When the Golden Bears, Cardinal and Mustangs come aboard, it will put the league at 18 teams. As things currently stand, when the regular season of college basketball ends, all 15 ACC teams participate in its conference tournament.

But on Wednesday, conference commissioner Jim Phillips indicated that slimmed-down version of the ACC Tournament could be coming soon.

“I don’t know that we would invite 18 teams to an ACC men’s or women’s basketball championship,” Phillips said. “I’m not sure (what) we’re going to do. We’ll do what the membership wants. I don’t feel like that’s something that we should do. I’ve told them that. I’m not speaking out of turn.

“I think you’ve got to earn your way to play in I think the most prestigious postseason basketball tournaments in the country, and if you don’t get to a certain threshold, then you just don’t make it that year.”

There’s at least one ACC men’s basketball coach that is not in favor of a smaller conference tournament, and that is Jeff Capel. The Panthers made the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina, beating Georgia Tech before losing to Duke.

“As a coach, I wouldn’t like that,” Capel said at ACC Tip-Off in Charlotte on Wednesday. “Because I think it’s just something magical and it’s one of the things that makes our sport so great – it’s because of the hope of the postseason.”

Capel talked about the 1983 N.C. State team, which entered the ACC Tournament that year with a 17-10 record and no guarantee of making the Big Dance. The Wolfpack won three games in a row to take the ACC crown and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, then –with some luck – powered its way to winning the national championship.

A North Carolina native, Capel was eight years old as he watched Jim Valvano’s team make that run.

“That’s one of my favorite memories. But if all the teams didn’t get in, you wouldn’t have had that,” Capel said. “So, I hope that doesn’t happen. If we’ve got to go to six (days), then we’ve got to go to six. You have to be able to change and evolve. Every league is going to be expanding.”

Phillips, meanwhile, would like to see the five-day format remain, which means keeping the tournament field at 15 teams – or smaller – after Cal, Stanford and SMU join.

“Tuesday through Saturday, or Wednesday through Sunday, that’s been a nice flow. It’s been a nice flow I think for the media. It’s been a nice flow for our teams, for fans, our staff,” Phillips said. “I’m not overly interested in adding one additional day.”

There’s also a question of scheduling format for league play. Right now, the ACC men play a 20-game conference schedule, and although the conference is expanding, some argue that moving to an 18-game ACC schedule who allow for more flexibility in non-conference play.

“I would be for what collectively as a group we think is best for our league to help us get more teams in the NCAA Tournament,” Capel said. “I think it’s ridiculous that we’ve only gotten five (teams) in the (tournament) the past couple of years, especially when you look at the success we have in the tournament.”

The post Pitt’s Jeff Capel Not in Favor of Downsizing ACC Tournament appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

The Panthers’ players, coaches and staff are undoubtedly excited for that game – it’s the season opener after all. Who wouldn’t be?

But still, it’s hard to blame any of them for looking just a bit past Wofford and peeking at the rest of the schedule.

Pitt’s slate this season is both challenging and exciting. The non-conference schedule includes meetings with Notre Dame and Cincinnati – the latter of which will be the ACC’s debut game on the CW – and it also includes the latest chapter in the Backyard Brawl. The Panthers visit rival West Virginia in Morgantown on Sept. 16.

“We’re very excited. Obviously, it’s a huge rivalry. It’s tough. We pin that on our schedule each year,” Pitt offensive lineman Matt Goncalves said Wednesday the ACC Kickoff at the Westin hotel in Charlotte. “But, you know, we want to take it one game at a time. Right now, we’re looking at Wofford. When the time comes, Cincinnati, then West Virginia.”

That is the challenge Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi will have in September: keeping his team focused on the game of the week and preventing them from looking too far ahead on the schedule.

“It’s me just making sure that they understand how important each one of those games is. That game leads up into that West Virginia game,” Narduzzi said. “Those first two games lead to that one, which I know is important to our football team, our fan base, but you know, playing well in those two games will set us up for that third game.”

For Pitt, this season also starts a stretch of seeing Notre Dame on a regular basis. The Irish remain independents in football, but play in the ACC in every other sport. And so, Notre Dame agrees to play select ACC teams each season. Beginning this year, the Panthers play the Irish seven times over the next 14 seasons.

Narduzzi – now entering his ninth season at the helm – has mixed feelings about the long-term arrangement.

“I don’t know how that is, but we embrace that. We’re looking forward to going up to South Bend,” Narduzzi said. “It’s a big game, and our kids will be cranked up for that game. Whatever the ACC says, ‘Hey, you’re playing Notre Dame or playing Clemson.’ It doesn’t matter who we play. We embrace that.”

Pitt has played Notre Dame three previous times in Narduzzi’s tenure, with the Irish winning each matchup.

For new Pitt quarterback Phil Jurkovec, playing in South Bend on Oct. 28 should feel familiar. Before spending three seasons at Boston College, Jurkovec was at Notre Dame for two. He played in eight games, totaling 222 passing yards, 139 rushing yards and two touchdowns in 2018 and 2019 for the Irish.

But Jurkovec seemed to be more excited about another game further down the schedule. On Nov. 11, the Panthers will face Syracuse in Yankee Stadium.

“It’s going to be awesome. I’ve been to Yankee Stadium before, but being able to play on that field, it’s legendary just thinking of all the great players that have been there in baseball and football,” Jurkovec said. “Yeah, we can’t wait for that one.”

Goncalves is amped up for that one too. He’s a New York native, and has started in 21 games on the offensive line over the past three seasons for the Panthers.

“I’m very excited. I have been a Yankees fan as far as I can remember,” Goncalves said. “My dad bringing me to Yankee Stadium when I was younger seeing Derek Jeter, A-Rod and all those guys. I’m very excited to step on the field and just take in the moment. My family, my friends are all going to be there, and I cannot wait for the 3:30 p.m. kickoff in New York. Can’t wait.”

Pitt and Syracuse played the first football game at the original Yankee Stadium back in 1923, with the Orange winning 3-0. Pitt last played in Yankee Stadium in 2016, losing to Northwestern in the Pinstripe Bowl.

The other notable thing about Pitt’s schedule this year is that there are no longer divisions in the ACC. The conference ditched the Atlantic and the Coastal – the latter of which Pitt won twice during Narduzzi’s tenure. Instead of division winners advancing to the conference title game at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium in December, the top two teams with the best records will face off.

M.J. Devonshire wore his 2021 ACC Championship ring during Pitt’s appearance in Charlotte on Wednesday. That season, even with the division alignment, Pitt still beat Clemson at home and Tennessee on the road. Devonshire’s ring was a reminder that Pitt has the potential to contend, no matter the format.

“The mentality shouldn’t change,” Goncalves said. “We got to battle to the top.”

The post Dates with WVU, Notre Dame, Yankee Stadium circled on Pitt’s football schedule appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

“I think the most important thing is, if I had to – there’s got to be a lid on it, right? I think everybody wants to play under the same rules,” Narduzzi said Wednesday at ACC Kickoff at the Westin in Charlotte. “National Football League – they have a salary cap. I think you want to have some type of salary cap.”

