Oakland Zoo serenades Jeff Capel, 45, with chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’
Jeff Capel didn’t smile much during Pitt’s 72-52 loss to Clemson on Wednesday night. But Pitt’s coach couldn’t help but feel good — and, especially, grateful — when members of the Oakland Zoo serenaded him with a chorus of “Happy Birthday” before the game. Capel turned 45 on Wednesday. “It...
Pitt sleepwalks through home loss to ClemsonVideo
Jeff Capel left no doubt Wednesday night how he felt after his Pitt players stumbled through their worst loss of the season, 72-52 to Clemson. “This kills me,” he said. “I won’t sleep tonight.” Now, the trick for Pitt’s second-year coach is to get his players to feel the same...
Pitt needs to start stacking victories leading up to the postseason
Since Pitt’s victory against Georgia Tech on Saturday, there has been talk about what the Panthers needs to do to reach the NCAA Tournament. That’s a sign of progress for what Jeff Capel is building or excessively optimistic thinking. Pitt hasn’t been to the tournament since the 2015-16 season, Jamie...
Pitt’s Justin Champagnie, teammates tackle long season by staying hungryVideo
Pitt sophomore guard Trey McGowens recognized the look on Justin Champagnie’s face as the 18-year-old freshman left the court Saturday at Petersen Events Center. “Kind of like the same I had in the Louisville game (last season),” McGowens said, “when I hugged coach walking off the court (after scoring a...
Pitt coach Jeff Capel has learned, taught more than basketball in his 45 years
Jeff Capel makes all the tough calls during a Pitt game. Zone or man-to-man? Don’t forget to box out. Shoot the 3. Pull it back and run the weave. Those are basketball-related matters he has employed as a player and designed and taught as a coach for most of his...
Justin Champagnie scores 30, leads Pitt to win over Georgia TechVideo
If things seemed beyond ordinary during and after Pitt’s 73-64 victory Saturday against Georgia Tech, here’s a couple of reasons why: • Jeff Capel felt the need to apologize to his team for getting a technical foul late in what was at the time a five-point game. “That was really...
Pitt coach Jeff Capel on losing: ‘I don’t like the feel of it’
Jeff Capel has been a winner on a variety of levels. He won a North Carolina high school championship as a player. As a coach, he came home from international competition, including the 2016 Rio Olympics, with gold medals around his neck. On Mike Krzyzewski’s staff at Duke, he was...
NA grad Chen swims short, long courses in same meet
North Allegheny alum and Pitt freshman swimmer Jerry Chen made the most of an opportunity to compete on long and short courses in the same meet. Chen, 19, posted career-best times Jan. 31 against Ohio State at home in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke (2 minutes, 21.29 seconds), 100-meter breaststroke (1:04.38)...
First Call: Jim Rutherford cooling on Penguins trade talk?; Pat Narduzzi on MSU rumors; Duquesne wins
This edition of “First Call” gives us Jim Rutherford’s view of Matt Murray and the trade market. Tom Brady keeps playing coy. Pat Narduzzi is talking himself in circles. And a big road win for Duquesne. Standing tall During his Wednesday night radio show on “105.9 the X,” Penguins general...
Justin Champagnie’s 20 points go for naught in Pitt loss to Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — After T.J. Gibbs and John Mooney kept the offense rolling in a third straight home victory, Mike Brey is anxious to see how his Notre Dame team fares in the heart of the ACC’s Tobacco Road. “Johnny and the guys talk about February being our month....
How Pitt administrators helped Pat Narduzzi decide to remain Pitt’s coach
When news of the coaching vacancy at Michigan State reached Heather Lyke’s office in Petersen Events Center, she made the most logical, reasonable and — as it turns out — crucial move possible. She called Pat Narduzzi. “I wanted to make sure he knew we wanted him to be at...
Pitt lands cornerback, kicker on signing day
Pat Narduzzi has lived, worked and fretted through several national signing days during a college coaching career that spans three decades. Now, under NCAA rules adopted three years ago, he gets to do it twice per year. But the 53-year-old Pitt coach rolls with the times and said, “Sometimes, you...
