Apr 10, 2016 4 min read

The search for a new men’s basketball coach at Pitt, which began after Jamie Dixon bolted the Steel City for his alma mater of TCU, didn’t last long. In less than a week, Pitt lured Kevin Stallings away from Vanderbilt to mostly lukewarm response from Panthers faithful.

The search for a new basketball coach is taking a little longer at California University, but don’t be surprised if in the next 10 days the Vulcans have a successor to Bill Brown, who retired after 20 seasons with the Vulcans.

Though the Vulcans have been mostly mediocre since making the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2008, the Cal job remains attractive. That’s why about 100 coaches either formally applied or inquired about the position.

Cal was contacted by Division II and III head coaches and assistants from all levels. After an initial round of interviews late last month, Cal’s search committee trimmed the list of candidates and began on-campus interviews over the weekend. Sources say two of the candidates are Concord head coach Kent McBride and Fairmont State assistant coach Joe Mazzulla.

McBride, in his fifth season at Concord, guided the Mountain Lions to a 22-10 record this season and a berth in the Division II national tournament. Mazzulla was a point guard on West Virginia’s Final Four team in 2010 and is currently an assistant coach at Fairmont State, which had a 25-5 record that included two wins over Concord.

On-campus interviews will continue this week.

Two names that surfaced as candidates almost as soon as Brown announced in February he was retiring were former California head coach Jim Boone and Andy Moore, who was an assistant at Cal. Boone is currently head coach at Delta State in Cleveland, Miss. The Statesmen were 19-11 this season. Moore is an assistant at Air Force and coached at several other Division I schools, including Michigan and Virginia Tech.

According to sources, Moore is no longer a candidate and Boone, who was included in the first round of interviews, does not have an on-campus interview scheduled, though he could still be a candidate.

It was reported former Blackhawk High School and North Carolina standout Dante Calabria applied. Calabria is currently an assistant at Keiser University in Florida, where the head coach is former Villanova coach Rollie Massimino, who had plenty of television time during the Wildcats’ recent run to the national championship. Calabria, however, did not get an interview with Cal officials.

• The minor-league baseball season started for two local players, pitchers Jordan Jankowski and Matt Pierpont.

A McMurray native, Jankowski is in his second season with the Fresno Grizzlies, the Houston Astros’ Class AAA affiliate. Pierpont, a Canonsburg native, was assigned to the Hartford Yard Goats, the Colorado Rockies’ new affiliate in the Class AA Eastern League.

Both Jankowski and Pierpont played in major league spring training games last month. Jankowski, who was a nonroster invitee in the Astros’ big-league camp, pitched in six games. Pierpont, who last season was in Class A, was called up to pitch in one spring training game for the Rockies.

In Hartford, Pierpont is playing for manager Darin Everson, who was the Wild Things’ manager for two seasons (2010-11).

A third local minor leaguer, outfielder Joey Havrilak, was assigned to the Connecticut Tigers, Detroit’s affiliate in the short-season New York-Penn League. A former standout at Trinity High School and in college at Akron, Havrilak was drafted in the 18th round last year by the Tigers. The New York-Penn League does not begin play until June 17.

• Five former Wild Things are playing either in the major or minor leagues.

Pitcher Vidal Nuno, the only Wild Things player appear in a major league game, made the Seattle Mariners’ opening day roster. This is Nuno’s fourth year in the majors.

Outfielder Stewart Ijames is with the Reno Aces, Arizona’s Class AAA affiliate. He is the first former Washington position player to advance to Class AAA. Three players, outfielder Quincy Latimore (Bowie), and pitchers Chris Smith (New Hampshire) and Michael Hepple (Binghamton), are in the Eastern League.

• Only in minor-league baseball can a team be called the Yard Goats and it not be considered ridiculous.

Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com.