He added: “It can’t be based on how big your university is, because we’ll start building more dorms and what are we doing? We have education that is a priority, and we’re not going to have classes full of thousands of kids. We’re going to have small class sizes and, again, we’re going to have small alumni groups as they matriculate through the University of Pittsburgh. I think there’s got to be a lid on the thing. There’s got to be some type of, if you are going to leave the portal open, there has to be a salary cap so people can’t just go overspend.”

Narduzzi has long been one of the few coaches willing to be unfiltered in his criticism of NIL, the transfer portal, and the problems that come when the two mix together in college football. NIL deals aren’t supposed to be used as incentives when coaches are recruiting players, but it’s absolutely happening. At the Athletic, reporter Bruce Feldman spoke with more than a dozen coaches about tampering, and Narduzzi was the only one to talk on-the-record about it.

When word spread last spring that Pitt’s Biletnikoff Award-winning wide receiver Jordan Addison was being sought after by USC, Narduzzi picked up the phone and called Trojans’ head coach Lincoln Riley. All of that became public through various reports. And still, it did nothing to dissuade Addison from leaving or Riley accepting the wideout, nor did it spark the NCAA to do anything about it.

“I think what will fix it, a little bit, is shortening the (transfer) windows down,” Narduzzi said. “So there aren’t these gigantic windows. Because what teams are doing – they’re hiring staffs to recruit the portal…  (They’re) just watching video all day, while I’m coaching football on our team. They’re just recruiting your roster. They get plenty of time to do it. But if we shorten the windows down, they have less time.”

Former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer, who is entering his first season as the head coach at UAB, took a page out of Narduzzi’s playbook back in June, when he said he would “call out” any coaches who tampered with his players.

“I did that already,” Narduzzi quipped. “I was the first. I didn’t have to talk about it. I just did it. It didn’t stop when I made those calls. I was brought up in an Italian family who just tells it like it is. So, I got no problem being honest… I’m not one of those guys that’s not going to make that phone call. That’s just my natural response. It’s like, ‘Okay, this is happening – communication.’”

East Carolina coach Mike Houston recently said that he reported an opposing program for tampering with one of his players this offseason. Houston said, according to WRAL: “He’s thriving, and you get people in your ears starting to mess with him. They start talking about money and that’s the stuff I don’t like.”

Earlier this offseason, Narduzzi – who is entering his ninth season as Pitt’s head coach – made headlines when publicly criticized new Colorado head coach Deion Sanders for using the transfer portal to turnover his roster. Reportedly, about 70 players left the Colorado program and about 35 new ones have come in.

“We try not to make a living in the portal,” Narduzzi said Wednesday. “I want to recruit high school football players… You go off of need, and if someone ends up leaving your program, you’re able to supplement it with an older guy.”

Pitt certainly accepts transfers; just take a look at the guy under-center. Phil Jurkovec played at Boston College last season.

But Jurkovec wasn’t enticed by an NIL deal to come to Pitt. At Boston College, he was already set in that department, inking a deal with Audi. For the quarterback – a Pine-Richland graduate – it’s a homecoming. Narduzzi joked that Jurkovec knows the roads in Pittsburgh better than he does.

Coming to Pitt also gives Jurkovec the opportunity to reunite with Frank Cignetti Jr., who was the offensive coordinator at Boston College when Jurkovec had one of his best seasons, throwing for 17 touchdowns in 10 games in 2020.

“It’s huge, and it had a lot to do with transferring. Being in the system for a couple of years, I know the offensive system that Coach Cignetti has, so I’m comfortable with it,” Jurkovec said. “I know the type of person he is. You can trust him. He is a really good coach. We’re looking forward to a great year.”

Still, the problems with the portal and NIL persist. And Narduzzi isn’t the only one highlighting the issues that occur when the two mix.

“The recent unprecedented transfers of student-athletes are tainted by inducements disguised as NIL money,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said Tuesday. “Too many student-athletes enter the transfer portal based on rumor or bad advice, only to find they have no place to go. It’s the ultimate game of musical chairs. This is detrimental to their education and future and must stop.”

The post Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi on NIL, portal tampering: ‘there’s got to be a lid on it’ appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

As of Thursday morning, seven Pitt women’s basketball players had entered the transfer portal, which just opened on Monday.

Starting senior forward Amber Brown was the first to enter on Tuesday. She has since been joined by Emy Hayford, Destiny Strother, Taisha Exanor, Sandrine Clesca and Cynthia Ezeja. And, on Thursday, a source familiar with the situation told Pittsburgh Sports Now, that Dayshanette Harris is also in the transfer portal, bring the number of ex-Pitt players in it to seven.

Like Brown, Harris was one of the first players former head coach Lance White first recruited. She was in and out of the starting lineup over four seasons, starting in 74 of the 102 games she played in. For her Pitt career, Harris played 25.2 minutes per game, averaging 10.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Harris was a twice a team captain for Pitt, often represented the team at ACC media days and press conferences, and became the 20th Pitt player in program history to record at least 1,000 career points.

The 5-foot-7 Youngstown, Ohio native was also the fastest player in program history to record at least 700 points, 250 rebounds and 175 assists, doing so in 60 games. And Harris’ 4.7 assists per game in the 2020-21 campaign were the highest for a Panther since Pitt joined the ACC in 2013.

As a rookie in the 2019-20 season, Harris made the All-ACC Freshmen Team and led all freshmen in the conference in scoring during ACC play.

Harris was also largely responsible for Pitt’s lone ACC Tournament win of the White-era, hitting the game-winning shot over Notre Dame in 2020 that sent Muffet McGraw into retirement.

Like Brown, Harris will have one year of eligibility left and will be eligible to play immediately wherever she transfers to.

Brown and Harris were the first and third leading scorers for Pitt this past season.

White was fired earlier this month after five straight losing seasons. Pitt has interviewed four sitting mid-major head coaches for its opening.

The post 7 Pitt Women’s Basketball Players in the Transfer Portal, including Dayshanette Harris appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

Brown, a four-year starter for the Panthers, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to Pittsburgh Sports Now.

A 6-foot forward from Monroe, Louisiana, Brown was one of former head coach Lance White’s first recruits. White was fired earlier this month after five straight losing seasons.

But Brown often shined and was a bright spot for the Panthers amidst all those losses. She was an important player too, starting in all 110 games that she featured in. Brown averaged 9.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 45.6% from the floor.

Brown was also the fastest Pitt player in more than 20 years to record at least 550 points, 450 rebounds and 100 assists, doing so in 67 games. She was twice an ACC Freshman of the Week as a rookie in the 2019-20 campaign.

This past season, she was 10th in the ACC in free throw shooting percentage with a 74.8% mark.

What was likely Brown’s best game as a Pitt Panther came earlier this season in an overtime loss to Ball State where Brown tallied 20 points, 17 rebounds, two assists and three blocks. In a loss at Syracuse in January, Brown tallied a career-high 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists. She had nine double-doubles in her career at Pitt.

Her 684 career rebounds are 10th all-time in Pitt program history.

Brown will graduate from Pitt this spring with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She will be immediately eligible to play wherever she transfers too and will have one year of eligibility left.

At the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. earlier this month, Brown told Pittsburgh Sports Now that White was “like a father figure” to her.

Pitt has interviewed at least four coaches for its opening, according to a previous Pittsburgh Sport Now report.

