We are less than 12 days away from the tip-off of the new college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Pitt coach Jeff Capel, who talked about winning games in March/April and his expectations for this season.
As a senior at South View High School you made a last second lay-up to clinch a 1-PT win over South Mecklenburg in the 1993 state championship game: what did it mean to you to win a title? It was awesome! It was my final high school game after 3 great years: at that time, we did not start high school until 10th grade. To finally win it with that group and get the 1st title for Coach Ron Miller and accomplish our goal was an awesome feeling.
In the 1994 NCAA tourney as a freshman at Duke, you made it all the way to the title game and scored 14 PTS in a 4-PT loss to Arkansas: what is the key to winning games in March/April? You must be playing your best when you get to that moment and everything must be about the team. If you are lucky enough to make it that far then it means you are championship-caliber…but so are your opponents. You have done something to earn the right to be there, but sometimes a little luck is involved if there is a game where you are not at your best. In 2015 we won the title game at Duke thanks to a freshman named Grayson Allen who came in against Wisconsin and completely changed the game (www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_-vfaw1BwQ).
In February 1995 you made a 40-foot runner in OT against UNC to send it to double-OT, which remains 1 of the most memorable plays in school history (www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7XxZ8EoRbU): how did that shot change your life (if at all)? It did not change my life. That was a very hard season for us as players/coaches, as well as our fanbase. I went from coming within 1 minute of winning a title as a freshman in 1994 to being on 1 of the worst Duke teams in a long time the following year. As someone who grew up in ACC country and dreamed about playing in the ACC, it was cool to have a moment like that.
In 2010 you coached Team USA at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship: what did it mean to you to win a gold medal, and could you tell at the time that Kyrie Irving was going to become a star? It was great to be selected as head coach in 2010 after being an assistant to Jay Wright at the World University Games in 2005. We had not won a gold medal in a while at that age group, so it was cool that the tournament was here in the US (San Antonio). We had an outstanding staff: 1 of our court coaches was Brad Stevens and 1 of our managers was Koby Altman, which shows the basketball knowledge we had around us. Our starting backcourt was Austin Rivers and Kyrie, which was also pretty darn good! Kyrie was an outstanding talent, but I recall how humble he was. 1 day I was driving the team in a van to a restaurant and I overheard some guys talking in the back about who was going to get drafted #1. The only person who did not say anything was Kyrie, who was just laughing/smiling. When you just concentrate on trying to win/get better, good stuff will usually happen, like it did for Blake Griffin who I coached at Oklahoma before he was drafted 1st overall in 2009.
In 2011 you were hired as an assistant to your former coach Mike Krzyzewski: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? The 2010-11 season for me at Oklahoma was very difficult: it was my 1st-ever losing season after a bogus NCAA investigation that really hurt us, but I think we maxed out the talent that we had on that team. After getting fired I was looking forward to getting into TV, and even interviewed a couple of times at ESPN, but when Coach K called me there was no way I could say no. I became a head coach at age 27 (the youngest D-1 head coach at the time), but I learned so much from working with Coach K as well as his assistants including Chris Collins/Steve Wojciechowski. What made Coach K so unique was his willingness to adapt. He had unbelievable success for 4 decades, and you cannot have that kind of sustained excellence unless you are willing to change. He was a selfless leader, which permeated throughout the program.
In 2023 you were named conference COY at Pitt: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a lot because that team was very special. We had not had a winning season during my 1st 4 years: I thought that we “dropped the rope” in Year #4 and there was a lot of noise about whether I would remain coach, but the players believed in themselves and wanted to win at Pitt. They had a chip on their shoulders and when we faced adversity they stood up and fought back, which made us all better. Any time you win an award like that it is a program award, but after having that success and winning a couple of games in the NCAA tourney and making our mark, now the challenge is to try to sustain that.
Your non-conference schedule includes games against Penn State/Butler/Villanova/Oklahoma/DePaul/Missouri/West Virginia: is there any 1 game that you feel will be your biggest test or that you are most excited about? All of them will be challenging and we are excited for the opportunity. As a former player you always get excited to face great competition, and I hope we respond to the challenge so that it will prepare us for ACC play.
You brought in several great transfers this year including Naithan George from Syracuse/Baye Ndongo from Georgia Tech/A’lahn Sumler from Charleston Southern/Timofei Rudovskii from Bryant/Armani Mighty from Mercer: which of them has impressed you the most so far? They have all had impressive moments: Tim has not been cleared for 5-on-5 after a his foot injury last year but I have been impressed with the way he has attacked his rehab. We have to change our habits and be about the right things every day and have the right mindset about getting better.
Your father Jeff was coach at ODU/NC A&T and your brother Jason was a 2-time All-ACC player at North Carolina before becoming coach at Appalachian State and then your assistant for the past 8 years: who is the best coach in the family? My dad was the best coach, by far. My brother and I were fortunate to be part of basketball families at Duke/UNC: Jason was the last player to sign with Coach Dean Smith. My dad was part of an HBCU and worked his way up from a JV high school coach. His 1st college job paid him around $11,000/year, but he later made 3 NCAA tourneys during his 1st 5 years as head coach at ODU. If he had our background, he would have moved on from ODU very quickly, but he had success at every level.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Our goal is to be the best team we can be and get better every day, which will hopefully allow us to finish in the top half of the ACC and earn an NCAA tourney bid, but we need to have wins every day.
