Pitt notebook: Spring drills offer Panthers opportunity to move past last season’s losing streak
Ryan Baer used the words “embarrassing” and “unacceptable.” Kyle Louis spoke unashamedly of his “missed assignments … missed tackles … many screw-ups” during his All-American season last year at outside linebacker. Eli Holstein, according to Baer, is making clear improvements as a leader at quarterback while “stepping up” his game...
Important tasks that Pitt’s Jeff Capel must get right lie ahead after deflating loss in ACC Tournament
If you thought life has been tough for Pitt coach Jeff Capel since the first days of the new year, even more difficult issues are on the way. And we’re not talking about unhappy fans. After Pitt lost to Notre Dame on Tuesday in the first round of the ACC...
Pitt bows out of ACC Tournament after 55-54 loss to Notre Dame
Jaland Lowe and Zack Austin spoke through tears Tuesday afternoon inside Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., reflecting on Pitt’s 55-54 loss to Notre Dame in the first round of the ACC Tournament. “I’m just hurt, man. I’m just hurt,” said Austin, who played his last game after two seasons at...
Pitt players, coaches carry on after the death of freshman Mason Alexander
Pat Narduzzi opened practice Tuesday in the same manner that marked his 10 previous spring sessions as Pitt’s head football coach. There were the usual calisthentics, drills and meetings on and off the field, but Narduzzi walked around the Beano Cook Fields overseeing the proceedings with a heavy heart. This...
Mt. Pleasant grad Dayton Pitzer named Most Outstanding Wrestler as Pitt places 2nd at ACC Tournament
It was quite a weekend for the Pitt wrestling team. The Panthers finished second at the ACC Tournament at Duke, had three champions and qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA Championships set for March 20-22, in Philadelphia. The winning trio were graduate student Reece Heller (184 pounds), Mt. Lebanon grad...
In ACC Tournament opener, Pitt confronts Irish team that still believes it can win, even with losing record
If you thought it was maddening to root for Pitt this season, you should talk to a Notre Dame fan. The Irish (14-17, 8-12) experienced five-, four-, three- and two-game (twice) losing streaks but still found a way to wriggle their way into the ACC Tournament as the No. 12...
Believe it or not, it’s football season and spring drills are set to begin at Pitt
Pitt football’s hopeful journey toward ACC title contention — not just respectability and relevance — began only days after the six-overtime, 4-minute, 38-second loss to Toledo in the GameAbove Sports Bowl. Cell phone at the ready, coach Pat Narduzzi got busy in the transfer portal, bringing in 13 players who...
Analysis: If Pitt can find a way to win, Irish/Tar Heels rematches may be feel-good tonics for disappointing season
For the purposes of advancement in the ACC Tournament, Pitt might have received the least favorable matchup for the first round that begins Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. When league officials unraveled the five-way tie for ninth place, Pitt was seeded 13th — the lowest of the five — and must...
Pitt ends losing streak with 93-67 victory against Boston College
With the pressure off and its spot secured in the first round of the ACC Tournament, Pitt had nothing to lose and only confidence to restore Saturday night while cruising to a 93-67 victory against Boston College at Petersen Events Center. The No. 13-seeded Panthers (17-14, 8-12) will play No....
Pitt Take 5: Panthers fail to earn bye in ACC Tournament, will play Tuesday
The Petersen Events Center shuts its doors on college basketball until next fall Saturday when Pitt meets Boston College. Pitt (16-14, 7-12) has won its past two games with the Eagles by 19 and 25 points, but this is not the Pitt team of Blake Hinson and Jamarius Burton. This...
While preparing to honor Pitt’s seniors, Jeff Capel recalls his own special night at Duke
More than anything, the game matters to Jeff Capel, just as much then as it does now. So he is looking forward to Saturday night and celebrating his seniors in the final home game of the season when Pitt plays Boston College at Petersen Events Center. Ishmael Leggett, Zack Austin,...
After 71-63 loss to N.C. State, Pitt’s losing streak reaches 4 for the 3rd time this season
Perhaps the worst part of Pitt’s 71-63 loss at N.C. State’s Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday night wasn’t the deflating reality of the Panthers’ third four-game losing streak of the season. No, it was Pitt allowing the Wolfpack, who had lost nine in a row earlier this season,...
