Blogs

Aliquippa receiver Jonathan Baldwin has accepted an invitation to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Jan. 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. “I was kind of shocked I was playing in it,” Baldwin said. “That’s big. I wasn’t expecting it.” The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Baldwin is ranked the nation’s No. 2 tight end and [...]

Pitt did everything in its power to recruit Shayne Hale, but that didn’t prevent the Gateway five-star linebacker from crossing the Panthers off his list of finalists. And those are the words of his coach. “For Shayne, it was more of Pitt being awfully close to home,” Gateway coach Terry Smith said. “Shayne feels he [...]

When Nic DiLillo says Pitt recruited him “like no other school,” he isn’t kidding. The Madison (Ohio) tight end, who announced his verbal commitment to the Panthers Monday, has the personalized cards to prove it. “Every other week, I’d have a hand-written letter from every coach,” DiLillo said. “They treated me like family. No other [...]

One of college football’s great plays of the 2006 season was overshadowed in Pitt’s loss to West Virginia, but it was a highlight tailor-made for ESPN’s SportsCenter. No surprise that Darrelle Revis’ 73-yard punt return for a touchdown against West Virginia on Nov. 16 has been nominated by ESPN for an ESPY in the category [...]

Hopewell’s Ryan Turnley always fancied himself a basketball player until this past football season, when he won a starting job and received Division I attention. “Ever since then,” he said, “it’s been nothing but football.” Turnley started playing football in the eighth grade, a by-product of Hopewell’s 2002 WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA champions. Turnley [...]

Pitt has received a verbal commitment from Madison (Ohio) tight end Nic DiLillo, regarded as one of the nation’s top 20 prospects at his position. DiLillo picked Pitt this weekend after reneging on his verbal commitment to Clemson last Monday. Verbal commitments are non-binding, and prospects can’t sign a binding national letter of intent until [...]

Under the direction of Bill Cherpak, Thomas Jefferson High School has become a powerhouse program that has produced two of the best offensive linemen in recent WPIAL history in Tyler Reed and, now, Lucas Nix. Although both ranked among the most heavily recruited players in the country entering their senior seasons, there is little comparison [...]

It doesn’t take poetic license to say Lucas Nix is Pitt’s best offensive line recruit since Bill Cherpak, who, incidentally, coaches Nix at Thomas Jefferson High School. Cherpak was an All-American at Steel Valley before picking the Panthers, planning to follow a pipeline of WPIAL linemen playing for Pitt and then in the NFL. Under [...]

Pitt will land its top-rated recruit in years when Thomas Jefferson offensive tackle Lucas Nix ends weeks of speculation by announcing his verbal commitment to the Panthers Friday. The 6-foot-6 1/2, 295-pound Nix, younger brother of Pitt redshirt freshman linebacker Nate Nix, is considered a five-star prospect by recruiting services, with a No. 26 national [...]

The university that has designed everything from torch-cut lettering to a tooth at the neckline of its football jerseys – but refuses to bring back the classic script Pitt – has introduced a “sleeker, more polished” secondary logo. The arching, block Pitt will remain as the primary logo for the university and its 19 athletic [...]