First Call: Bears GM praises Justin Fields; cornerback some Steelers fans wanted is going elsewhere; Jeff Capel still sore over snub
Wednesday’s “First Call” has some encouraging comments from the NFC North about new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields. A cornerback some Steelers fans wanted to see come to Pittsburgh is heading to Los Angeles instead. There was a surprising vote against the NFL’s new kickoff rule. And Pitt’s Jeff Capel...
WPIAL standouts Braylan Lovelace, Cruce Brookins hope to increase their impact on Pitt’s defense
With so much change occurring in all corners of Pitt’s practice facility — on the Beano Cook fields, in the locker and weight rooms, inside the coaches’ offices and certainly in the offensive playbook — Pat Narduzzi occasionally uses the words “work in progress” to describe certain elements of his...
Pitt notebook: Rain or cold, Pat Narduzzi exposes his team to the elements
Tuesday morning was cold and rainy, but Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi didn’t care. Pitt practiced outside, rather than work in the indoor facility. “Beautiful day out there,” he said after Pitt’s eighth practice of the spring. “You don’t often get that nice, cold rain. Kind of went (outside) on purpose.”...
First Call: Omar Khan on Cam Heyward’s future; Mike Tomlin explains team’s defensive area of need, praises departing players
Tuesday’s “First Call” features Omar Khan’s stance on Cam Heyward’s future with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mike Tomlin comments on some of his departing players. He also bids farewell to Aaron Donald and identifies an important need on his team’s defense. Plus, the Duquesne women’s basketball team survives a nail-biter in...
After losing twice to Pitt, N.C. State visits PPG Paints Arena, continues sweet run
Let’s pretend for a moment. You’re a casual basketball fan, and you watched Pitt defeat N.C. State in Raleigh, N.C., on Feb. 7 and again March 9 at Petersen Events Center. Finally, you got tired of the constant flow of basketball information and shut off your computer and TV. You...
Pitt receives verbal pledge from 2025 Ohio QB Mason Heintschel
Pitt received a verbal commitment from its second 2025 prospect Sunday when quarterback Mason Heintschel told coach Pat Narduzzi he plans to enroll next year. Heintschel (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) amassed a total of 3,080 yards and 33 touchdowns as a junior last season at Clay High School in Oregon, Ohio....
Pitt’s up-tempo offense creates opportunity to increase volume of snaps in practice
The NCAA allows its football teams 15 practice days in the spring to use as a springboard into the season. Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Kade Bell have found a way to build one extra period into every day — without running afoul of NCAA regulations. It has led...
Mark Madden: Duquesne surpasses Pitt, steals the show for college basketball in Pittsburgh
The City Game between the Pitt and Duquesne men’s basketball teams is a tradition that dates to 1932. The Panthers and Dukes have played each other 87 times but not since 2018. The rivalry ceased because Pitt refuses to play Duquesne. Pitt feels Duquesne is a lesser foe, that playing...
Pitt’s Federiko Federiko, William Jeffress enter transfer portal
If Pitt coach Jeff Capel had intentions of finding a big man in the transfer portal this offseason, he now may have even more reason to do so. Pitt’s 6-foot-11 sophomore Federiko Federiko, who started 53 games the past two seasons and was an important player in the Panthers’ run...
Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates hopes work in winter, spring leads to more ‘big plays’
The numbers paint a clear picture of how Pitt won 20 games in 2021 and 2022 but fell to an embarrassing 3-9 last season. And we’re just not talking about the offense. Pitt’s defense — coach Pat Narduzzi’s baby — was not nearly as productive or disruptive in 2023, and...
Hampton’s Liam Mignogna plans to join Pitt basketball as a walk-on
After spending the recent high school season competing against Lincoln Park’s Brandin Cummings, Hampton’s Liam Mignogna will join him in 2024-25. Mignogna, a 6-foot-9 center, will enter the Pitt program as a preferred walk-on after he concludes his senior year this spring. Pitt’s recruiting class includes signed recruits Cummings, a...
U mad, bro?: Kenny Pickett has been traded. That has Steelers (and Pitt) fans all up in their feelings
On Friday, the Steelers traded a local college hero who just happened to previously be the starting quarterback. So you knew that there were going to be extreme reactions to the news. Even if that is what the player asked them to do. We redefine March “madness” with an all-Kenny...
