Pat Narduzzi, Neal Brown maintain secrecy over Pitt, WVU quarterback questions
Neal Brown is 14 years younger than Pat Narduzzi, and he has only half as much experience (four seasons) as a head coach in the Power 5. But keeping a secret is something common to both the West Virginia and Pitt coaches. Other than they played college football at New...
‘College GameDay’ set to visit Pittsburgh for Backyard Brawl on Sept. 1
The hype machine for the renewal of the Backyard Brawl hit another gear Thursday when ESPN announced it will bring its popular “College GameDay” show to Acrisure Stadium on Sept. 1 for the West Virginia/Pitt game. The special, one-hour show goes on the air at 6 p.m. and will include...
Pitcher Trey Braithwaite drafted in 16th round, joins WVU teammates Jacob Watters, Victor Scott II chosen in 4th, 5th rounds
Right-handed pitcher Trey Braithwaite, a fifth-year senior at West Virginia, was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 16th round of the MLB Draft on Tuesday. Braithwaite, a transfer from Navy, was named to the All-Big 12 first team and was a third-team National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-American. He...
Pittsburgh street named after W.Va., Brashear football standout Major HarrisVideo
The irony of having a Pittsburgh street named after a West Virginia Mountaineer football star was not lost on those who showed up for a special ceremony Friday in the Hill District. But everyone seemed to be in agreement that the honor bestowed on former Brashear High School quarterback Major...
Big 12 ponders conference realignment from position of strength with new commissioner
WICHITA, Kan. — At about this time last year, the Pac-12 and its new commissioner made a decision that transformed the Big 12 from prey to hunter in the world of conference realignment. When George Kliavkoff announced that his league had no plans to add schools looking for a life...
Tim Benz: College football conferences may have to die for the sport to rediscover why they were important
I’ve long had a theory about how the shifting landscape of college sports conferences would end. Pretty close to how it started. I consider the constant conference expansion and contraction to be college football nihilism. The existence of conferences as we know them today is unfounded, senseless and useless. Objective...
Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun among coaches headed to college hoops Hall
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Roy Williams and Jim Calhoun will join John Beilein and Lon Kruger in a star-studded cast of coaches who will be inducted into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame in November. Another longtime coach, Jerry Krause of Eastern Washington, will join the quartet along with...
Big 12 picks Roc Nation’s Brett Yormark as next commissioner
DALLAS — Brett Yormark, an executive with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and former CEO of the Brooklyn Nets, was named Big 12 commissioner Wednesday, another unconventional hire by a major conference amid the rapidly changing landscape of college athletics. Yormark is taking over for Bob Bowlsby, who came to the league...
SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchups set for January 2023
Kansas will visit Kentucky and Baylor is set to host Arkansas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge next season. The leagues on Thursday announced the 10 matchups set for Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. All 10 of the Big 12 members and all but four of the Southeastern Conference teams will participate....
Basketball vs. Kentucky? Football vs. Florida St. and WVU? Why — and how — Duquesne has stepped up its scheduling strategy
Duquesne football coach Jerry Schmitt was at Pittsburgh Steelers practice at the UPMC Rooney facility on the South Side last week. He saw Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi hanging out in front of his team’s side of the building. “I said, ‘Hey, Pat! Guess who opens up the ACC Network schedule...
Johnny Majors Classic, 2 prime-time games kick start Pitt’s 2022 season
After finishing the 2021 season with 11 victories and ranked 13th in the final Associated Press poll, Pitt football will get additional opportunities to prove its national relevancy in the first three games of 2022. Pitt will appear in prime time twice, sandwiched around a cross-sectional game against Tennessee that...
West Virginia snares Rodney Gallagher, but where are the other top area players?
With one complete academic year and his senior football season ahead of him, Laurel Highlands’ Rodney Gallagher — to his credit — did not squeeze every last bit of drama from his high-profile recruitment. The No. 1 recruit in Pennsylvania, per Rivals.com, announced Wednesday he will enroll at West Virginia...
Former Pitt, West Virginia offensive coordinator Calvin Magee dies at age 59
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — Jacksonville State offensive coordinator Calvin Magee has passed away. He was 59. The school said the longtime college football coach died on Friday but didn’t release the cause of death. New Jacksonville State coach Rich Rodriguez hired Magee in December, the fourth school where they have worked...