The transfer portal opened on Monday and will be officially open for 60 days. Brown isn’t the only ACC women’s basketball player to enter it in the past few days. Duke’s Lee Volker, Boston College’s Maria Gakdeng, Clemson’s Tadassa Brown, N.C. State’s Jessica Timmons, and Louisville’s Jalyn Brown and Zyanna Walker have also entered.

The post Pitt Women’s Basketball Starter Amber Brown Enters Transfer Portal appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

The Panthers have now endured eight straight losing campaigns and they haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2015. Since joining the ACC in 2013, Pitt has posted a winning record in conference play just once.

Before taking the Pitt job, White was a heralded recruiter, bringing multiple players to Florida State that would go on to win NCAA Tournament games and be drafted by WNBA teams. His successes in Tallahassee proved to be unreplaceable at Pitt. White never won more than 11 games in a single season and accumulated 99 total losses.

White is the first hire by Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke that she has dismissed. Who she tabs next to lead the women’s basketball program could show what she thinks the program’s potential is, and what she expects it to be.

Here are several names to consider as Pitt looks for its next women’s basketball leader…

The former assistant: Caroline McCombs

McCombs has been in coaching for more than two decades and has been a winner at nearly every stop. She is currently in her second season as the head coach of George Washington, where she led the Colonials to a 18-12 regular season this year and a 9-7 mark in Atlantic-10 play – their best record in conference play in five seasons. Before GW, McCombs was the head coach at Stony Brook, where she turned the SeaWolves into a mid-major power as they posted winning records in six of her seven seasons at the helm. Before becoming a head coach, McCombs spent 15 seasons as an assistant and helped guide five teams to the NCAA Tournament. One of those teams was Pitt, where McCombs was an assistant from 2005 to 2010, helping Agnus Berenato’s Panthers go to three NCAA Tournaments and two Sweet 16s. McCombs grew up in Medina, Ohio, about a two-hour drive from Pittsburgh. Multiple sources told Pittsburgh Sports Now that she’s interested in the job. Is Pitt interested in McCombs?

The AD connection: Tory Verdi

Verdi has spent his last seven seasons at UMass and is enjoying his best campaign there yet, leading the Minutewomen to a 24-5 regular season record and a 14-2 mark in A-10 play. Last season, he guided UMass to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998. But before Verdi took the job in Amherst, he coached at Eastern Michigan – where Lyke was the AD for the majority of his tenure. Verdi turned EMU around in three seasons, taking the program from eight wins in his first year to 24 in his third year. Verdi has been a winner in the MAC and A-10. Does Lyke think he can win in the ACC too? 

The rising mid-major coach: Megan Griffith

The King of Prussia native is in the midst of leading Columbia to its second straight 20-plus-win season for the first time since at least the mid-1980s (that’s how far back the Sports Reference records go). She has transformed Columbia into a contender in the Ivy League to compete alongside the likes of Princeton, Penn and Harvard. Should Columbia win the Ivy League tournament this year, Griffith will have led the Lions to their first NCAA Tournament appearance ever. Hiring a coach from the Ivy League worked out pretty well for North Carolina, where Courtney Banghart has turned the Tar Heels back into a contender. Would it work for Pitt? This would be one of the biggest swings Pitt could take and would signal that the university is ready to invest majorly in women’s college basketball.

Another former assistant: Bridgette Mitchell

Mitchell was White’s recruiting coordinator at Pitt for two seasons, helping the Panthers land Tracey Hueston – the program’s highest-ranked recruit since it joined the ACC – and transfer Jayla Everett, who was an All-ACC selection in 2021. Mitchell left Pitt to become the head coach at Northeastern, where, in just her second season, she’s guided the Huskies to an 12-5 mark in CAA play – their best winning percentage in conference play in more than a decade. Before White hired her at Pitt, Mitchell had worked at James Madison and Siena, where she helped those programs make the postseason too. She played at Duke and was on the team in 2010 that won the ACC and made the Elite Eight. When she was hired at Northeastern, she received public praise from Jeff Capel, the former Blue Devil who is Pitt men’s basketball coach.

The ACC retread: Joanne P. McCallie

McCallie spent 13 mostly successful seasons at Duke where she won four regular season league titles and three tournament crowns, and took the Blue Devils to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances. McCallie resigned in the summer of 2020 with a year remaining on her contract when Duke chose not to give her an extension. Before landing at Duke in 2007, she coached at Michigan State — where she very briefly overlapped with Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi — for seven seasons and took the Spartans to a Final Four in 2005. Before that, she took Maine to the NCAA Tournament in six of her seven seasons there. McCallie is 57 and hasn’t coached since leaving Duke. She published a memoir and has done some public speaking in recent years. If the former two-time ACC Coach of the Year is interested in returning to the sidelines, would she consider a project like Pitt?

The wild card: Melanie Balcomb

Balcomb has not been a Division I head coach since 2015 but was a very successful one at Xavier and Vanderbilt. In 21 seasons, she guided her teams to the NCAA Tournament 15 times – including a trip to the Elite Eight with Xavier and two Sweet 16 appearances with Vandy. And she guided the Commodores to more than 300 wins and three SEC Tournament titles. After leaving Vanderbilt in 2016, she bounced around at various jobs, serving as the director of offensive analytics for South Carolina in the 2016-17 season (when the Gamecocks won the national championship), as the associate head coach at Texas Tech, and as an associate head coach at Purdue. This past season, the 60-year-old was the head coach at Division II Ohio Dominican, where the team went 6-21. Balcomb expressed interest in the West Virginia opening last season when Mike Carey retired, and multiple sources told Pittsburgh Sports Now she is interested in the Pitt job as well.

The post 6 names to watch for Pitt’s next women’s basketball coach appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

White will not return as the program’s head coach next season, multiple sources familiar with the situation told Pittsburgh Sports Now. Pitt later confirmed the move in a press release. The Panthers lost to Clemson on Wednesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, where Pitt was the lowest seed.

“Coach White has been wholeheartedly dedicated to the betterment of his student-athletes and women’s basketball at Pitt,” athletic director Heather Lyke said. “I’m extremely grateful for his efforts and wish him only the very best moving forward, both personally and professionally.

“In looking to the future of Pitt women’s basketball, our goal is to be a perennial contender in the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA Tournament. I am confident that Pitt’s strong combination of people, facilities and institutional excellence will attract some outstanding candidates to be the next leader of our women’s basketball program.”

The ninth head coach in the history of the Panthers’ program, White was hired by Lyke in April 2018 to succeed Suzie McConnell-Serio, who was fired after her third consecutive losing season. Pitt has now had eight straight losing campaigns.

“Coming into it, I knew it would be extremely difficult,” White said Monday during a Zoom call with ACC coaches. “You had to start it completely over. And obviously, COVID and the transfer portal really changed so much of the way I thought coming into it.”

Lyke hired White within a month of hiring Jeff Capel as the new coach of the men’s basketball program at Pitt. Capel endured four straight losing seasons, but guided the Panthers to a massive turnaround this year. The Pitt men are 21-9 overall this season and 14-5 in ACC play, poised to have a double-bye in the ACC Tournament next week and projected to make the NCAA Tournament.

Capel was able to save his job, but White could not.

