After three years of mediocre records, Tory Verdi is out at Pitt. The school announced Verdi’s firing Tuesday, just two days after the Panthers sustained a 50-point loss to NC State.
In a statement, Pitt athletic director Allen Greene said the team has not “progressed enough competitively” during multiple seasons under Verdi.
“After a thorough and thoughtful evaluation of our women’s basketball program, it has been determined that we have not progressed enough competitively and now is the right time to seek a new leader for our program. We thank Tory for his dedication over the past three seasons and wish him and his family nothing but the best in their future endeavors. The search process for our next leader is already underway.”
It’s safe to say Verdi’s era did not go as expected after he was hired away from UMass ahead of the 2023-24 season. Verdi came to Pitt after leading UMass to four straight seasons with a record over .500, including making the NCAA tournament during the 2021-22 season. UMass lost to Notre Dame in the first round of the event.
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Pitt was in desperate need of help when it hired Verdi. The team was coming off a 10-20 record, and hoped Verdi would be able to turn things around.
Under Verdi, however, the team proceeded to go 29-66 in three seasons, good for a .305 winning percentage. That figure was actually a slight improvement over former Pitt coach Lance White, who posted a .298 winning percentage in five seasons with the school.
Verdi’s firing comes just days after Pitt lost 93-43 to NC State. The loss — which shockingly wasn’t the worst in Pitt women’s basketball history — dropped the Panthers to 1-17 in conference play.
The firing also comes less than a month after Verdi was sued by six former players, who alleged Verdi led a hostile work environment and committed Title IX violations while at Pitt.
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In those lawsuits, players accused Verdi of “public humiliation, verbal degradation, arbitrary reductions in playing time, exclusion from team activities, favoritism of other players, manipulation of player statistics and inappropriate commentary regarding plaintiff’s physical appearance, emotional state and performance.” He was also accused of trying to create a racial divide among the team.
The players claimed that Verdi’s actions were reported to the university, which failed take action against the coach at the time.
