Summer summary: What happened in Pitt Sports

Just because most students left campus doesn’t mean the University sports news stopped. The… Just because most students left campus doesn’t mean the University sports news stopped. The Pitt News is here to catch you up.

May 12 – Pitt softball’s season ended with a 2-1 loss to Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the Big East Championship. The No. 3-seeded Orange shut out its next two opponents to win the tournament. The Panthers, 34-17 this year, set program records for wins, home runs and shutouts.

May 19 – Pitt football’s Kolby Gray transferred to Baylor, five months after the Bears hired the man that recruited Gray to the Panthers — former interim head coach Phil Bennett. A quarterback in high school, Gray moved to defensive back under Dave Wannstedt, only to switch back to quarterback for a brief time under Todd Graham.

May 19 – Pitt men’s basketball announced a portion of its non-conference schedule, highlighted by a nationally-televised Dec. 3 game at Tennessee. The Panthers will face Penn at the Palestra on Nov. 25. Often referred to as the Cathedral of College Basketball, the Palestra has hosted basketball games since 1927.

May 25 – Pitt football indefinitely suspended quarterback Anthony Gonzalez after he was arrested on a marijuana possession charge. Gonzalez will be arraigned on Sept. 1.. Head coach Todd Graham had named Gonzalez the program’s most-improved offensive player after the Blue-Gold Game this spring.

May 27 – Pitt baseball’s season ended with a 12-2 loss to Louisville in the quarterfinals of the Big East Championship. The Panthers finished 33-23 in their first season at the Petersen Sports Complex.

June 6-8 – A record six Pitt baseball players were selected in the 2011 MLB Draft. The White Sox selected catcher and former Pitt football player Kevan Smith in the seventh round, 231st overall, and the San Francisco Giants selected pitcher Ray Black six picks later. David Chester, John Schultz, Travis Whitmore and Corey Baker, all final-day picks, rounded out the draftees.

June 8 – Pitt volleyball announced its schedule, which features six opponents that appeared in the 2010 NCAA Championship. The Panthers lost to Marquette in the quarterfinals of the Big East Championship last year. Their 2011 season begins at the Fitzgerald Field House on Aug. 26.

June 14 – Pitt and Penn State announced they will resume their football series with a game at Heinz Field in 2016 and one at Beaver Stadium in 2017. The rivals, which first faced each other in 1893, have not played since 2000.

June 21 – Pitt football added touted linebacker Ejuan Price to its defense. The freshman originally signed with Ohio State in February but was granted a release amid the school’s rule violations under former coach Jim Tressel. Price is immediately eligible.

June 26 – Pitt junior Jermaine Lowery placed eighth overall in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The competition featured both collegiate track and field athletes and former and current Olympians. Lowery, a two-time qualifier for the NCAA Championships, finished fourth among collegiate participants.

June 29 – The attorney for Michael Haywood, Tony Buzbee, announced that he filed paperwork with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requesting an investigation into Haywood’s firing. Buzbee also requested a meeting with Pitt officials, with whom he said Haywood has been unable to speak since his termination in January.

“When the decision was made to terminate Michael Haywood in January, it was done so only after careful and thorough consideration of all relevant circumstances,” Pitt spokesman E.J. Borghetti said in a statement June 29. “The University subsequently provided a full and public explanation of that decision, eliminating the need to discuss this subject any further.”

June 30 – Pitt football announced the transfer of Wisconsin running back Zach Brown to the Panthers. Brown rushed for 1,152 yards and 11 touchdowns on 240 carries in three seasons with the Badgers. He can play this fall because of a new NCAA rule that grants immediate eligibility to fifth-year players with degrees.

July 1 – The Pitt women’s basketball team added transfer Abby Dowd to its 2011-2012 roster. Dowd averaged 6.5 points for Buffalo two years ago and sat out last season after joining Pitt as a walk-on. ESPN ranked the Panthers’ recruiting class No. 19 in the nation in November.

July 4 – Former Pitt basketball forward Gilbert Brown signed a contract with the s.Oliver Baskets Würzburg of the German Bundesliga basketball league. The deal has an out-clause that allows Brown to sign with an NBA team when the lockout ends. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the Boston Celtics have shown interest in signing him.

July 8 – CollegeSwimming.com ranked the Pitt men’s swimming and diving recruiting class No. 25 in the nation. The men’s side finished third at the Big East Championships in February, while the women placed fifth.

July 9 – France needed penalties to eliminate former Pitt soccer player Rachel Brown and England from the 2011 Women’s World Cup. Brown played for the Panthers in 2000 and 2001 and won Big East Goalkeeper of the Year both seasons. After finishing 1-1-2 in the 2007 World Cup, she did not see action this tournament.

July 11 – Both sides declined comment after Buzbee, Haywood’s attorney, met with Pitt officials.

July 12 – Josh Heynes, who swam for Pitt from 1994 to 1997, became the first person to twice swim Lake Erie. His time of 11 hours, 16 minutes and 40 seconds broke the record by nearly seven minutes and bested his 2006 time by over a half-hour. The swim is approximately 24.3 miles.

July 13 – Gilbert Brown and Gary McGhee returned to a Steel City court to play in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Summer Pro-Am League, which featured players from Pitt, West Virginia and other nearby colleges and high schools. Another former Pitt star, DeJuan Blair, dressed for a game in early July.

July 19 – The National Association of Basketball Coaches named Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon to its board of directors. The board of directors governs the group, formed with the intent of serving as “Guardians of the Game.” The NABC’s website said that since it was founded in 1927, the group “contributed numerous ideas and programs to help preserve and enhance the positive aspects of college basketball,” including establishing the original Basketball Hall of Fame and creating the format of the current NCAA Tournament.

July 26 – Former Pitt football players Dom DeCicco and Henry Hynoski signed free agency deals with NFL teams following the end of the NFL lockout. DeCicco signed with the Chicago Bears and Hynoski signed with the New York Giants.

July 29 – The Pitt swimming and diving team named Casmera Wick as an assistant coach. As a swimmer at Rutgers, Wick qualified for the NCAA Division I Championships three times and was an All-American honorable mention selection.

August 4 – Ashton Gibbs was selected to the USA Basketball Men’s World University Games Team. The club, coached by Purdue head coach Matt Painter, will compete in the University Games in China from August 13-23.

August 3 – The Pitt women’s soccer team hired Malorie Rutledge as an assistant coach and announced that former goalkeeper Morie Kephart will serve as a volunteer assistant coach. Rutledge finished her soccer career at LSU as the all-time leader in assists (46) and points scored (102).

August 4 – Former Pitt women’s basketball players Chelsea Cole and Taneisha Harrison signed deals to continue their careers overseas. Cole signs with Club Baloncesto Las Rozas in Spain while Harrison will play for CSU Alba Iulia in Romania.

August 8 – Pitt football opened 2011 training camp with media day, which made all players and coaches open to the media for interviews and photographs following practice Training camp will run until the end of August.