PITTSBURGH RUMORS & GOSSIP

Over the past few days, the Pitt football team received some good news in regards to offensive linemen for this upcoming season. Former Pitt center Brandon Sacco has declared that he will be rejoining the team. Chris Peak wrote Monday that Brandon Sacco - remember him? - is back on campus and has rejoined the team. Sacco was a promising lineman from Don Bosco and had academic...

Tray Woodall was named the Big East player of the week today, and his performance yesterday against Villanova may have ahd something to do with the honor. That and the fact that Pitt hasn’t lost a game since Tray has been completely healthy. He averaged an insane 26.5 points, 4 assists and 5 rebounds over the past week and has helped the Panthers move out of the Big East basement...

Travon Woodall scored a career-high 29 points and Ashton Gibbs added 25 to lead Pittsburgh to a 79-70 win over Villanova on Sunday, its fourth straight win. The Panthers (15-9, 4-7 Big East) led by as many as 18 in the second half, though the Wildcats (10-13, 3-8 Big East) were able to trim that lead to three on a pair of Jayvaughn Pinkston free throws with 22.3 seconds left.

It took a while, but there's finally some attrition from the coaching debacle(s) and the University of Delaware is the beneficiary (via Newark Post Online): In addition to the 10 recruits, Keeler also announced the additions of transfers Trent Hurley from Bowling Green and Sam Collura from Pittsburgh. Hurley is a sophomore quarterback from Connellsville, Pa. (Greensburg Central...

The Pittsburgh Panthers are the only team in the Big East that has yet to win a league game. Jamie Dixon’s team hasn’t won a game since Dec. 20 against St. Francis, but is surprisingly riding a small wave of confidence. The Panthers have played much better in the last couple of games and are finally getting healthy. Pitt played Syracuse nearly as tough as any team has all season...

Remember Khem Birch? You know, the McDonald’s All-American that was supposed to be the Pete’s next big thing? The huge forward with a yellow streak in his hair? The kid that cried at practices because they were too physical? The freshman that transferred from Pitt because he didn’t get what he wanted? Well, he spoke on Pittsburgh radio for the first time since he decided to...

Pitt freshman Khem Birch was something that not many Pitt fans are use to he was a McDonald’s All-American. Now, the 6-foot-9 Birch is gone as he decided to leave the team. Birch was Jamie Dixon’s highest recruit since taking over the Pitt program in 2003. Birch will transfer to UNLV. As you will read below Birch will not have some kind words for the Pitt program. On the season...

MILWAUKEE Frustrating doesn't begin to describe Pittsburgh's start to this Big East season.Pittsburgh has been one of the Big East's predominant programs for much of the last decade. The Panthers are the league leader in overall winning percentage (284-77, .787), league winning percentage (124-48, .721), consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (10) and 20-victory, 10...

Ashton Gibbs understands the pressure that comes with being named the preseason Big East Player of the Year. The Pittsburgh senior guard welcomes the challenge, believing he can do for the Panthers what Kemba Walker did for Connecticut a year ago and lead a talented but inexperienced team to a national title. Two months before the madness begins, Gibbs would settle for leading struggling...

For whatever reason, the initial college decisions for power forward Khem Birch (Pittsburgh) and point guard Jamal Branch (Texas A&M) did not work out this year. Both former top-100 prospects from the 2011 class made the decision to leave their respective schools less than half of the way through their first year of college, and [...] Related posts: Khem Birch Joins Pitt’...

J.J. McDermott ran and threw for first quarter touchdowns and SMU beat Pittsburgh 28-6 Sunday in the BBVA Compass Bowl. Rishaad Wimbley ran for two scores for SMU (8-5), which tied a school record by playing in its third straight bowl under coach June Jones. McDermott completed 16 of 26 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown, to Darius Johnson early in the first. Pittsburgh (6-7...

Pittsburgh quarterback Tino Sunseri says his teammates should be prepared for the team's latest coaching change. The Panthers are playing in their second straight BBVA Compass Bowl on Saturday against SMU, and each time they've had an interim coach. One year ago, Pittsburgh was looking to replace Dave Wannstedt. Interim coach Phil Bennett led the Panthers to a bowl win...

The coaching search ended rather quickly for the Pittsburgh Panthers, as they nabbed Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst as their new head coach. The decision came after former head coach Todd Graham bolted for the Arizona St. job last week. Chryst is the fourth Pittsburgh coach in the last year and comes from a very successful program in Wisconsin. He helped orchestrate...

Another off-season and another coaching search is underway for the Pittsburgh Panthers. Former head coach Todd Graham has jumped ship and bolted for the Arizona St. job. Graham informed his team via a text message on his way to Tempe. Once again, Pittsburgh will spend the off-season looking for a head coach. Last year that search took longer than expected as the Panthers hired former...

In departing for Arizona State today, ex-Pittsburgh football coach Todd Graham chose to inform Panther players of the news via forwarded text message from a Pitt football staffer. As you might expect, such a lack of respect from a now-former coach did not sit well with at least one Pitt football player: Panther receiver Devin Street. In a series of Tweets today...