Kicker identifies himself as `Pitt football commit’ on Twitter
Kicker Ben Sauls, who gave Iowa State a verbal commitment last week, now identifies himself on his Twitter account as a “Pitt football commit.” He can make his Pitt commitment official Wednesday by signing a binding letter of intent. Sauls, who attends Tippecanoe High School in Tipp City, Ohio, committed...
Kevin Gorman: Timing would be terrible for Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi to leave for Michigan State
We’ve always known it was only a matter of time before Mark Dantonio would leave Michigan State and speculation would surround Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi’s name to surface as successor. That countdown started only seconds after the news broke. And the timing is terrible. When Dantonio abruptly retired Tuesday —...
Pitt set to face Irish scoring machine
The reality Pitt must contend with Wednesday night when it visits Notre Dame is the simple fact the Irish can score. They are second in the ACC with an average of 76.8 points per game. But Pitt has been good at keeping opponents’ point totals at a reasonable level. The...
Notre Dame’s Mike Brey takes lessons learned into game against Pitt
After Notre Dame lost to Syracuse, 84-82, last month, Irish coach Mike Brey was looking for help anywhere he could find it. It was one day after Brey’s high school coach, the legendary Morgan Wootten, died at age 88. Brey played for and coached with Wootten at DeMatha Catholic in...
College wrestling notebook: Franklin Regional grad Michael Kemerer carries Iowa past Penn State
When Iowa defeated Penn State, 19-17, on Friday in a wrestling match that featured the top two teams in country, it was two Franklin Regional grads that led the way. No. 1-ranked and two-time NCAA 125-pound champion Spencer Lee picked up a technical fall win for the top-ranked Hawkeyes. Lee...
Kevin Gorman: Pitt proves wins don’t need to be prettyVideo
Jeff Capel was trying to tell his Pitt players to shoot less with hesitation and more with conviction, no small feat in a game where you wouldn’t hesitate to convict the Panthers for their putrid performance from the perimeter. Miami abandoned its man-to-man defense and packed the paint with a...
Johnson’s ‘big-time’ plays lead Pitt to 62-57 victory against MiamiVideo
Xavier Johnson can smile about it now. But there was some serious business going on — with one voice raised — between Pitt’s sophomore point guard and his coach late in the Panthers’ 62-57 victory over Miami on Sunday in front of a crowd of 9,759 at Petersen Events Center....
Can Pitt reach 10 victories in the ACC?
The question facing Pitt as it ventures into the second half of its ACC schedule is this: Can the Panthers win 10 conference games? Never mind Pitt has done that only once in six previous seasons (11-7 in 2014), and the Panthers have averaged fewer than five in the others....
Chiefs, 49ers coaches, players, execs have connections to Pittsburgh, region
Looking for a local rooting interest in Super Bowl LIV with the Pittsburgh Steelers missing the playoffs for the second year in a row and last reaching the title game nine years ago? There is no shortage of connections to the organization, the region and area colleges when the Kansas...
Pitt’s Au’Diese Toney plays with heavy heart after loss of his grandmotherVideo
When Au’Diese Toney reached for his phone after scoring a career-high 27 points against Duke, he saw a series of texts and missed calls. Some of them puzzling. Pitt lost 79-67 on Tuesday, but people wanted to congratulate Toney, anyway. And why not? He recorded more points than any Pitt...
Pine-Richland grad Schonbachler prepares for ACC meet
In his third season with the Pitt swimming team, Pine-Richland product Ryan Schonbachler is continuing to improve his resume as a long-distance swimmer while also displaying his versatility by incorporating some intermediate-distance events into his repertoire. With less than a month to go until the ACC championships, set for Feb....
Pitt assistant baseball coach mourns loss of ‘absolute gem’ in Kobe Bryant crashVideo
John Sansone doesn’t have time for social media. The Neshannock graduate could make time, but he’s more interested in getting his coaching career started in his first year as an assistant on Pitt’s baseball team. So, he didn’t immediately know what happened Sunday on a hillside in Calabasas, Calif. He...
Chris Doleman, former Pitt player and Pro Football Hall of Famer, dies of brain cancer
Chris Doleman, one of the NFL’s most feared pass rushers of all-time and one of nine former Pitt players to earn induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died Tuesday night after a prolonged battle with brain cancer. Doleman was 58. Doleman, a defensive end and outside linebacker, was...
