Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 40

When UCLA’s players look across the line of scrimmage Friday in the Sun Bowl, the team looking back at them won’t resemble the one they watched on video in preparation for the game. Not even close. There are at least eight players — five on defense, plus quarterback Kedon Slovis,...

Ric’Darious “DayDay” Farmer has nearly 12 months before he can sign a letter of intent, but the junior wide receiver from Cocoa, Fla., told Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi on Saturday that he plans to enroll in 2024. COMMITTED????‼️ #H2P #LONGLIVEDAD @CoachHooksCOCOA @Cocoa_Schneider @TiUnderwood @CoachDuzzPittFB pic.twitter.com/cTUPXzVccq— Ric’Darious Farmer 4⭐️WR (@Dayday_F7) December...

The next chapter of Kevon Slovis’ college football career will take him nearly back to the West Coast. Slovis, the Pitt quarterback who led the Panthers to an 8-4 record this season, announced Saturday that he has committed to BYU in Provo, Utah. I will always be grateful for Coach...

Pitt officials are hoping their fans will spend all afternoon at Petersen Events Center on Dec. 30. The university’s athletic department will serve as host for a Sun Bowl watch party after Pitt basketball plays North Carolina. Basketball tips at noon, followed by football vs. UCLA from El Paso, Texas,...

While assembling Pitt’s 22-man recruiting class — 19 high school seniors, three seasoned transfers — Pat Narduzzi enjoyed some light moments with their families. He beat quarterback Ty Dieffenbach of Agoura, Calif., and his dad in a backyard basketball game of P-I-G. “I think they let me and coach (Tim)...

Dick Hoak’s phone doesn’t often ring early in the morning. So, when Hoak heard the phone Wednesday morning, and it was his son on the other end, his first thought was “What the heck? What’s going on?” The news wasn’t good. Franco Harris had died. What hurt Hoak most about...

It didn’t take Cruce Brookins long to find a new home after he de-committed from Kent State last month. Brookins, a three-star prospect who played quarterback and defensive back at Steel Valley, signed a letter of intent Wednesday morning with Pitt. He committed to Kent State this summer, but wavered...

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi received the first of what he hoped would be at least 19 signed letters of intent shortly after 7 Wednesday morning when offensive tackle Isaiah Neal of St. Frances Academy in Baltimore made his six-month-old verbal commitment official. Neal (6-foot-3, 270 pounds) is one of three...

On the surface, there was nothing cute about Pitt’s 84-82 victory against Syracuse on Tuesday night. It was thrilling, intense in the final minutes and nearly devastating for a Pitt team that almost lost a 20-point lead in the second half. But cute? That’s how Blake Hinson described one postgame...

Zion Fowler visited Pitt’s campus five times during the recruiting process. So, even after the three-star wide receiver prospect decommitted from Pitt on Nov. 18, he never stopped thinking about a career with the Panthers. On Tuesday afternoon, the day before national signing day, Fowler of St. Peter’s Prep in...

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi landed the 17th member of his 2023 recruiting class Monday when defensive end Maverick Gracio announced his plans to enroll next year. Straight business. AGTG???? ????????#H2P #Committed @Pitt_FB @CoachDuzzPittFB @CoachPartridge @CNHS_Athletics @JackDan55847282 pic.twitter.com/jw5osvRyX7— Maverick Gracio (@MaverickGracio) December 19, 2022 Gracio (6-foot-5, 225 pounds) recorded 22 sacks...

Every game is important in Pitt’s rebuilding process, but its season will take a significant turn toward relevancy Tuesday when the Panthers begin their grueling, 19-game stretch of nothing but ACC opponents. The Panthers visit Syracuse (8-4, 1-0) at the JMA Wireless (formerly Carrier) Dome, carrying confidence into the 9...

Dramatic change is coming to Pitt football and not at the traditional time when we used to expect it. You know, after the last game. It’s happening now, 11 days before Pitt plays UCLA in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Eight of the best players who helped Pitt...

Anyone who believes the Pitt quarterback situation needed an upgrade might be encouraged by coach Pat Narduzzi’s offseason moves. Another new quarterback … Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) December 18, 2022 Narduzzi added a third eventual new player to offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Frank Cignetti’s meeting room Sunday when Penn State transfer...

Strong safety Brandon Hill, who has been a major element in Pitt’s success on defense since replacing Paris Ford at midseason in 2020, decided to opt out of the Sun Bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft. Hill, who played four seasons at Pitt, made the announcement on his Twitter...

Jeff Capel’s evaluation of his team after nearly two months, 12 games and eight victories has less to do with defeating North Florida on Saturday, 82-56, than what happened before anyone took a shot. With the earliest tipoff so far this season scheduled for 1 p.m., Capel told his players...

Greg Elliott is nearly two decades removed from being a kid on Christmas morning. It’s no surprise, then, that Pitt’s graduate transfer guard is showing plenty of patience with so many tasty treats awaiting him, only days away. Before the end of the year, Pitt will have the opportunity to...

If a team loses in the Final Four, it first needed to conquer the difficult task of getting there. The Pitt women’s volleyball players — winners of 31 of their 35 matches this season — were trying mightily to wrap their minds around that reality early Friday morning after a...

While losing quarterback Kedon Slovis and facing the possibility of safeties Brandon Hill and Erick Hallett II moving on, Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi did what any college coach would do in this era of free agency — he turned to the NCAA transfer portal. Let’s go Home… time to get to...

When you’re an out-of-work college basketball player and you carry an aggressive mindset — and Blake Hinson has that, whether he’s driving to the hoop or setting up for a 3-pointer — you need an outlet. Hinson found a good one during the two seasons (2020-21 and 2021-22) he was...

When any errant shot caromed off the backboards Wednesday night at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, Duquesne took charge so completely that coach Keith Dambrot gushed, “Our big guys beat their brains in.” The rebounding advantage was just one factor that led to the Dukes’ 66-55 victory against DePaul (6-5). A...

One the eve of Pitt volleyball’s Final Four match against Louisville, Courtney Buzzerio and Serena Gray have been named first-team All-Americans by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. It is the first time two Pitt players were named to the AVCA first team. Also, Pitt’s Valeria Vazquez Gomez and Rachel Fairbanks...

Penn State cornerback Joey Porter Jr., the son of former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter, was named second-team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) on Wednesday. It is Porter’s fourth All-American honor after he was selected second-team by Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America and the Walter...

Listed among 19 members of Pitt’s 2019 recruiting class — and rated below quarterback Davis Beville, who never rose above third string before transferring — Calijah Kancey found himself Wednesday on another list. This one was different. When Kancey was named a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association,...

The 30th season of Robert Morris NCAA Division I football in 2023 also will be the first of the joint alliance of the Big South and Ohio Valley conferences. The 10 combined teams, six from the OVC and four from the Big South, will play a six-game league schedule. Robert...