Pitt was White’s first head coaching gig. He took the job after spending 15 seasons working under Sue Semrau at Florida State, where he garnered a reputation as being one of the nation’s top recruiters. With White on the bench, FSU went to 13 NCAA Tournaments. The Seminoles also won two regular season ACC titles and went to a trio of Elite Eights. In 2017, White was named National Assistant Coach of the Year by the WBCA. FSU saw 10 players get drafted by WNBA teams during White’s time there. And before FSU, White spent 11 seasons as an assistant under Marsha Sharp at his alma mater, Texas Tech, where the Red Raiders won three Big 12 titles during his time there.

But White’s success as a recruiter and assistant did not translate into winning at Pitt. White’s teams went 42-99 overall and 11-75 in ACC play. Under White, the team endured five losing streaks of nine or more games, including a 12-game slide in the 2019-20 season and a 10-game slump this past season. The Panthers went 1-5 in Greensboro, N.C. at the ACC Tournament under White.

On Monday, White said “consistency” was his toughest obstacle in trying to rebuild the program.

“It’s just the toll of just that every day, trying to build. And that’s through COVID, through players, through the transfer portal, through every bit of it,” White said. “Whenever you’re trying to reinvigorate a program, and you don’t have that history behind you, and you’ve really got to do it from the ground up – that’s probably been the biggest challenge. Just keeping that energy up to continue to believe in what you’re doing and still do it (while) you’re getting hit in the face a little bit with the ACC talent.”

Pitt’s best season under White may have been the 2021-22 season, when the Panthers entered January with a 9-4 record. But then Pitt won just two of their final 17 games as chemistry issues among players boiled to the surface. Before the regular season ended, the team’s leading scorer – prized transfer guard Jayla Everett – was dismissed from the team.

This season, Everett is the leading scorer – and an All-Big East second team selection – for a St. John’s team that is projected to make the NCAA Tournament. Another former Pitt player, forward Rita Igbokwe, is the leading shot-blocker on an Ole Miss team projected to dance in March too.

And while White was heralded for his recruiting prowess at Florida State, luring those same type of talented players to Pitt proved to be difficult. The Panthers landed just three ESPN Top 100 recruits during White’s tenure, and two of those players – Jahsyni Knight and Tracey Hueston – transferred after two seasons to mid-major programs. The third, Carnegie native Aislin Malcolm, averaged just 9.7 minutes per game this season and did not play in Pitt’s final two games.

In the midst of White’s tenure, the NCAA – largely because of the pandemic – loosened its restrictions on transfers and made the pathway to playing right away much easier, incentivizing more players to enter the portal. That change, White says, made him reevaluate his stance on how to build a program.

“Five years ago, you’re going to build it with freshmen and teach those kids. And then COVID happened, and then the transfer portal, and so, you’re immediately in the middle of it and had to switch course,” White said. “Now you’re not on a four-year system anymore; you’re on a one year. I think that’s been more difficult than just rebuilding and revitalizing the program. It really has made it a lot more difficult and I think this is the best the ACC has been in a long, long time, from top to bottom. It’s every night. It’s just a ferocious gauntlet of what you have to face.”

Despite all the losses, there were a handful of high points. When Pitt went 9-2 in non-conference play in the 2021-22 season, that was the best record the Panthers posted against non-ACC opponents since the 2009-10 season. Pitt was first in the ACC in rebounding in 2021-22. In 2020-21, Everett was an All-ACC selection, marking just the second player in program history to earn that honor. Pitt’s ACC Tournament win over Notre Dame in 2020 was just the second victory ever in the tournament for the program.

And four players from White’s first recruiting class stayed all four years in Amber Brown, Dayshanette Harris, Emy Hayford and Destiny Strother.

Brown will graduate this spring from Pitt with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She nearly quit the team at one point, but remained because of White’s encouragement. Brown has a year of eligibility left, but if she chooses to spend it elsewhere, she will depart the Panthers having started in every game she ever played in and as the fastest Pitt player in more than 20 years to accumulate at least 550 points, 450 rebounds and 100 assists. And she’ll leave Pitt with a ton of respect and admiration for White.

“He’s been amazing. We’ve been through a lot. I needed guidance coming in. He’s definitely been a father figure that’s had his hand on me,” Brown told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “Our relationship that we built – he’s going to be in my life for the rest of my life.”

White is well-liked and respected in women’s college basketball coaching circles. He should have no problem finding another high-level assistant job, if he wants it, multiple sources said.

In replacing White, the hire that Lyke makes could reveal what sort of investments Pitt is willing to make in women’s basketball, and what she thinks about the potential of the program. One assistant coach who has worked in women’s college basketball for more than a decade told Pittsburgh Sports Now that the job is “not very desirable at all.”

“Most would consider it a bottom (tier) Power 5 job,” the coach said. “Facilities are (average), lack of a real tradition, brutal league.”

A Power 5 assistant coach agreed that Pitt is “definitely tough” but pointed to Boston College as another difficult place to win too. West Virginia native Joanna Bernabei-McNamee was hired to lead the Eagles the same year White was hired at Pitt, and she’s posted a pair of seasons with 20 wins or more. Last season, the Eagles made the third round of the WNIT.

“You can win there, but it takes time and you have to get a certain type of kid,” a former ACC assistant coach said, adding that Pitt was “by far” the toughest job in ACC women’s basketball.

For Lyke, her challenge will be finding the right kind of coach that can turn Pitt into a winner.

The post Lance White Out as Pitt Women’s Basketball Coach after 5 Seasons appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

The 15^th-seeded Panthers fell to 10^th-seeded Clemson on Wednesday at the Greensboro Coliseum, 71-53, bringing Pitt’s 2022-23 season to an end.

Brown shot 5-of-12 from the floor and also had four rebounds and two assists. Harris added four rebounds, three assists and two steals. The senior duo were key parts of the magic Pitt captured in this tournament three years ago – when the Panthers beat Notre Dame – but they and their teammates couldn’t replicate that this week.

“You take the second quarter out of it today, and I thought we played pretty good basketball, but that second quarter we just couldn’t make a shot and couldn’t stop them,” fifth-year Pitt head coach Lance White said. “That pretty much sealed our fate for what we were able to do.”

Pitt closed the first quarter with a 16-14 lead, in large part thanks to Channise Lewis, who had six points in the opening 10 minutes. But then Clemson got rolling and opened the second quarter on a 17-4 run to take a commanding advantage. The Tigers went on to lead by as much as 18 points in the second quarter while Pitt shot just 1-of-18 from the floor in the period.

“I thought we got a little stagnant on offense and didn’t move it,” White said. “And I thought we still turned down some shots that we needed to shoot.”

The hole the Panthers dug themselves in the second quarter proved to be too deep to climb out of. Clemson grew its lead to 19 points in the third quarter and Pitt never got within two possessions of the lead.

Simply put, Clemson made more shots than the Panthers did. The Tigers shot 44% from 3-point land while Pitt made 24% of its shots from deep. Clemson tallied 22 assists on 26 made baskets while Pitt had 10 dimes on 19 buckets. And Clemson turned 17 offensive rebounds in 26 second-chance points.

“Today, in the second quarter, I just think we let offense faze us,” Brown said. “Clemson went on a run. They couldn’t miss in the second, it felt like.”

Brown is set to graduate in April with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She told Pittsburgh Sports Now that she isn’t sure yet if she’ll use her fifth year of eligibility.

