkins and Jasmine Timmerson are the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit.
Perkins in her complaint alleged offensive conduct such as “public humiliation, verbal degradation, arbitrary reductions in playing time, exclusion from team activities, favoritism of other players, manipulation of player statistics and inappropriate commentary regarding plaintiff’s physical appearance, emotional state, and performance.”
The complaints also include several specific examples of Verdi’s alleged behavior. In one instance, after a practice during the 2023-24 season, Verdi is alleged to have told the team, “Every night I lie in bed I want to kill myself because of you.”
The lawsuits additionally claim that Verdi intentionally attempted to create racial division among team members.
On one occasion, they claimed, Verdi pitted white players against Black players “by asserting that players ‘hung out’ only with others of the same race.”
Perkins’ lawsuit also claims that Pitt, through coaching staff and administrators, was aware of students’ complaints but took no action.
Lyke hired Verdi at Pitt following his seven-season tenure at UMass, where he went 127-85 (57-50 Atlantic 10) from 2016-23.
In 2021-22, Verdi led the Minutewomen to a 26-7 record and the NCAA Tournament, while UMass went 26-6 the following season, his last in Amherst.
Prior to UMass, Verdi coached Eastern Michigan for four seasons (2012-16) and Columbia for one (2004-05).
Verdi is the first coach Greene has fired at Pitt since replacing Lyke as athletic director in October of 2024.
