Pitt Athletics to launch new initiatives after calls for change
By Stephen Thompson, Sports Editor
June 23, 2020
Pitt Athletics is now attempting to implement programs that address the concerns Fields and Troost voiced. Athletic Director Heather Lyke announced in a Tuesday blog post that the department will implement several initiatives in response to the nationwide calls for anti-racism work.
Miami transfer Sibande picks Pitt
By Stephen Thompson, Sports Editor
June 20, 2020
Pitt men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel added to his already robust 2020 recruiting class on Saturday afternoon. Miami University transfer guard Nike Sibande announced at 1 p.m. on his Twitter account that he will use his final year of eligibility playing for the Panthers.
Men’s basketball offers four prospects on first day of 2022 contact
By Stephen Thompson, Sports Editor
June 16, 2020
Pitt men’s basketball currently boasts the second-best 2022 recruiting class in the country, trailing only Atlantic Coast Conference rival Syracuse. The one caveat: there are only four total commitments in the class spread across four teams. But that will change quickly, as restrictions on contact with players expired at midnight on Monday.
Darlow details plans for Pitt football partnership
By Stephen Thompson, Sports Editor
June 3, 2020
The Panthers recently announced a partnership with Jeremy Darlow, a brand-marketing executive of 15 years, who detailed his plan for helping athletes prepare for a life after sports on a Zoom media call last Friday.
White athletes cannot just stick to sports
By Stephen Thompson, Sports Editor
June 2, 2020
But the killing of George Floyd last week forced Lawrence — and other quarterbacks who fit his mold — to take a bolder push into uncomfortable conversations about race relations, a topic that has been put to task in Lawrence’s sport for more than a century.
NCAA announces return of voluntary workouts, proposal for transfer rule changes
By Stephen Thompson, Sports Editor
May 26, 2020
All Division I athletes will be permitted to participate in voluntary workouts beginning June 1, the NCAA Division I Council announced last Wednesday. The move ends the moratorium on such activities that began with the explosion of the coronavirus pandemic in March and was set to expire on May 31.
Jones, Twyman have sights set on 2020 season
By Stephen Thompson, Sports Editor
May 20, 2020
For most people, control is in short supply right now. Stay-at-home orders, business closures and quarantines are expected to extend well into the summer and timelines for a return to normalcy are fluid. It can be easy to lose focus on the world beyond COVID-19, but Pitt senior defensive end Patrick Jones II said he believes in that future, and its dependence upon his present.
Pitt lands four on NFL All-Decade Team
By Stephen Thompson, Assistant Sports Editor
April 8, 2020
Four former Pitt Panthers earned All-Decade honors, including defensive tackle Aaron Donald, running back LeSean McCoy, cornerback Darrelle Revis and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Redemption and Rosie O’Grady’s: Pitt’s 2008 Big East Title from the stands
By Stephen Thompson, Assistant Sports Editor
April 1, 2020
New York has a distinctive basketball culture. It is blue-collar, born from pick-up games on blacktops and manifested through moxie. So when the Big East basketball tournament moved to New York City in 1983, member teams embraced the natural fit — and no one embodied the host city’s gritty personality more than the 2008 Pitt Panthers.
Projecting the makeup of Pitt’s post-transfer roster
By Stephen Thompson, Assistant Sports Editor
March 22, 2020
Recently, Pitt men’s basketball’s roster became subject to college basketball’s ever-volatile transfer portal. Now the Panthers are trying to use it to bolster a crop of already talented newcomers.