Pitt, WVU create logo to highlight Sept. 1 renewal of the Backyard Brawl
Conference realignment killed many of the most storied rivalries in college football, but West Virginia and Pitt are scheduled to meet eight times over the next 11 seasons, starting Sept. 1 at Heinz Field. To commemorate the occasion, the schools put their heads together to create the official Backyard Brawl...
Big 12 players to watch in 2022Video
Some Big 12 Conference players to watch next season: Baylor: Redshirt sophomore Lorando Johnson, a former four-star recruit known as “Snaxx,” is expected to take over the hybrid linebacker-defensive back spot in the Bears defense. Jalen Pitre was the Big 12 defensive player of the year in that role last...
WVU among Big 12 teams with new QBs or coachesVideo
There are three new coaches in the Big 12, and there will be a few new starting quarterbacks when the season kicks off in September. Only Oklahoma has both. More than 75,000 fans showed up over the weekend for Oklahoma’s spring game, less than five months after the sudden departures...
Hobbled Pitt drags WVU through 11 innings at PNC Park before losing
Mike Bell was unhappy when the 2021 NCAA Tournament field was revealed, and his Pitt baseball team was not among the chosen 64. Who could blame him? Pitt won 17 games against the top 50 of the RPI and was 18-12 against teams in the NCAA field. The Panthers were...
Former USC QB JT Daniels transfers to WVU, setting up reunion with Pitt’s Kedon Slovis
There is no public indication that the 2019 USC quarterback competition was anything but cordial. But for a reunion, the two primary participants might meet in a Brawl. Former Trojans quarterback JT Daniels is transferring to West Virginia, and in the Mountaineers’ season opener Sept. 1 he could be matching...
Pitt, West Virginia announce 4 more Backyard Brawls 2029-32
Pitt and West Virginia will be Brawling into the next decade. Four months before the school’s football programs renew their longstanding rivalry, Pitt and WVU jointly announced their teams will play annual games from 2029-32. The “Backyard Brawl” series dates to 1895 and has featured 104 games — but none...
Bob Huggins, George Karl, Swin Cash named to Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2022 class
This year’s class for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has quite a regional flavor. Among the 13 inductees announced Friday were West Virginia University alum and coach Bob Huggins, Penn Hills native George Karl and former McKeesport star Swin Cash. The trio with local ties will join former...
West Virginia hires South Dakota coach Dawn Plitzuweit to lead women’s basketball
Dawn Plitzuweit, who led South Dakota to within one game of the NCAA Tournament Elite 8, has been named women’s basketball coach at West Virginia. Athletic director Shane Lyons said Plitzuweit received a five-year, $3 million contract, with a starting salary of $550,000, plus incentives. Plitzuweit replaces Mike Carey, who...
How Pitt, Penn State, WVU played a role in the Fox-ESPN trade for Joe Buck
We just spent the better part of two weeks debating Steelers free agent signings and Penguins trades. So why not kick around another big deal that went down recently: sports broadcaster Joe Buck getting traded from Fox to ESPN in exchange for one college football game. Oh, and, yes, Pitt,...
Mike Carey retires as West Virginia women’s basketball coach
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Mike Carey retired Wednesday after 21 seasons as women’s basketball coach at West Virginia. Carey guided the Mountaineers to 11 NCAA Tournaments and is the program’s all-time winningest coach with a 447-239 record. Carey, 63, said he looks forward to spending time with his family, which includes...
Pitt, Duquesne, RMU among local basketball teams stuck in a rut
At a watering hole in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield section over the weekend, Guy Fieri’s “Tournament of Champions” was showing on two TVs. At the head of the room on a main screen, The Players Championship PGA Tour event was in plain view until someone changed the channel to ION, which was...
West Virginia declines invitation to women’s NIT
The West Virginia women’s basketball team declined an invitation to play in the 2022 WNIT, according to director of athletics Shane Lyons. “While we appreciate the invitation for our women’s basketball team to participate in the 2022 WNIT, we have made the difficult decision to decline the invite this year,”...