Clemson was powered by a season-high 19 points and seven rebounds from Hannah Hank. The Tigers move on to face seventh-seeded North Carolina on Thursday. Barring an insane and unlikely run in Greensboro, the Tigers will miss the NCAA Tournament and instead will likely compete in the WNIT.

“I just have so much respect for Lance and Pitt and how hard those guys play,” Clemson coach Amanda Butler said. “We knew it was going to be a tough, physical battle.”

Pitt, meanwhile, will head home after another season ended with disappointment to reassess and reevaluate. It was the eighth straight losing season for the Panthers and the third straight year they’ve lost on the first day of the ACC Tournament. Pitt was the only ACC team this season that garnered zero All-ACC honors.

“I’m so proud of this team, especially this group of seniors that have been so resilient all season long, to battle and fight,” White said. “We’re not defined by a record, but they’re going to be great young women in the world, and I’m really excited to be a part of their lives.”

The post Pitt women’s basketball ousted from ACC Tournament in loss to Clemson appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

In their fifth season under the direction of coach Lance White, the Panthers enter the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. with the lowest seed, No. 15. Wednesday, Pitt will face off against No. 10 Clemson in the second game of the tournament, tipping off at 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network.

“Obviously, we haven’t performed as well in ACC as we had hoped,” White said Monday during a Zoom call with ACC head coaches. “But I think in the last eight games, we’ve played some really good basketball, really been competitive.”

It has been another uneven and disappointing campaign so far for the Panthers. They finished the regular season with a 10-19 overall record and a 3-15 mark in ACC play, which ties the mark for the most ACC wins in a single season under White. Pitt has posted a winning record in the ACC just once with a 9-7 mark in the 2014-15 season under Suzie McConnell. That season was also the last time Pitt made the NCAA Tournament.

The Panthers started the season 5-0 in non-conference play, then lost 15 of their next 17 games, a stretch that included a 10-game losing streak.

But lately, things haven’t been so bad for Pitt. All three of its ACC wins came in February, where it beat Virginia and Boston College comfortably at home, and then notched a double-overtime victory at Georgia Tech. And in Pitt’s regular season finale, it went to the wire with the three-time reigning ACC champs, N.C. State, losing on the road by just five points this past Sunday.

Key for Pitt in its recent run of success has been its sharp shooting from deep range. The Panthers knocked down at least seven 3-pointers in each of its three ACC wins and in that narrow defeat at N.C. State. And Pitt’s perimeter defense in those four games was also crucial. While the Panthers shot a combined 47% from behind the arc in those four contests, Pitt’s opponents made just 24% of their attempts from deep.

“I think sometimes we turn down shots to try to get better ones, but those shooters got to shoot,” White said. “I think the production of Avery Strickland – she gets her feet set, and I want her to take even a couple more shots. But that really stretches the defense. And during that stretch, we’ve really contained our turnovers.”

Also crucial for the Panthers during their recent run of success is the emergence of Channise Lewis. Over those four games referenced, Lewis averaged 12.5 points, four assists and one rebound per game. And on the season, she’s shooting 39% from 3-point range. In Pitt’s win over Boston College, Lewis scored a career-high 15 points, dished out six assists and had just one turnover.

“Channise Lewis is really playing better. And to have that point guard, just really stepping up and making plays, she’s got that maturity and experience,” White said. “I really think within the last seven games she’s just been kind of cut loose… It took her a minute, but I think she’s playing her best basketball. She has a great basketball IQ and can really make great passes. She’s got such a composure about her that really helps.”

Over that same stretch, Liatu King has played well too, averaging 10.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

Pitt’s leading scorer this season has been senior Amber Brown, who averages 9.6 points per game on the season. She is the only Pitt player to start all 29 games. She also posts per game averages of 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists.

Pitt is 9-9 all-time against Clemson, but the Tigers won the last meeting 72-57 earlier this season in Pittsburgh. Leading the Tigers is Amari Robinson, who averaged 13.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

“Now, we can cut loose. There’s no pressure on us,” White said. “We’ll go see if we can make some noise in the ACC Tournament.”

Should Pitt win, on Wednesday, it will face No. 7 North Carolina on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The post Pitt women’s basketball set to face Clemson in ACC Tournament appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

That meant Pitt would have to win its next two matches by major decisions or technical falls to have a chance at winning the dual. And that did not happen.

No. 17 Pitt fell to No. 6 N.C. State 23-9 Friday night in a packed and loud Reynolds Coliseum.

The loss for Pitt means that it is now tied atop the ACC standings with N.C. State with a 3-1 record in conference duals. Had the Panthers won in Raleigh, they would’ve clinched at least a share of the ACC crown for the first time since 2014.

With Friday’s result, any celebrations will be put on hold.

“As far as the dual goes, we lost some key bouts, some of the close ones that we knew were going to be close coming in, and you know, they won them and we didn’t,” Pitt head coach Keith Gavin said. “You don’t like losing… But I told the guys, it’s all feedback, and you got to be intentional about using it to get better.”

Pitt’s Cole Matthews wrestles at N.C. State on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. (Mitchell Northam / Pittsburgh Sports Now)

Pitt jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the dual by getting a win in one of the most anticipated bouts of the night, with No. 3 Cole Matthews getting a 3-2 decision over No. 4 Ryan Jack of the Wolfpack in the 141-weight class.

Matthews got a takedown in the first period and remained on top in scoring after Jack notched two escapes and Matthews got one in the third period. It’s Matthews’ second time beating Jack in his career, and improves the senior from Greenville, Pennsylvania’s record to 16-1 on the year.

Gavin pointed to Matthews’ ability to get an early takedown as a reason why he won the match, and wants to see more eager offense from his team.

“When you go out and get a first period takedown, a lot of our guys are going to be very difficult to beat,” Gavin said. “We got to get out on our offense early… Trust that you can do it in the first period, like Cole did. You get that first period takedown, now the (opponent) has to come to you.”

After sitting out duals against Iowa State and North Carolina with an injury, Dazjon Casto returned to the lineup for Pitt in the 157-pound bout, but was outmatched against No. 17 Ed Scott of the Wolfpack. Scott earned a technical fall victory in the third period with 19-3 score, bringing the crowd inside Reynolds to its feet as he tossed Casto around the mat in a dominant performance.

Pitt’s Dazjon Casto wrestles against N.C. State’s Ed Scott on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. (Mitchell Northam / Pittsburgh Sports Now)

With Tyler Badgett’s 3-0 loss in the 149-pound bout, Holden Heller’s 4-2 victory in the 165-pound clash, Luca Augustine’s narrow 3-1 extra period defeat in the 174-pound battle, and Reece Heller’s 9-5 loss to No. 3 Trent Hidlay in the 184-class, Pitt trailed N.C. State 14-6 on the scoreboard heading into Nino Bonaccorsi’s match. The second top-10 meeting of the night pitted the nation’s No. 1 in the 197-pound class, Bonaccorsi, against No. 8 Isaac Trumble.

This was the most competitive match of the night and lasted six periods. N.C. State’s Trumble had a 1-0 lead in the third period, but he was penalized a point for an illegal move, dropping Bonaccorsi on his head as the Panther went for a shot.

From the fall, Bonaccorsi said he’s good.

“My neck is a little sore and I got a little headache,” he said. “Should be OK.”

