Sorry to have not posted in a few day. Honestly, I just had nothing. As usual with Pitt and a coaching search, everything remains dark. Literally nothing really leaks. That creates this whole different kind of insanity where everyone rushes to fill the void with speculation, crazed sources, and general lunacy.
I couldn’t bring myself to add to the crazy. Plus, the week leading up to Passover and Easter tends to create extra chaos at home and work. So, my best option was to sit back wait.
And, hey. The wait is over.
“We are excited to announce Jeff Capel as our head men’s basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh,” said Lyke. “Coach Capel is a high-energy leader committed to being a part of our university and the city of Pittsburgh. He has a tremendous basketball pedigree and a strong track record of recruiting, developing and mentoring high-quality student-athletes. His relentless work ethic, passion for the game and clear vision of how to build a program capable of competing at the highest levels in the ACC and on the national stage are impressive. I look forward to our student-athletes, fans, donors and the Oakland Zoo getting to know Coach Capel and his family and watching this program flourish under his direction.”
Capel has spent the past seven seasons at Duke University, including the past four seasons as associate head coach under Mike Krzyzewski. In seven seasons at Duke, he has helped guide the Blue Devils to a 200-55 (.784) record, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, the 2017 ACC Tournament championship and the 2015 National Championship. In that time, Capel has also helped secure commitments from 19 McDonald’s All-Americans as Duke has signed a top-two class in each of the past five years, including the top class in 2014, 2015 and 2018.
“I am honored to be named the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball program,” said Capel. “Pitt has a great tradition of success and I look forward to putting together a staff and team that will enable us to build on that tradition. As a lifelong Steelers fan, I know Pittsburgh as the ‘City of Champions’ and our goal from day one will be to recruit, coach and develop champions on the court, in the classroom and in the community.”
Prior to his return to Duke, Capel had successful head coaching stints at the University of Oklahoma (2007-11) and Virginia Commonwealth University (2003-06). He led the Sooners to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight run in 2009 with National Player of the Year and future NBA No. 1 overall selection Blake Griffin. In four seasons at VCU, Capel led the Rams to 79 wins with a .694 winning percentage in conference play.
Overall, he has 175 wins as a head coach and has mentored 13 NBA first round draft picks, including six lottery picks.
Capel has also played a prominent role with USA Basketball as a member of Krzyzewski’s staff with the U.S. National Team and as head coach of the gold-medal winning USA team at the 2010 FIBA Americas Championship.
“My lifelong journey around the game of basketball has taught me to surround yourself with great people that you believe in,” said Capel. “My meetings with Director of Athletics Heather Lyke and Chancellor Gallagher made a huge impact in the decision process. I was thoroughly impressed with their vision for the University of Pittsburgh, the athletic department and our program. I look forward to building outstanding relationships with the leadership team at Pitt as well as with the numerous individuals who will help shape our program.”
Duke, of course, was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament late on Sunday afternoon. Less then 48 hours later, he is Pitt’s head coach. Why, it almost seems like there was a back-up plan to Hurley. But, Pitt had to wait.
The first thing people talk about with Capel is his recruiting. Whether as an assistant or head coach, he has been an outstanding recruiter of talent.
How did Capel get here? The son of the late Jeff Capel II, who presided over North Carolina A&T and Old Dominion during his own coaching career, the new Panthers’ head coach racked up over 1,500 points during his college playing days at Duke during the mid-1990s. From there, Capel worked his way up the assistant coaching ladder at ODU and VCU.
His breakthrough came in 2004 at VCU where he was given the reigns of the programs as he took it to the NCAA Tournament in the second year on the job. Winning 18 games or more each season during his four-year stay in Richmond, Oklahoma named Capel as its head coach as he the turned the program around, taking it to the NCAA Tournament in his second season in Norman.
While not implicated in the NCAA investigation into the case, Capel was relieved of his duties as the head coach at OU in 2011 when his team went 14-18 season and an assistant committed two NCAA violations.
Returning to Duke, the marriage between Capel and the Blue Devils worked for both ends. Capel was able to revitalize his career as an ace recruiter while the program was able to succeed in today’s reliance on one-and-done talent.
Capel has been the lead for landing Justice Winslow, Jahlil Okafor, Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett and Marvin Bagley III, each highly regarded five-star prospects. While he will be forced to sell a different program and brand, his tutelage under a legendary head coach and eight years spent comprehending what he could do better the next time that he received the chance should make Capel’s chances of success at Pitt that much better.
