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After going 1-17 in conference play this season, Pitt’s worst record since joining the ACC in 2013, Tory Verdi is out as the Panthers head coach.
Pitt fired Verdi on Tuesday morning following his third consecutive losing season. In a statement, Pitt athletic director Allen Greene said the decision to fire Verdi came after a "thoughtful evaluation" of the program in which Greene determined the team had not "progressed enough competitively" under Verdi.
Verdi’s dismissal also comes just weeks after six former Pitt players filed lawsuits against him and the university in the U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania, alleging that he inflicted "emotional, psychological, and physical abuse" against the players and that he created a “hostile, discriminatory, and retaliatory environment."
Pitt is the second women's basketball head coach opening in the ACC this season. Boston College announced Sunday night it was not renewing the contract of Joanna Bernabei-McNamee after eight seasons.
In women’s basketball, it’s been a long time since the Panthers were any good. Since Agnus Berenato guided Pitt to back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2008 and 2009, they’ve had two winning seasons and have been to the NCAA Tournament just once — in 2015 under the direction of Suzie McConnell Serio. That is the only year in which Pitt has finished a season with a winning record in ACC play.
Verdi was hired by former Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke, who had worked with him at Eastern Michigan. Verdi followed Lance White, whose contract was not renewed after five seasons in which he never had more than 11 wins.
Taking over for White in 2023, Verdi was coming in with a winning pedigree. He had two seasons of more than 20 wins at Eastern Michigan, twice taking the Eagles to the WBIT. Verdi took the UMass job in 2016 and coached the Minutewomen to a pair of A-10 championships and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
But at Pitt, Verdi wasn’t able to recreate the success he had at the mid-major level. In three seasons, he went 29-65. His Panthers suffered losses to teams like Coppin State, Akron, Northern Iowa, Drexel and Lafayette. This season, Pitt lost a game to Division III Scranton. Verdi was also 0-3 against city rival Duquesne.
Following the publicization of the lawsuits against Verdi, Pitt stood behind him and said through a university spokesperson that they were “without merit and will be vigorously defended." Industry sources wondered if Pitt could afford to fire Verdi, because he had three years remaining on the contract Lyke gave him — at a salary of about $800,000 per year — and the athletic department is in shambles financially. Between 2019 and 2025, the Panthers ran deficits totaling $283 million.
Whether Pitt pays Verdi’s full buyout or negotiates it down to a lower rate remains to be seen. What’s clear now is that the Panthers need a new coach.
Here’s who Pitt might call to replace him.
A coaching veteran, Harris has been in women’s college basketball since 1998. She spent much of her career as one of the top assistants to Gary Blair and Vic Schaefer, helping their programs reach big heights. She was an assistant on the Texas A&M team that won the national title in 2011, and was the associate head coach on the Mississippi State teams that played in the national championship games in 2017 and 2018. In 2021, Greene hired her to be the head coach at Auburn. She was fired by current Auburn AD John Cohen last year after a 12-18 season, but Harris had taken the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament the year before and to the second round of the WNIT the year before that — two stages that a program like Pitt hasn’t been on in a long time.
Williams was on Kellie Harper’s staff at Tennessee when Greene was the senior deputy AD there in 2023-24. She’s spent nearly three decades in women’s college basketball coaching, helping Louisville go to the Final Four twice, assisting Duke to two ACC titles, and has been on staffs at Auburn, DePaul, Tennessee and Mississippi State that have all gone to the NCAA Tournament. Before joining Harper’s staff at Tennessee, Williams was the head coach at Eastern Kentucky for two seasons. While she didn’t last long there, she took a program that was 2-27 before her arrival and won 11 games in her first season, marking the largest win improvement by any first-year head coach in the 2019-20 season.
Cunningham has an impressive coaching resume. She’s spent 13 years as a head coach between VCU and Missouri State, winning 19 or more games in eight of those seasons. She took VCU to the postseason in five consecutive years before resigning in 2012 to return to her alma mater, Notre Dame, where she was Muffet McGraw’s associate head coach for the Fighting Irish’s 2018 national championship team. After spending two seasons on Kara Lawson’s staff at Duke, Cunningham took the reins at Missouri State and is 87-42 in four seasons. Last year, the Bears won the MVC regular season title and advanced to the second round of the WBIT. Notre Dame connections run deep and in 1996 and 1997, Cunningham and Greene were both student-athletes for the Irish.
Other names to watch: Illinois State head coach Kristen Gillespie, Vermont head coach Alissa Kresge, FDU head coach Stephanie Gaitley, Morehead State head coach Ashton Feldhaus, Eastern Kentucky head coach Greg Todd, Virginia Tech assistant coach Jen Hoover, Tennessee assistant coach Gabe Lazo
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Candidates for Pitt women’s basketball coach opening with Verdi out
Continue reading...
