Pitt Women's Basketball Ends Terrible Tory Verdi Reign

PITTSBURGH — Tory Verdi is no longer the head coach of the Pitt Panthers women's basketball program and it ends an abysmal regime that couldn't have ended any faster.

Pitt Athletic Director Allen Greene announced the dismissal of Verdi, or rather "leadership change," on March 3 and that they would enact a national search for the next head coach of the program.

It ends three years of poor basketball under Verdi, which saw him amass a record of 29-66 record (.305) and 8-46 in ACC play (.148) during his three seasons with the program.

The Panthers are now free to make the necessary moves, as this is Greene's first firing as AD, but Verdi's tenure won't make it easy to move on from, at least in the early stages

Why Tory Verdi Got Hired

Hiring Verdi made sense, at least initially, for Pitt, who previously struggled under five seasons of head coach Lance White, going 42-99 overall (.298) and 11-74 in the ACC (.129) from 2018-23, before his dismissal.

Verdi had two succcessful head coaching stops at Eastern Michigan (2012-16) and UMass (2016-23), where the programs had their issues early on, but improved into postseason teams.

He led Eastern Michigan to the WBI in 2014 and then back-to-back 20-win seasons and WNIT appearances in 2015 and 2016, following an 8-22 record in his first season.

Verdi then had seasons with nine wins, 14 wins and 16 wins, before having four straight above. 500 seasons at UMass, with two WNIT appearances and making the NCAA Tournament after winning the 2022 A-10 Tournament.

UMass Head Coach Tory Verdi calls during a game at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2022. Kns Tennessee Lady Vols Umass | Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke had a relationship with Verdi and hiring a coach that knew how to make a program into a winner, especially one as downtrodden as Pitt, made sense.

Other mid-major coaches had success at the Power 4 level after they came up, such as Illinois head coach Shauna Green and Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack.

Green came from Dayton, also in the A-10, and Legette-Jack came from Buffalo, but both head coaches led their teams to the NCAA Tournament in the 2023 season.

Why Verdi Didn't Work Out at Pitt

Perhaps one of the biggest differences between those two coaches and Verdi is that unlike them, Verdi didn't get any of his star UMass players to transfer to Pitt.

All-A-10 First Team guard Sydney Taylor transferred to Louisville, All-A-10 Second Team guard Ber'Nyah Mayo transferred to St. John's, starting forward Angelique Ngalakulondi transferred to Missouri and sixth man in forward Makennah White transferred to Seton Hall.

The only player Verdi got from his time at UMass was flipping commit in guard Aaryn Battle, who averaged just 4.1 points per game over he two seasons at Pitt.

Verdi also came late in the cycle, not getting hired until early April, setting him back in acquiring transfer portal players that would've bolstered the team and just added players that would give them a good roster number.

It was a terrible first season for Verdi, going 8-24 overall and 2-16 in the ACC, tied for second-to-last place in the conference.

Pitt would've done much worse if not for forward Liatu King, who had a breakout season earning First-Team All-ACC honors and won the ACC Most Improved Player Award in the 2023-24 season.

Pitt Panthers women's basketball forward Liatu King — Oct 24, 2023; Charlotte, NC, USA; Pittsburgh player Liatu King during the ACC Women s Tipoff at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Panthers got five more wins in Verdi's second season, going 13-19 overall and 5-13 in the ACC, the second most wins in the conference since they joined ahead of the 2013-14 campaign.

Much of that was thanks to the great play of Texas transfer Khadija Faye, who also earned First-Team All-ACC honors, as she ranked top five with 19.2 points, 2.5 blocks and 10.2 rebounds per game.

Verdi then finally got in his first true recruiting class for this season, with seven new freshmen, plus three veteran transfers to lead them. He also landed the first five-star recruit in program history in Nylah Wilson.

Wilson played just six games for Pitt and only one freshman, Theresa Hagans Jr., started more than 20 games in the season.

None of the transfers Verdi added made a significant difference or on the level of King or Faye and the Panthers struggled finding scoring, ranking last in the ACC with an average of 60.5 points per game.

Pitt also had their worst season under Verdi, going 8-23 overall and 1-17 in the ACC, tied for their worst record in the conference.

This included an national embarrassment, losing to Division III Program Scranton, plus other mid-major defeats to Drexel and Lafayette at home and Ball State in the Florida Gulf Classic.

Pitt had 10 losses to mid-major teams under Verdi, including losing all three games to rival Duquesne in "The City Game" and twice to Ball State.

Verdi also never had a consistent starting lineup for a season, using how players practiced as a measure for if they deserved a shot at starting, aside from the star players.

Season	Total Players on Roster	Players That Started a Game
2023-24	11	10
2024-25	12	11
2025-26	13	12

While this approach gave different players more opportunities, it also shows a lack of trust in the squad and makes it difficult for your best players in building cohesion.

Verdi also regularly benched players after mistakes, instead of allowing them to play through it, and was consistently frustrated and angry on the sideline.

It's fine to show anger and emotion as a head coach, but understanding the situation and approaching the situation appropriately is what makes one great and another poor.

Lawsuit Brings Necessary End

Verdi's attitude towards his player ended up playing a big role in what likely played in his eventual dismissal.

Pitt Panthers Women's Basketball head coach Tory Verdi — Pitt Women's Basketball head coach Tory Verdi | Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

He is the subject of a lawsuit filed in federal court that six former players filed, alleging that Verdi created an environment of hostility, psychologically abused the players and punished them when they spoke up.

Favor Ayodele, Raeven Boswell, Makayla Elmore, Brooklynn Miles, Isabella Perkins and Jasmine Timmerson are the six former players that are plaintiffs named in the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs filed their individual lawsuits back on Feb. 6 in federal court in Pittsburgh, which also includes claims of Title IX violations, breach of contract for depriving students of their scholarships, negligent hiring and supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress

One example of a complaint includes a comment Verdi made after practice during the 2023-24 season, which read, "Every night I lie in bed I want to kill myself because of you.”

Verdi allegedly “directed xenophobic and culturally insensitive remarks” towards a foreign-born player before a game saying, “go back home because ICE is coming." He also allegedly told foreign-born players, “We speak English here,” when they spoke in their native tongue and accents, according to Northam.

He also had accusations of creating racial division between the black and white players on the team, while also mocking how a player looked and her weight, saying, "you look pregnant," when she was injured.

All of these accusations, while not confirmed, are unacceptable in every form and deserving of firing from any athletic position, if true.

Having a struggling program is one thing, but these accusations in the lawsuit are by far worse than any loss Pitt had on the court.

Pitt women's basketball needs a better leader for next season, who will create a strong culture and get the program back to winning ways.

Verdi was never going to do that at Pitt.

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