Difficult to miss the 7-man class of quarterbacks on 1st day of Pitt’s spring drills
Add about 20 degrees to the morning temperature and you’d have a difficult time believing Pitt didn’t start summer drills Monday morning on the South Side. The sun was shining, the grass was green and coaches’ sharp words filled the air. Coach Pat Narduzzi brought his 110-man team outside Monday...
First Call: Diontae Johnson appears to dismiss trade talk; Steelers checking out Pitt lineman
Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson seems less than thrilled about some recent trade rumors. At the NFL Scouting Combine, the Steelers spoke with a former Pitt Panther and a stud wide receiver. A former WPIAL star had a banner night in the NBA, and the Robert Morris men’s hockey team...
You can debate whether Pitt deserves an NCAA bid, but there’s no questioning Bub Carrington’s freshman season
The numbers connected to Pitt’s quest to land an NCAA Tournament berth paint hopeful and discouraging scenarios at the same time. 7: That’s good. Pitt has seven victories on an opponent’s home floor, as many as No. 4 Tennessee, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 12 Creighton and No. 18 South...
Pitt hits 16 3-pointers in 90-65 rout of Boston College
Coaches in any sport demand that their players stay in the moment and forget about the past no matter how good or bad it looks in the rearview mirror. After Pitt’s 90-65 victory against Boston College on Saturday night, assistant coach Milan Brown allowed his thoughts to drift a bit...
Change, higher learning are keys for Pat Narduzzi while Pitt’s offseason shifts toward spring drills
Pat Narduzzi turns 58 nine days after Pitt’s Blue-Gold Spring game next month, steeped in the dogged stubbornness that comes from growing up with an old-school coach as a dad, a decade or more as a linebacker and 34 years as a coach at six institutions of higher learning. Those...
Former Aliquippa, Pitt corner M.J. Devonshire wants to follow in his mentor’s footsteps in NFL
As far as mentors go, M.J. Devonshire may be without peers when it comes to the prospects attending the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. When the former Pitt cornerback was contemplating whether to return to school for a sixth season or declare for the NFL Draft, all he did was dial...
Pitt Take 5: Final 3 games before ACC Tournament should not be overlooked
Interest in Pitt’s final three regular-season games isn’t the same as it would have been if the Panthers had defeated either Wake Forest or Clemson. At this point, no one wants to hear the initials N-I-T when N-C-A-A are the only letters that really matter in March. Nonetheless, Pitt has...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel says ‘smarter’ nonconference scheduling could clear smoother path to NCAA Tournament
Before the start of the season, Jeff Capel felt good about Pitt’s nonconference schedule. There was a trip to Morgantown, W.Va., where the Mountaineers are usually tough to beat. Plus, Capel scheduled a home date with a Missouri team from the SEC that was in the NCAA Tournament last season....
Longtime play-by-play man Bill Hillgrove retires from Steelers
A man known for exquisite preparation in his professional dealings, Bill Hillgrove didn’t necessarily plan for Thursday to play out the way it did. But it was impossible not to recognize how perfectly fitting the way the day in which Hillgrove announced his partial retirement was going to end. “I’m...
Analysis: Pitt must set sights on strong finish, even if it includes a berth in the NIT
Pitt is in the grip of a slump, if that’s the correct term for losing two of three games at a point in the season that matters most. The Panthers’ NCAA Tournament hopes, already slim before the 69-62 loss at Clemson on Tuesday night, have all but disappeared. Blame Pitt’s...
Pitt’s NCAA Tournament hopes take big hit in loss to Clemson
There’s no doubting the reality that confronts the Pitt basketball team, game after game. Without Blake Hinson’s points, Pitt is a different team and victory is nearly impossible against the best opponents. That was proven in Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday night when Clemson’s Jack Clark followed Hinson anywhere he went...
Old friends, Pitt’s Jeff Capel and Clemson’s Brad Brownell prepare for crucial ACC clash
There was a time more than two decades ago when Jeff Capel and Brad Brownell matched their teams and their wits against each other with a different prize at stake than what will go to the winner Tuesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C. Capel was the coach at...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel, ACC coaches look for court-storming controls before fans get even more physical
Just as terrifying for Duke coach Jon Scheyer as seeing his All-ACC center Kyle Filipowski hobble off the floor because of an injury inflicted by a fan from the opposing team was another scene Saturday that hasn’t received the same amount of attention. Truth be told, it could have had...