Pitt fired Verdi on Tuesday morning following his third consecutive losing season. In a statement, Pitt athletic director Allen Greene said the decision to fire Verdi came after a "thoughtful evaluation" of the program in which Greene determined the team had not "progressed enough competitively" under Verdi.
Verdi’s dismissal also comes just weeks after six former Pitt players filed lawsuits against him and the university in the U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania, alleging that he inflicted "emotional, psychological, and physical abuse" against the players and that he created a “hostile, discriminatory, and retaliatory environment."
Pitt is the second women's basketball head coach opening in the ACC this season. Boston College announced Sunday night it was not renewing the contract of Joanna Bernabei-McNamee after eight seasons.
In women’s basketball, it’s been a long time since the Panthers were any good. Since Agnus Berenato guided Pitt to back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2008 and 2009, they’ve had two winning seasons and have been to the NCAA Tournament just once — in 2015 under the direction of Suzie McConnell Serio. That is the only year in which Pitt has finished a season with a winning record in ACC play.
Verdi was hired by former Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke, who had worked with him at Eastern Michigan. Verdi followed Lance White, whose contract was not renewed after five seasons in which he never had more than 11 wins.
Taking over for White in 2023, Verdi was coming in with a winning pedigree. He had two seasons of more than 20 wins at Eastern Michigan, twice taking the Eagles to the WBIT. Verdi took the UMass job in 2016 and coached the Minutewomen to a pair of A-10 championships and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
But at Pitt, Verdi wasn’t able to recreate the success he had at the mid-major level. In three seasons, he went 29-65. His Panthers suffered losses to teams like Coppin State, Akron, Northern Iowa, Drexel and Lafayette. This season, Pitt lost a game to Division III Scranton. Verdi was also 0-3 against city rival Duquesne.
Following the publicization of the lawsuits against Verdi, Pitt stood behind him and said through a university spokesperson that they were “without merit and will be vigorously defended." Industry sources wondered if Pitt could afford to fire Verdi, because he had three years remaining on the contract Lyke gave him — at a salary of about $800,000 per year — and the athletic department is in shambles financially. Between 2019 and 2025, the Panthers ran deficits totaling $283 million.
Whether Pitt pays Verdi’s full buyout or negotiates it down to a lower rate remains to be seen. What’s clear now is that the Panthers need a new coach.
Here’s who Pitt might call to replace him.
Johnnie Harris, Baylor assistant coach
A coaching veteran, Harris has been in women’s college basketball since 1998. She spent much of her career as one of the top assistants to Gary Blair and Vic Schaefer, helping their programs reach big heights. She was an assistant on the Texas A&M team that won the national title in 2011, and was the associate head coach on the Mississippi State teams that played in the national championship games in 2017 and 2018. In 2021, Greene hired her to be the head coach at Auburn. She was fired by current Auburn AD John Cohen last year after a 12-18 season, but Harris had taken the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament the year before and to the second round of the WNIT the year before that — two stages that a program like Pitt hasn’t been on in a long time.
Samantha Williams, Mississippi State assistant coach
Williams was on Kellie Harper’s staff at Tennessee when Greene was the senior deputy AD there in 2023-24. She’s spent nearly three decades in women’s college basketball coaching, helping Louisville go to the Final Four twice, assisting Duke to two ACC titles, and has been on staffs at Auburn, DePaul, Tennessee and Mississippi State that have all gone to the NCAA Tournament. Before joining Harper’s staff at Tennessee, Williams was the head coach at Eastern Kentucky for two seasons. While she didn’t last long there, she took a program that was 2-27 before her arrival and won 11 games in her first season, marking the largest win improvement by any first-year head coach in the 2019-20 season.
Beth Cunningham, Missouri State head coach
Cunningham has an impressive coaching resume. She’s spent 13 years as a head coach between VCU and Missouri State, winning 19 or more games in eight of those seasons. She took VCU to the postseason in five consecutive years before resigning in 2012 to return to her alma mater, Notre Dame, where she was Muffet McGraw’s associate head coach for the Fighting Irish’s 2018 national championship team. After spending two seasons on Kara Lawson’s staff at Duke, Cunningham took the reins at Missouri State and is 87-42 in four seasons. Last year, the Bears won the MVC regular season title and advanced to the second round of the WBIT. Notre Dame connections run deep and in 1996 and 1997, Cunningham and Greene were both student-athletes for the Irish.
Other names to watch: Illinois State head coach Kristen Gillespie, Vermont head coach Alissa Kresge, FDU head coach Stephanie Gaitley, Morehead State head coach Ashton Feldhaus, Eastern Kentucky head coach Greg Todd, Virginia Tech assistant coach Jen Hoover, Tennessee assistant coach Gabe Lazo
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Candidates for Pitt women’s basketball coach opening with Verdi out
Continue reading...