Bonaccorsi shook off the hard drop to the mat and secured a takedown, but Trumble notched a reversal with under six seconds left to push the bout into extra periods. In the third extra period, Bonaccorsi sealed the win with an escape and a takedown to win 6-4, keeping his unbeaten mark on the season intact at 13-0.

“It was crazy. He’s obviously a very tough wrestler, so he’s hard to score points on. He’s very stingy defensively,” Bonaccorsi said. “What it came down to is just trying to stay persistent. I trust my offense, so I knew I was going to get one eventually… Just got to stay the course.”

Trumble had beaten Bonaccorsi 2-0 last season.

Bonaccorsi is enjoying his senior campaign and is thankful for the chance to wrestle after all the ups and downs of the pandemic.

“It’s been really great,” Bonaccorsi said. “I’m grateful to just be wrestling with such a special team again. Just comes down to the love of the sport. My only goal is to wrestle as hard as I can, and when I walk off the mat, that was all I had.”

Pitt wrestling coach Keith Gavin calls out to his team on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 in Raleigh, N.C. (Mitchell Northam / Pittsburgh Sports Now)

Following Pitzer’s loss in the heavyweight clash, Colton Camacho lost in the 125-pound bout by a score of 11-8, and sixth-ranked Micky Phillippi was upset by N.C. State’s No. 20 Kai Orine in the 133-pound battle. It was just the second loss of the season for the seventh-year veteran.

“That last one sticks out, 133. Like, (Phillippi) started getting to that guy when he had to, but in the first period, not a whole lot happened,” Gavin said.

Pitt has one regular season dual left, hosting Duke next Saturday. And then the Panthers will be back in Raleigh for the ACC Championships on March 5.

“It’s obviously a tough loss tonight. So, I think getting our morale back, our spirits back up, heading into Duke,” Bonaccorsi said. “Just to stick to what we’ve been doing. We have a great team; we’ve made great improvements over the course of the season. It’s just another opportunity to wrestle and showcase our skills.”

The post Bonaccorsi remains unbeaten, but No. 17 Pitt wrestling falls at No. 6 N.C. State appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

So, when Pitt took possession with 27.7 seconds left – trailing the North Carolina Tar Heels by a single point Wednesday night – Burton was comfortable having the ball in his hands with thousands of Carolina fans cheering against him. While driving to the basket, Burton was fouled with 3.4 seconds left. And then, like ice water ran through his veins, the cool senior guard swished a pair of free throws to give the Panthers the lead.

“Coach drew it up in the huddle. He wanted whoever RJ Davis was guarding to come set me a screen and it just worked out in our favor,” Burton said. “The biggest thing is just staying even keeled. I have coaches and players who believe in me. They just continue to put the battery in my back.”

UNC had a chance to win it with 0.6 seconds left, but Nike Sibande was all up in Caleb Love’s grill and got a hand on the Tar Heels’ last-ditch shot attempt. Pitt won 65-64, leaving a whole lot of people wearing Carolina blue with a sour taste in their mouths.

“You can’t go at Nike,” Pitt forward Blake Hinson said after the game.

For Pitt, the win marks its first ever three-game winning streak against the Tar Heels. The Panthers are 5-2 against UNC under Jeff Capel, and have won five of their past six meetings with the Tar Heels.

This is also the third time this season Pitt has won at least three games in a row. And the Panthers’ triumph snapped a four-game winning streak for the Tar Heels.

“What a great, hard-fought college basketball game. Both teams really, really battled, fought, competed. I’m really, really proud of my team,” Capel said. “This was a gritty win for us. We just found a way to make plays.”

Perhaps most importantly for Pitt, this win against UNC is another in Quad 1 for the Panthers, which should boost its resume for the NCAA Tournament. Pitt is now 4-2 in games against Quad 1 teams and has two such contests remaining on its schedule – at Virginia Tech on Feb. 18 and at Miami on March 4. Before this win over Carolina, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi was projecting the Panthers among the “Last Four In” to the tournament field.

“These guys don’t blink,” Capel said.

Nelly Cummings powered Pitt with 21 points and three assists in the win, while Burton added 19 points and five boards. Sibande chipped in 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

UNC’s largest lead was in the first half at seven points, as they opened the game outscoring Pitt 14-7. Nance had five points during that stretch for the Heels.

Pitt started storming back near the end of the first half, but had to do so without the play of leading scorer Blake Hinson, who was on the bench with two fouls. But Burton stepped up, scoring seven points over the final seven minutes of the first half, helping Pitt take a one-point advantage into intermission.

Inside the locker room at halftime, Capel told his players, “Trust each other. This is our half.”

The Panthers initially squandered their lead – allowing UNC to take a six-point advantage – but then they caught fire, breaking off a 15-2 run that was kickstarted by Cummings making three straight 3-pointers.

Cummings fouled out late in the game, but finished it with five 3-pointers made. It’s the third time this season he’s made that many for Pitt and the Panthers are 3-0 in those games.

“From the outside in, it may seem like we’re shorthanded, but every time we’ve met adversity, it’s just next man up,” Cummings said.

Also key for Pitt was its ability to stifle the reigning ACC Player of the Year, Armando Bacot. The hulking UNC center finished the game with 15 points and 11 boards, but shot just 3-of-10 from the floor and had two turnovers. It’s just the second time this season that Bacot has played a full game and finished with three or less made baskets.

Capel was especially complimentary of Federiko Federiko, who finished with eight points, four rebounds and three blocks in 28 minutes of action.

“I thought (Federiko) was terrific. I mean, Bacot is one of the best players in the country, certainly one of the best big guys,” Capel said. “I thought he did an outstanding job of pushing him off the block and contesting his shot.”

Pitt also held UNC to 18.5% shooting from beyond the arc, which is the Heels’ third-worst 3-point mark of the season. UNC is 0-3 in games in which it shoots worse than 20% from deep.

After an emotional road game, the Panthers now have six days off before hosting ACC bottom-feeder Louisville.

The post Takeaways: Pitt Gets ‘Hard-fought’ and Crucial Win at UNC appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

And then, after the cheering settled, Jason Capel started to yell. The Pitt assistant coach wasn’t screaming at anyone in particular, but his visceral choice words were targeted at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“Y’all gonna disrespect me? All I did for this program? Y’all gonna boo me? I held this sh*t together when Matt Doherty tore it apart,” Capel was overheard saying by a Pittsburgh Sports Now reporter. “F*ck that sh*t.”

Jason Capel yelling outside of the Pitt locker room: “Y’all gonna disrespect me? All I did for this program? Y’all gonna boo me? I held this shit together when Matt Doherty tore it apart. Fuck that shit.”

— Mitchell Northam (@primetimeMitch) February 2, 2023

After Jason Capel’s brief blowup, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel addressed it during the postgame press conference. The elder Capel called his brother’s relationship with North Carolina, “complicated” and defended him.

“My brother loves this school, he dreamt of coming here as a player when we were little,” Jeff Capel said. “This is the place that he always dreamt of playing. He wore that jersey with a lot of pride, and since he’s left here there has been a lot of disrespect towards him.”

Jason Capel played four seasons for UNC from 1998 to 2002, starting in 114 of the 120 games he played for Carolina. As a sophomore, he had 10 rebounds and nine points in UNC’s national semifinal loss to Florida. He was the captain and leading scorer for the Tar Heels his senior season, but that team went 8-20 and was one of the worst in Carolina history.

