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Stephen Thompson's Pitt chat: 02.03.26
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Stephen Thompson
1:01
Good afternoon from sunny Charlottesville, Va. Ahead of Pitt's road game against Virginia, let's dive into some of your questions. I've got plenty of time to kill before a 9 p.m. tip off at John Paul Jones Arena.
pitt
1:01
Any PITT football players you expect to get drafted in April? thanks
Stephen Thompson
1:06
Good afternoon, pitt. Kyle Louis is an obvious choice, but I'm curious to see if he sticks at linebackers. He demonstrated some outstanding coverage skills at the Senior Bowl last week and there's been some buzz about him playing safety at the next level.

It wouldn't shock me if Raphael Williams, Javon McIntyre or Rashad Battle get picked up on day three of the draft, but I think that trio is still on the outside looking in.

I can only assume Desmond Reid will get a shot at the NFL some way, but it's probably as an undrafted free agent given his size and injury history.
PAtoNC
1:06
By all accounts, Kyle Louis had a fantastic Senior Bowl week. How do you think this improves his draft stock?
Stephen Thompson
1:11
This is a good follow up to our first question, PAtoNC. I think Louis really turned some heads last week at the Senior Bowl and showed off his best attributes -- sideline-to-sideline speed and sticky coverage skills. His combine measurements will be key because, as I said earlier, it seems to be an open question as to what position Louis would play. Is he big enough to fit at linebacker or will NFL teams feel more comfortable with him as a defensive back? That's what Louis will want to answer over these next few weeks.
H2P DC
1:11
Assuming Capel stays and next year's recruiting class stays together, who are the 1 or 2 guys on the current roster you think are crucial to keep around
Stephen Thompson
1:16
Roman Siulepa is at the top of that list for me, H2P DC. He has the highest upside of anyone currently on the roster. But outside of that, there's not many I would say it's "crucial" to keep.

Assuming he's healthy and Dishon Jackson doesn't get an extra year of eligibility, plus medical clearance to play, Papa Kante would be nice to have around next season. The frontcourt depth is thin and he could be a fine rotation center alongside a desperately-needed portal pickup or two.

Omari Witherspoon's almost certain to get better with experience, so he would be a contender for this list as someone who wouldn't necessarily be easily replaced. I like some of what I've seen from Macari Moore and Kieran Mullen, but they have more potential than production right now and Pitt needs the latter.
Dan
1:18
Stephen - NIL question - do colleges or college athletes publicly report player NIL earnings like the professional leagues report player salaries & contracts.  If not, why not, wouldn’t it be helpful to know?  Thx
Stephen Thompson
1:25
To my knowledge, these numbers are not made publicly available in the vast majority of cases, though NIL deals are reported to the College Sports Commission, who vets them for adherence to rules outlined by the House settlement. The simple answer as to why these numbers aren't made available is because no one is making them and schools see the public reporting of revenue sharing and NIL payments as something that could make them less competitive with other schools (or at least that's what I have been told by people inside Pitt's athletic department).

I don't necessarily buy it. I assume players, the ones to whom a school's budget matters most, have to be talking about this all the time. And mandatory reporting would give transparency to everyone. But most schools in the power conferences are in lock step with this policy.
Bruce
1:26
  1. Good afternoon Stephen. I have a comment and a question regarding the recent decision to tarp the upper decks of Accrisure Stadium. I think that it is a good idea and probably overdue. My question is, will the tarps be removed for high demand games? I personally hope not, since those 20k seats would most likely be purchased by fans of the opponent. It also removes the demand for tickets, particularly season tickets, that reduced capacity creates. I think that if they are going to be tarped they should stay tarped. Has the athletic department said anything about this subject?
Stephen Thompson
1:27
Hi Bruce. During a presentation given to a handful of members from the local press corps, myself included, Pitt said that they reserve the right to take tarps off for high-demand home games, though they don't have a set threshold of tickets they would need to sell by a certain time in the week to make more seats available.
SVPanther
1:28
what is AD Greene’s explanation for AD donations down 50%+ over just three years and what is his plan to fix it? ($19.9MM ‘25, $40.4MM ‘23). https://photos.app.goo.gl/2fhrVzRLMSbWfdBv9
Stephen Thompson
1:30
After a little bit of research into this, it would appear Chris Bickell's $20 million donation in 2022, the single largest in Pitt athletics history, is what made up the overwhelming majority of the difference between the 2023 and 2025 figures.

I'm sure if Allen Greene could coax $20 million out of Mr. Bickell (or any Pitt donor, for that matter) every year, he would.
demosthenes98
1:33
Pitt's spring sports teams are about to get their seasons started.  On which teams/players should Panthers fans keep an eye?
Stephen Thompson
1:39
Softball has been stuck in the mud since Holly Aprile left for Louisville in 2018, but they found something towards the end of last season with some upset wins over Virginia Tech and Duke. Jenny Allard knows how to build a program and it seems like she has a talented freshman class set to debut soon.

The baseball team also has some intriguing transfers. Second baseman Trey Fenderson, who hit .378 at Presbyterian last season, was named to the top 50 players at his position by D1Baseball. And David Leslie, who posted a 2.05 ERA for Grove City last season, is nicknamed "D3 Jesus," which is pretty entertaining by itself. Freshman Mason Ligenza could be an offensive star in the making too.
Bruce
1:47
D3 Jesus is pretty good! Some encouraging reports from the Spring Sports! I agree regarding Siulepa. Abby had a really nice story about his journey to Pitt in the Post-Gazette last week. How much does Pitt look at players from the International ranks?
Stephen Thompson
1:52
Pitt recruits pretty heavily from the international ranks on the basketball side. They aren't like Illinois, who sometimes seems to have a roster of entirely eastern European players, but four of the 13 players on scholarship to start the season came from outside the United States and that doesn't include Nojus Indrusaitis, who played for Lithuania in international competitions during high school.

Loading up on international players, who have more restrictions on their ability to make money from revenue sharing and NIL payments, is one way to make your roster cheaper. And of those coming from overseas, many already have professional experience that doesn't interfere with college eligibility. So they are, at least in theory, more prepared for the speed and physicality of Division I basketball.
1:59
That's all I've got for this live chat. I appreciate the questions. Stay tuned for more coverage from tonight's game in Charlottesville.
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