First-year coach plays long game at Pitt

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Jeff Capel considered the quick fix, one that would provide Pittsburgh with at least a temporary sense of relief following its freefall to the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Shortly after being hired to resuscitate the floundering program in April after two nightmarish seasons under Kevin Stallings, Capel scoured the list of graduate transfers, wondering if bringing in a handful of proven players with a year or two of eligibility remaining would be the most direct path to returning the Panthers to respectability.

“Do you want it to happen fast? You do,” Capel said. “Look, I want it to happen fast. But you have to understand you have to take the proper steps and do it the right way and that’s what we’ve tried to do.”

Ultimately, Capel took a different tack. While Pitt did add former New Mexico State guard Sidy N’Dir to a group coming off an 8-24 season that included an 0-19 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Capel kept his focus on the bigger picture. He signed three guards last spring — freshmen Xavier Johnson, Trey McGoverns and Au’Diese Toney — believing their potential far outweighs the short-term growing pains he knows will come.

“With the guys that decided to stay, with what we’ve done this spring and summer, I think we’ve gotten better,” Capel said.

Good thing, because there’s nowhere to go but up. Pitt cratered during Stallings’ brief tenure, one marked by significant player turnover and an inability for Stallings to connect with a fan base skeptical of his hire from the start.

Capel’s arrival after spending the last seven seasons as Mike Krzyzewski’s top assistant at Duke was met a decidedly more optimistic response. Season ticket orders are up even if the process of returning Petersen Events Center to its former perch as one of the most difficult arenas to visit in the country will take time. Perhaps lots of it.

That’s fine by Capel. In fact, it’s one of the reasons he opted to take the job. In a way, the 43-year-old is starting from scratch too. He spent a decade as a head coach in his late-20s and early-30s, leading Virginia Commonwealth and then Oklahoma to the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners reached the Elite Eight behind star Blake Griffin in 2009.

The Panthers host Youngstown State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Petersen Events Center.