In trying to pinpoint what sparked Jason’s outburst, Jeff Capel pointed to a “tweet” but wouldn’t specify which one. A source familiar with the situation told Pittsburgh Sports Now that the tweet that fired up the Capels was this one from UNC’s men’s basketball Twitter account that shows walk-on Creighton Lebo sticking his tongue out while wearing the same jersey number — 25 — worn by Jason Capel as a Tar Heel.

“I don’t think it’s coming from within the basketball program. I don’t know who controls their social media… I was hoping he didn’t see it… I thought it was them trolling him,” Jeff Capel said. “It’s a complicated relationship with him and North Carolina. He loves it, but I think at times he doesn’t feel that back.”

Jeff Capel also shared an alleged incident from the 2009 Elite Eight. Capel was coaching Oklahoma and they were set to play Carolina for a shot to go to the Final Four. Jason — to support his brother — was wearing an Oklahoma shirt at the game and was subsequently jeered by Carolina fans, Jeff said, and former Carolina player intervened and cooled the situation.

“And the Carolina fans were pretty shitty towards him. Excuse my language, but pretty, pretty nasty,” Jeff Capel said. “For me, it’s just really interesting man, because I grew up in the state, and this is one of the most tradition-laden programs in the history of college athletics. Not just college basketball. You hear about the Carolina family, and it’s just amazing to me that their social media people would do that… Obviously the game was emotional.”

George Michalowski contributed to this report.

The post Jason Capel Upset with Treatment from Alma Mater UNC; Jeff Capel Responds appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

Winning at No. 24 Duke on Wednesday night would’ve been Pitt’s third this season over a ranked opponent. It would’ve been a signature victory. And for 20 minutes against the Blue Devils, Jeff Capel’s Panthers looked like a good, solid, strong and consistent basketball team. With an 11-point lead at halftime, it seemed like Pitt was about to fully thrust itself into relevance at the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

And then, the second half happened.

Duke went on its run, and then another, and then another. And the Cameron Crazies got loud and took over the atmosphere. And Kyle Filipowski had his way with Pitt’s interior defense.

Pitt squandered a double-digit advantage and lost to the Blue Devils on Wednesday night, 77-69.

TWO HALVES

The Panthers (11-6, 4-2 ACC) are still searching for their first win inside Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1979, and Capel is still looking for his first win on the floor he often dominated on as a player.

“I just felt like (Duke) went on a run and we didn’t really capitalize on some of opportunities on the offensive end,” said Pitt’s Jamarius Burton, who led the Panthers with 16 points and six assists. “Whether that was getting to the free throw or getting in the lane… We just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities.”

Pitt looked like two different teams between the first and second halves. In the opening period, the Panthers shot 56. % from the floor. In the second? Just 28.6%. And Pitt forced Duke (13-4, 4-2 ACC) into 12 turnovers in the first half, and just five in the second.

What really hurt Pitt was its inability to keep Duke off the offensive glass. The Blue Devils corralled 24 of their own misses and flipped those into 19 second-chance points.

“Obviously, (Duke) dominated the glass,” Capel said. “That really was the difference in the game. It’s rare that you see a team shoot 22% from 3 and they win, and they did that because of how they dominated in the second half. I thought (Duke) played really, really hard.”

NO HUGLEY, AGAIN

Pitt once again played without the services of junior forward John Hugley IV. The 6-foot-9 native of Cleveland, Ohio has now missed six straight games and nine overall this season.

Hugley missed two games earlier this season with a knee injury. The team had been vague about his recent absence but said Wednesday night that he didn’t travel to Durham due to a “non-COVID illness.” Previously, Capel had said on Dec. 17 that Hugley’s absence wasn’t “nothing physical, nothing academic, nothing off the court.”

An All-ACC Honorable Mention selection a year ago as one of the conference’s top offensive rebounders, Hugley is averaging 8.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in his limited action this season. His presence could help Pitt this season, but it remains unclear when he’ll return to play.

“(Hugley) is very committed despite the things that he’s battling and going through,” Burton said. “For me, as his teammate and as his brother, I just continue to support him and encourage him to run his own race. Obviously, we miss him. He’s a big piece to what we can do. We still have to encourage him as he continues to take his time to rehab and do what he has to do.”

Fede Federiko filled in again for Hugley, notching four points, four boards and four fouls in 23 minutes. Blake Hinson had 10 points and three rebounds in 31 minutes.

Without Hugley’s inside presence, Pitt was outrebounded 51-28 and was outscored 34-20 in the paint. Filipowski had 28 points and 15 boards for Duke.

“Filipowski is an outstanding player, and he had a monster night tonight,” Capel said. “We couldn’t keep him off the glass. That was an area we were concerned about coming into this game. They’ve been the best offensive rebounding team in this league.”

Of his team’s struggles in the frontcourt, Capel simply said, “We have to work harder.”

COACH K’s TREE

Capel and first-year Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer are two of 10 former Duke players or assistant coaches who are now Division I head coaches. Capel graduated from Duke in 1997, while Scheyer is a member of the Blue Devils’ 2010 class. Capel and Scheyer spent a lot of time together in Durham in practices and meeting rooms, as both were assistants under longtime Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski from 2014 to 2018. Both were on staff when the Blue Devils won the national championship in 2015.

For the final four seasons he was in Durham, Capel was Duke’s associate head coach. When he left for Pitt in 2018, Scheyer took over that role.

To this day, both Coach K proteges have a ton of respect for each other. Capel and Scheyer had a long embrace as they shook hands before the game.

Capel especially has respect for the Crazies. He knows how much the crowd in Cameron can be a factor from his playing days as a Blue Devil.

“Well, I know this building is never out of it. You anticipate a run is coming at some point,” Capel said. “The crowd was in it all game. Terrific crowd. When they got going, (Duke) really fed off of it.”

UP NEXT: YELLOW JACKETS

Pitt’s defeat at Duke on Wednesday was its first contest in a three-game road swing. On Saturday, the Panthers will travel to Atlanta to face a Georgia Tech team that is 1-5 in ACC play. After that, the Panthers wrap up with a stop in Louisville.

The Panthers have lost five of their last six games to the Yellow Jackets and haven’t won in Atlanta at McCamish Pavilion since 2014. It’s another streak that Pitt’s players, coaches and fans would like to see come to an end.

“The focus is just for us to lock-in on the things that we can control and go out there and play hard,” Burton said. “This game was definitely a learning experience for us, and we can take it to Georgia Tech.”

The post Takeaways: Pitt Basketball squanders chance for signature win at No. 24 Duke appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

The Panthers – who were aiming for their third win of the season over a ranked opponent – haven’t won inside Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1979; so long ago that current Pitt coach Jeff Capel hadn’t yet celebrated his fourth birthday.

Pitt simply had no answer for Duke in the second half. More specifically, the Panthers couldn’t stop freshman big man Kyle Filipowski, who had 28 points on 8-of-14 shooting to go along with 15 boards and two assists. Duke also got 10 points from Mark Mitchell, and 14 points and five assists from Tyrese Proctor.

Jamarius Burton led Pitt with 16 points, five rebounds and six assists. Nelly Cummings had 14 points too, while Nike Sibande chipped in 11 points and six boards, and Blake Hinson tallied 10 points.