Pitt hopes Zack Austin can continue disruptive play in season’s final weeks
With the decisive 79-64 victory against Virginia Tech, Pitt knocked down the first of five or six (perhaps seven) obstacles standing between the team and a second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. There is a lot of work to do, and the odds are against the Panthers. But the heaviest lifting...
Oakland Zoo president can’t envision fans ever storming the floor at the Pete
The scene Saturday at Wake Forest’s LJV Memorial Coliseum — when students rushed the court without regard to their own or others’ safety after the Demon Deacons defeated No. 8 Duke — brought up a question among Pitt fans: Why doesn’t such an uncontrollable, dangerous event happen at Petersen Events...
Pitt breaks away from Virginia Tech for 79-64 victory
For 48 hours this week, Jeff Capel kept a secret. He knew something about his team that maybe some others didn’t think was possible after Pitt’s sorry performance Tuesday in a loss at Wake Forest. When his players reported to practice Thursday, the past was nothing more than a bad...
Pitt Take 5: Will it be NCAA or NIT for Pitt?
Two recent ACC final scores remind us why college basketball is such a fun and unpredictable game. Check that. Perhaps not so much fun for the teams on the losing ends of those scores. Let’s start with Virginia Tech’s 75-41 victory against Virginia on Monday. The 34-point margin of defeat...
New Pitt assistant Jeremy Darveau talks ball, offensive line with Hall of Famer Jimbo Covert
During one of his first days on the job as an assistant coach on Pat Narduzzi’s staff, Jeremy Darveau found himself in a 15-minute conversation with a member of Pitt’s Board of Trustees. “It was the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Pitt’s new offensive line coach said...
Analysis: Pitt must buckle up for 5 must-win games
Let’s suspend reality for a moment and pretend that Pitt’s 33-point loss at Wake Forest on Tuesday night was, actually, the ACC opener. It’s early December. Pitt fans can use the excuse that the Panthers and their stable of new faces — two freshmen, two transfers — just aren’t used...
Pitt’s winning streak ends in ‘nauseating’ loss to Wake Forest
The opportunity was within Pitt’s grasp Tuesday night to make an authoritative statement in the ACC and seize a more secure spot on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Instead, Pitt turned in its worst performance of the season, allowing Wake Forest to dictate terms, score almost at will and deliver a...
Pitt’s Blake Hinson amazes even his father, the basketball coach who’s seen his act before
When the basketball settled in the cords — after a long flight from the hands that propelled it — Denny Hinson was so amazed by what his son, Blake, had done, he didn’t know what to do. So Denny hugged his wife, Shandris, who covered her mouth to keep from...
Pitt notebook: Blake Hinson’s scoring binges partially tied to short memory
Pitt coach Jeff Capel and Wake Forest’s Steve Forbes understand the degree of difficulty involved in winning Tuesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C. Forbes has spent the better part of the past two days trying to figure out how to slow down Pitt’s Blake Hinson, who is third in the ACC...
Pitt/Wake Forest matchup stands as rich opportunity for winning team
Aware of the reality or not, Pitt and Wake Forest are creeping into national relevance. Which means the prize will be potentially rich for the winner and consequences dire for the loser when those teams meet Tuesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C. You don’t score 41 points — even against a...
Pitt names former Western Carolina assistant JJ Laster wide receivers coach
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi filled the most recent vacancy on his coaching staff Monday when he named JJ Laster as the Panthers’ new wide receivers coach. Laster replaces Tiquan Underwood, who left last week after two seasons at Pitt for a position with the New England Patriots. Underwood is the...
Pitt’s Blake Hinson reacts to historic performance with humor, humilityVideo
In less than two full years at Pitt, senior Blake Hinson has become well-acquainted with the university’s record books, particularly when it comes to 3-point shooting. His 17 3-point attempts against Syracuse in February 2023 are the most in a game by a Panthers player. Earlier this season against West...