Moon’s John Calipari chases NCAA Tournament victory for Kentucky without losing sight of his roots
Five years ago, John Calipari signed a 10-year, $86 million contract extension to remain Kentucky’s coach for the remainder of this decade. He sat inside PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday — not far from the brightly lit floor where Kentucky (23-9) will play Oakland (23-11) on Thursday in an NCAA...
Mark Madden: Pitt should have made the NCAA Tournament, but what would that have really meant?
Pitt basketball fans enjoyed wallowing in despair Tuesday night when Virginia got beat by 25 points in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament. Virginia scored just 14 points in the first half of a 67-42 loss to Colorado State. This was evidence that Pitt should have gotten into March...
Pitt football notebook: In rare exceptions, transfer portal can go in reverse
Pat Narduzzi has been a football coach for 34 years. By nature, men of his stature and durability are reluctant to embrace change. But 3-9 changes everything, and Pitt’s football coach is making some unaccustomed moves this offseason. The first and most obvious was scrapping the offense that didn’t work...
Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot praises Pitt’s Jeff Capel, rebukes Panthers’ NCAA snub
Duquesne basketball coach Keith Dambrot is sticking up for the intra-city rival Pitt Panthers in the wake of their NCAA Tournament snub. Amid the lingering celebration of Duquesne’s first conference championship in 47 years and less than an hour removed from his own retirement announcement, Dambrot made an appearance on...
Tim Benz: Selection Sunday results are an ultimate contrast for Duquesne and Pitt
Duquesne freshman Jakub Necas slipped behind his school’s Atlantic 10 championship backdrop away from the rest of his celebrating team and sat down in a bed of confetti on the Barclays Center floor. The 20-year-old hung up the FaceTime call with his parents back home in the Czech Republic, bowed...
Despite 22 victories, Pitt snubbed by NCAA Tournament, declines NIT invitation
Weeks of speculation, guessing games and bubble talk ended in frustration for Pitt on Sunday night when the Panthers did not receive one of 68 invitations to the NCAA Tournament. So irritated were Pitt officials after receiving the NCAA snub, they immediately declined an invitation to the NIT for “what...
Pitt’s victory in the ACC Tournament gives Ishmael Leggett an opportunity to give back to his dad
WASHINGTON D.C. — Detrick Leggett noticed long ago that his son, Ishmael, loved sports. So, he made a point of accompanying him on a journey that led to two basketball scholarships, first at Rhode Island and last year to Pitt. “Always involved,” Renee Leggett, Ishmael’s mother, said proudly Friday night...
After loss to North Carolina, Bub Carrington says he’s returning to Pitt next season ‘for sure’
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After he looked like the second-best guard on the Capital One Arena floor Friday night, Bub Carrington made multiple references to his next season — at Pitt. Although his name was linked to mock 2024 NBA Drafts as early as the beginning of this season, Carrington talked...
Pitt’s ACC run ends with 72-65 loss to North Carolina
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the end, Pitt’s 72-65 loss to North Carolina on Friday night did nothing to throw the team off its intended course. But there is nothing more Pitt’s players can do about their NCAA Tournament chances. The loss to the Tar Heels (27-6) in the ACC Tournament...
Analysis: Pitt appears to be an NCAA Tournament-worthy team, but it may need to beat North Carolina to prove it
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The argument will rage all day, certainly on social media and the talk shows in Pittsburgh. During the telecast Friday night of the ACC Tournament semifinal doubleheader — Pitt vs. North Carolina; N.C. State vs. Virginia — ESPN will flood its cable lines with talk and speculation...
Pitt survives late Wake Forest rally, advances to ACC semifinals
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ishmael Leggett’s 30-point effort Thursday afternoon at Capital One Arena was special for many reasons. The most basic reason is this: Without it, Pitt could not have defeated Wake Forest, 81-69, in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal game. Also, the precise number of points felt right because the...
Pitt Take 5: ACC Tournament carries meaning for Jeff Capel on many levels
Jeff Capel was once a wide-eyed North Carolina school boy, full of eager anticipation while his teacher wheeled a TV into the classroom for the students to watch the ACC Tournament. “For as long as I was in school, when it got to the ACC Tournament, you really didn’t do...
Pitt focused on next opponent, not NCAA Tournament bubble
Ever the pragmatist, Blake Hinson answered with an emphatic “No” when he was asked if he or his Pitt teammates are bubble watchers. “We’re basketball players,” he said. “We don’t spend much time doing that, as far as I know. What we do know is you get in the tournament...