The Panthers fell behind Duke early on, but then broke off a 10-4 run to take a three-point lead. Pitt proved to have more than just that spurt in it though. Later in the first half, the Panthers embarked on a 13-2 run to take a 12-point lead with under nine minutes till halftime. Burton scored seven points during that span.

After Burton picked up his second foul and went to the bench, Duke evened the score a bit, but Pitt still led by 11 points at halftime after a 9-0 run over the final three minutes. Eight different Panthers scored in the first half and Pitt was shooting 56.7% from the floor while the Blue Devils were connecting on just 30.3% of their shots. The Panthers also had seven first-half steals and Duke had more turnovers (12) than baskets made (10).

Duke pulled ahead in the second half though. Over a stretch of about four minutes, the Blue Devils went on a 15-0 run to take a seven-point lead with about eight minutes to play. Filipowski scored six points in that span for Duke, while Pitt missed six shot attempts and had two turnovers.

Pitt closed the gap to four points, but Duke pulled away again, closing the game with a 6-2 run.

It’s the first time this season that Duke has won after trailing at halftime. The Blue Devils were previously 0-4 in those situations.

After scoring 43 points in the first half, Pitt scored just 26 in the second on 8-of-27 shooting.

Duke really dominated Pitt in the paint, as the Blue Devils outscored the Panthers there 34-20. Duke also won the rebounding battled 51-28 and outscored Pitt 19-8 on second-chance points.

Pitt has now lost two straight after posting a five-game winning streak. The Panthers will aim to get back in the win column on Saturday at Georgia Tech.

The post Pitt blows double-digit halftime lead, falls at No. 24 Duke appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

Aysia Bugg could’ve been that player during White’s first two seasons, but she battled various injuries and health issues. Dayshanette Harris has been forced to play that role often during her three past seasons at Pitt, but she and White will both say that she’s better playing more off the ball. White thought that Jayla Everett – a transfer from New Mexico – could fill that void, but she never fully embraced the role of being a distributor over the course of two years and was dismissed from the team before last season ended.

“I’ve always believed that one of major needs was having a point guard who understood what a point guard did and does,” White told Pittsburgh Sports Now at the ACC Tip-Off in Charlotte.

Entering his fifth season, White thinks he’s found the answer – but it’s a gamble.

This offseason, White convinced Channise Lewis to join his team at Pitt. And in 2018 or 2019, this would’ve been a massive pickup for the Panthers. Now, in 2022, Lewis transferring from Maryland to Pitt was hardly noticed. Saying the move flew under the radar would be a massive understatement. But if Lewis remains healthy and plays up to her potential, she could help White’s program turn the corner.

“Channise has the basketball IQ. Her basketball mind is just crazy, off the charts,” White said. “She’s a proven winner; everywhere from high school to AAU to what she did at Maryland. She’s somebody that, in that position, we need her to control the game. And you know, that was our biggest deficiency.”

Let’s go back to 2017.

Back then, White was still an assistant at Florida State under Sue Semrau. And Lewis was a 5-foot-8 prospect out of the Miami Country Day School in south Florida. White was aggressive in his pursuit of Lewis, determined to make her a Seminole, but she opted to go to Maryland to join Brenda Frese’s storied program instead. ESPN tabbed Lewis as a four-star prospect and ranked her as the 55^th best player in her class, ahead of players like LSU’s Khayla Pointer, N.C. State’s Kai Crutchfield and Northwestern’s Lindsey Pulliam. The future seemed bright for Lewis.

At Maryland, she made an impact right away for the Terps. As a freshman in the 2017-18 season, Lewis started in 32 of 34 games and led the Terps in assists with 4.7 per-game while shooting 39.5% from 3-point land. Maryland advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

As a sophomore – despite starting less often – Lewis was even better statistically. Her 5.4 assists per-game were 31^st best in the country and third in the Big Ten, and her assist-turnover ratio of 2.80 was 17^th best nationally and led the conference. She also averaged 4.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per-game as Maryland won the Big Ten regular season title and again made the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

And then Lewis’ promising career as a true floor general was derailed. She sat out what would’ve been her junior season after tearing her meniscus in October 2019.

Lewis worked hard to get back the next season, in 2020-21, but played just nine games before tearing her ACL.

Last season, she didn’t play at all. On Feb. 2, she said in a message on Instagram addressed to Terps fans that she was “taking a step back” to “focus” on her “mental and physical health.” She remained with the team, cheering Maryland on from the sidelines and offering advice and support to her teammates, but her playing days in College Park were over. Lewis was honored by Frese and the team on senior day and graduated with a degree in sociology.

But she still felt a calling to play basketball. And she still had eligibility left – two years, actually.

“That’s what happens when you’re injured for two years. And COVID,” says Lewis, who is 24 and has heard plenty of old folks’ jokes from her new teammates.

Lewis put her name in the transfer portal last spring, and it wasn’t long before she got a call from Lance White – that FSU assistant that had recruited her five years ago was now the head coach at Pitt.

“I was just looking for a fresh start,” Lewis said. “I knew Lance before even going to college. So, just knowing that he knew my game before my past injuries, I trusted that he would put me in the right position to succeed and Pittsburgh was the place. On my visit, the players opened their arms. And the campus itself is quite different from Maryland. I was looking for a new start and Pitt was the place for me.”

White has known Lewis since she was in the seventh grade. When it was clear that she wanted to come to Pitt, he didn’t hesitate in making that happen.

“I know her history,” White said. “When she said she was going to be in a position to bounce back, I had no reservations at all. I want to really put the ball in her hands and let her work.”

Dayshanette Harris is one of the Pitt players who likes to poke a little fun at Lewis for her age. She joked with one reporter that Lewis was 40 year old.

But Harris has built chemistry with Lewis quickly, and she’s excited to share a backcourt with her in arenas around the ACC. It’s been Harris who has led the Panthers in assists in each of the past three seasons.

“Now, (Harris) can get out and run and be athletic and go score the ball. I think (Lewis) immediately changes our team,” White said. “And you know, and I think for three years, Day had always assumed that position, and I think this really frees her up to go and be what she needs to be.”

Like White, Harris figures that the presence of Lewis will take playmaking pressure off of her and allow her to be a more effective scorer.

“We’re going to be good,” Harris said. “She’s got the brains. I can shoot it a little bit, and she knows where to find me.”

After chuckling some, Lewis says, “I would definitely agree.”

From practicing with Pitt – on campus and an offseason trip abroad to Italy – and looking at other ACC opponents on film, the difference that sticks out to Lewis is the pace of play in this league, compared to the Big Ten.

“The ACC is a lot of ‘get up and go.’ That’s one thing I have to adjust, just keeping the tempo up,” Lewis said. “Besides that, not really much of a difference. I’m still a point guard, and the point guard has one job – make the right decisions… I bring my knowledge here.”

Lewis hasn’t had any setbacks since making the decision to step away from playing at Maryland this past February.

“I’m feeling very good, very strong. These legs are definitely holding up,” Lewis said. “My body is feeling great, and I feel very healthy right now.”

That’s good news for the Panthers, who are aiming for their first winning season since 2015.

The post Channise Lewis could be the key to Pitt women’s basketball success this season appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.