Pitt Athletics has been in the news this spring and summer for more than just accomplishments on the field or court. These include academic successes and new coaches.

Academic accomplishments

Pitt placed a department record 343 student-athletes on the annual Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll, marking the third consecutive year Pitt has had more than 290 selections to the honor roll. The ACC Academic Honor Roll is comprised of student-athletes who participated in a varsity-level sport and registered a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the full academic year. This year marks the most-ever student-athlete honorees nationwide — 5,942 — and fourth consecutive year in which at least 5,500 ACC student-athletes have achieved Honor Roll status.

Deal with Nike renewed

Pitt Athletics has extended its long-standing relationship with Nike to provide gear for each of the Panthers' 19 varsity programs through 2026. “Pitt and Nike have been terrific partners for nearly 15 years, and extending our agreement through 2026 supports our department, our coaches, student-athletes, and staff,” said Pitt Director of Athletics Heather Lyke.

Overall athletic score

The Panthers posted their top finish since 1994-95 in the 2022-23 Learfield Directors' Cup standings, with a department record 469 points. Points are based on order of finish in various championships. For Pitt, football, men's basketball, men's cross country, men's swimming & diving, men's soccer, volleyball, women's indoor track & field, women's soccer, and wrestling earned Directors' Cup points. The Directors’ Cup is given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the colleges and universities with the most success in collegiate athletics.

New coaches

• In June, Jenny Allard, a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Famer and coach of the Harvard softball program for the past 28 seasons, was named the fourth head coach in Pitt softball history.

• In April, Tory Verdi was named head coach of Pitt’s women’s basketball team. He comes to Pitt from the University of Massachusetts, where he spent seven seasons as head coach. He also was women’s head coach at Eastern Michigan University, where he worked with Pitt’s athletic director Heather Lyke.

• Also in April, Casey Jo MacPherson was named the fourth head coach of the Pitt gymnastics team. She previously was associate head coach and an assistant coach for 10 seasons at the University of Missouri.