Will he be bringing one-and-done talent to Pitt? Maybe in a couple years, but not immediately. There’s a lot of work to be done to get Pitt in a position where he can go after that kind of talent. There has to be a supporting cast. Players around the talent. Otherwise you are Oklahoma with Trae Young and not much else.
The first thing Capel will have to do is decide who is coming back. Almost the entire team, along with the recruiting class, asked for and were granted their release if they wish to transfer. That was what should happen. The risk for the players is that it also means Pitt and Capel do not have to accept the players back if they find their options limited and/or Capel decides there is a better option.
Jared Wilson-Frame has already announced he will return — which should not be a surprise since he was a JUCO transfer with only one year of eligibility remaining. Malik Ellison will be eligible next year. Ryan Luther will be back from injury (whether he stays healthy is anyone’s guess).
The priority for Pitt as far as trying to retain players who asked for releases would primarily be Parker Stewart, Shamiel Stevenson, Terrell Brown and Khameron Davis. After that, it is probably 50-50.
Personally, I’m not that enthused about Marcus Carr — too many turnovers, bad defensively, inconsistent shooting and really struggled when the competition level jumped to ACC conference games. But Pitt probably would like to have a couple point guards.
Much more to talk about, but now everyone can breathe. And, maybe it opens the door for a little talk about spring football.
UPDATE (4:02): Shamiel Stevenson is staying.
Pitt is special – We are Family. Most other Universities cannot say that.
I truly believe that the previous head coach did not have that same philosophy – Pitt was just another job to him, nothing more or less, and that is what most of us picked up on. We all felt on some emotional level he was not the right hire, was not a part of the family from the start (but he could easily have changed that perception during his first summer here if he had chosen too). He paid lip service to it, but GHer’s know the difference, and can instinctively tell when someone is mouthing the words but there is no real emotion or commitment behind them.
Coach Capel on the other hand is sincere and is going the extra mile to prove he and his wife and kids want to be a part of our family, want to be here and contribute to the community, not just to the BBall program.
Will he succeed? Maybe not on the court in the long run – though I figure the odds are very good he will – but as far as showing us that he wants to embrace the University, the City and the people of Western PA and become one of us he has already succeeded.
Good Luck and Godspeed Coach Capel… and btw, BEAT DUKE!!!!!!
H2P
Capel is a media darling. He is VERY well spoken and knows shat to say in pressure situations when it matters… and that’s IMPORTANT. We all saw what happened when a guy who didn’t have that ability to handle the media was given the job. I have always maintained that one of the BEST things about Dixon was the face that he put on Pitt basketball. How he turned it into something that no one had to be ashamed of. it went beyond wins and losses – he was a spokesman for the game. It wasn’t just about Pitt basketball – it was about basketball in general. Between Dixon and Howland, they made basketball relevant in Pittsburgh. You can’t put a price on that. People WANT to talk to Capel. He’s the interview of the moment. Everyone knows who he is. Keep your ears open over the next few years – coach K will be talking about him Everyone is going to want a piece of him… and if he starts winning…. hold on to your ass.
But he does have to win. And I think he will. IMO this is the best Pitt hire since Sherrill. I’m not kidding – I like the ‘Duz – I think we’re going to see very good things from him… in time. Howland was a GREAT hire – a moon shot, but a GREAT hire, and Dixon was the result of fortuitous circumstances. But Capel? Pitt actually HIRED Capel. They pursued him and locked him down. When was the last time that Pitt blew your mind in a GOOD way??? But yeah… he still has to win. And it might not be next year – and we all have to accept that. And it might not be the year after that either. We have to be willing to accept that this program was about as low as it could go. But i do think Capel has the potential to start making some noise in year three. I think we’ll start seeing the improvements next year. I can see year two with some of us biting our mails and maybe even hoping against hope for a bubble bid. And it might not happen – and that’s OK. There’s some honest to goodness enthusiasm around Pitt right now for all the right reasons.
Enjoy it!
It can always be worse. Always.
That’s Nut($)ting!
Sorry, I truly thought you might be a troll and we would never hear from you again. I rarely read the other blog. I have been posting on Chas’s site since 2003 & I came to that conclusion because I saw a name posting that I didn’t recognize supporting a coach that seemed to me to be “mailing it in” from day 1 and was as unpopular with, well basically everyone.
The is the good old USA & sure you can have any opinion you want and say it publicly. However when you voice an opinion publicly and that opinion is perceived by 95% of people to be flat out wrong you should expect to be called out on it. The rest of us here in the USA have the same right to free speech.
BTW most Russians also feel that Stallings needed to go as well. Good luck comrade.