Blogs

Here are some Derby notes from Tuesday, April 26 *** The Derby picture is getting a little more clear, as two horses dropped out of contention today, but it remains one of the most wide-open Derby fields in many years. Here is the Trib’s story from Sunday on the craziness of the Derby pursuit this [...]

If you came looking for Pitt news and found something related to the Kentucky Derby, don’t scream foul. Coverage of the Triple Crown races is another beat of mine. For the next five weeks or so, this blog will mix with Pitt basketball news (Ashton Gibbs’ decision, the NBA Draft, recruiting news, etc.) with the 137th Run [...]

Pitt handed out its individual honors on Sunday night as part of its annual season-ending banquet. Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker were named c0-MVPs for the second year in a row. Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna shared the most improved award and Nasir Robinson was named the top defensive player. Coach Jamie Dixon received his Sporting News national coach of [...]

 Marshall assistant coach Bill Barton will be hired as an assistant on Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon’s staff, multiple sources confirmed Friday night. The announcement of Barton’s hiring could come as early as this weekend. Barton, 50, a former assistant at Duquesne University, replaces one of his good friends, Pat Skerry, who left Pitt earlier [...]

The Panthers are down to one J.J. Pitt reserve forward/center J.J. Richardson has opted to transfer and was granted a full release from his scholarship. Richardson, a 6-foot-7, 235-pound sophomore from Missouri City, Texas, said he wants to be nearer to his hometown of Houston. “I am looking for an opportunity to move closer to [...]

  The three-day Pittsburgh Jamfest, which attracts more than 200 u14-u17 basketball  teams from around the nation, gets underway today. Games are played at Petersen Events Center, Fitzgerald Field House and Trees Hall on Pitt’s campus; LaRoche College andand Chatham University; Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill and Allderdice, Westinghouse, Peabody, Ambridge, Oliver and Sewickley Academy [...]

Pitt senior Gilbert Brown’s team, Cherry, Bekaert and Holland, will play K&D Rounds Landscaping in the championship game of the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational Tournament at 8 p.m. tonight. Brown scored six points on 3 of 10 shooting in a 97-72 victory over Portsmouth Sports Club in the semifinals. Rick Jackson of Syracuse and Jimmy Butler [...]

    *** Any concerns regarding star recruit Khem Birch having second thoughts about Pitt can finally be laid to rest. I just spoke with Brandin Knight, who assured me the five-star recruit from Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep remains totally committed to the Panthers. “Everything is fine,” Knight said. “Everything is good. I don’t know [...]

Pitt has lost another assistant to a head coaching job. Pat Skerry, after one season at Pitt, will be introduced Tuesday as the new head coach at Towson University. Skerry is the fifth Pitt assistant under coach Jamie Dixon in the past six years to get a promotion to head coach, following Barry Rohrssen (Manhattan), [...]

Gilbert Brown, Gary McGhee and Brad Wanamaker have learned their teammates for the 2011 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in Portsmouth, Va. The event, which runs April 6-9, features some of the top seniors basketball players in the nation. The invitational, in its 59th year, attracts scouts from all 30 NBA teams. A couple of Pitt killers will [...]