Pitt women bow out of ACC Tournament with loss to Virginia
The Pitt women’s 64-50 loss to Virginia on Wednesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., was mainly a matter of the Cavaliers’ playing stingy defense against the Panthers. Center Khadija Faye, named to the All-ACC first team earlier in the week, missed 16 of 19...
Pitt’s Khadija Faye named 1st-team All-ACC in women’s basketball
Graduate student Khadija Faye’s name will stand among the most decorated Pitt women’s basketball players of all-time after she was named Tuesday first-team All-ACC. Faye, a 6-foot-4 center, joins Liatu King (2024) and Brianna Kiesel (2015) as the only Pitt women named first-team All-ACC in basketball. Previously, six players —...
ACC, Clemson, Florida State approve settlement to end legal fight, change revenue-distribution model
The Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson and Florida State are ready to move forward together after legal fights that threatened the stability of the league. Each approved a settlement Tuesday to end the crossfire of lawsuits between the member schools and the ACC, signing off on a deal that changes the...
Season isn’t over, but what happens in 2025-26 when Pitt must replace 3 veterans?
Pitt coach Jeff Capel isn’t looking past N.C. State, the Panthers’ next opponent Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C., and he hopes his players are at the moment setting aside their offseason plans. But in the back of his mind, Capel knows there is plenty of work to do after the...
Struggling Pitt, N.C. State prepare to confront each other, plus a future based on finances
Over the next two weeks, seasons of profound disappointment will end for coaches Jeff Capel of Pitt and Kevin Keatts of N.C. State. Their teams will meet Wednesday at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., with those men bringing to their benches a combined 27 seasons of head coaching experience....
Analysis: Losing streaks suggest Pitt will need more NIL money to improve basketball program
Perhaps the problems connected to Pitt basketball — football, too, as a matter of fact — are as clear as Jeff Capel’s answer to a question in October on the day Chancellor Joan Gabel first introduced athletic director Allen Greene to the public. Always insightful on matters of college basketball,...
Pitt freshman cornerback Mason Alexander dies in automobile crash
Pitt freshman football player Mason Alexander, 18, died Saturday night after a car crash in his hometown of Fishers, Ind. Alexander enrolled in January after early graduation from Hamilton Southeastern High School, near Indianapolis, and had been participating in winter drills in preparation for spring practice that begins this month....
Pitt shooting goes cold late in loss to No. 19 Louisville
In the aftermath of Pitt’s 79-68 loss at No. 19 Louisville, there will be plenty of positive talk about how the Panthers actually carried a three-point lead into the game’s final seven minutes against one of the ACC’s best teams. Yes, there was a moment or two Saturday night when...
Slumping Pitt aims to manufacture late-season momentum vs. ranked Louisville
Three more regular-season games remain for Pitt before the ACC Tournament, and the slumping Panthers (who are 4-10 since Jan. 7) will need as strong of a showing as possible if any postseason aspirations are to be kept on life support. Next week, contests against N.C. State and Boston College...
Pitt TE Gavin Bartholomew looking to use NFL Combine as hair-raising chance to impress scouts
INDIANAPOLIS — Gavin Bartholomew doesn’t have the best stats among tight ends at the NFL Combine. He doesn’t have the top pedigree, either, among the 21 prospects at his position invited to attend the annual event. But the four-year starter from Pitt excels in one easy-to-detect area. Bartholomew arguably has...
2 Pitt DB transfers aim to prove themselves at Division I level
Coming out of University Prep in 2022, Rashan Murray did not find himself with a surplus of big-time collegiate opportunities to consider. Murray, an East Liberty native, was not a recipient of an offer from his hometown Pitt Panthers — or any Power 5 program, for that matter. After spending...
Pitt’s rally comes up short against Georgia Tech
With 1 minute, 15 seconds to play Tuesday against Georgia Tech, Pitt had managed to dig itself out of repeated holes, having trailed the vast majority of the night, to tie things up. But over the last 75 seconds, the Yellow Jackets scored the game’s final six points to secure...
For Jeff Capel, disappointment lingers as Pitt enters final stretch of regular season
Judging by Pitt coach Jeff Capel’s tone and demeanor when revisiting Saturday’s loss at Notre Dame, it could be deduced that some disappointment from the defeat lingers. Against the struggling Fighting Irish, the Panthers were porous defensively, allowing Notre Dame to shoot 56.3% from the floor in the 76-72 decision....
