Sittler's Article

[Crimsontothecore]

Castiglione still hopeful Capel will make Sooner Nation proud

By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
Published: 3/25/2010 2:32 AM
Last Modified: 3/25/2010 2:37 AM

JOE CASTIGLIONE made a comment on April 11, 2006, that some feel could come back to haunt Oklahoma's athletic director.

It was on that date, when Castiglione introduced his hand-picked choice as the new men's basketball coach, that he described Jeff Capel to Sooner fans as "someone who's going to make all of you very, very proud."

Fast forward to nearly four years later. You think Castiglione would stand before the Sooner Nation today and make that same bold statement?

I do. Well, let me qualify that belief.

Castiglione might have to rework it a little bit to where he would say something like this: "If you hang in there with Jeff Capel during this rough patch, I know he's going to make all of you very, very proud ... again."

The Sooners' AD has declined to comment on the troubled times affecting Capel's program. Castiglione will eventually talk, once he has accumulated all the information and is convinced he has a complete grasp of the situation.

That reworked quote is merely an educated guess. It is, however, based on numerous conversations with Castiglione over the past four seasons concerning Capel.

Castiglione obviously wants Capel to succeed because he was the one-man search committee who selected him as the person best suited to clean up a program that was in shambles and headed for NCAA probation.

The confidence that Castiglione had in the then 31-year-old Capel was rewarded last season. Every OU supporter was proud of the Sooners when they
went 30-6, had the national player of the year in Blake Griffin and finished one win shy of the Final Four.

As the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen gets under way today, nobody would have predicted a year ago this week that Capel's program was headed for a train-wreck season that still seems out of control.

It started with a tension-filled 13-18 season. Then came a report that freshman forward Tiny Gallon received a $3,000 wire transfer from Jeffrey Hausinger, a financial adviser based in Florida.

The Tulsa World reported Tuesday that sophomore guard Willie Warren may also be linked to Hausinger. On Wednesday, Capel confirmed that starting freshman point guard Tommy Mason-Griffin and reserve sophomore guard Ray Willis are gone.

Speculation persists that the hits to OU's hoops program are going to keep coming. Depending on who you believe, Warren, Gallon and others could soon be ex-Sooners.

So why would Castiglione still believe in Capel's ability to run a team that competes in one of the country's toughest conferences?

Space doesn't allow me to list all the answers to that question. But the most important one is that I'm convinced Castiglione's confidence in Capel to have long-term success at OU hasn't wavered and he intends to strongly and fully support his beleaguered coach.

Castiglione acknowledged four years ago that people would question his hire of someone so young and inexperienced. He knew Capel would hit some bumps as he grew as a coach, but he couldn't foresee a perfect storm of events that has converged to throw the program into the ditch.

Some of Capel's inexperience as a recruiter backfired on him. When he signed Warren, Gallon and Mason-Griffin, he knew he was getting McDonald's All-Americans who also came in with some immature baggage that he was convinced he could handle and change.

Yesterday's news confirmed that he failed with Mason-Griffin. And it could get worse if Gallon and Warren decide to leave on their own, or are booted off the team.

Sources confirmed that Castiglione's staff is working feverishly to uncover the truth about the alleged wire transfer. That investigation could potentially leave the status of Gallon and Warren in limbo for awhile.

Some assume the NCAA's history suggests it will let a player off the hook if he repays the money like that which was allegedly deposited in a joint bank account Gallon shares with his mother.

That's a possibility. But don't assume Castiglione will automatically allow Gallon to stay. The OU AD has a "zero tolerance" policy when it comes to NCAA infractions.

Warren's future is anyone's guess. Warren's image as a malcontent didn't improve, and his NBA stock plummeted. The idea of Warren returning for his junior season doesn't seem far-fetched. It looks like Capel and Warren need to find a way to co-exist, because they desperately need each other to secure their futures.

Capel reportedly could sign up to four junior-college players. If he hits it big in the always risky business of junior college recruiting, hangs on to Warren and possibly Gallon, next season might not be the disaster many OU fans rightfully fear.

Capel said he's learned several lessons during these troubled times. Sources confirm he's professed that to Castiglione, has accepted total responsibility and "feels horrible" about his current predicament.

A huge positive Capel has going for him right now is that Castiglione understands the difficulties college coaches face when recruiting becomes a dirty, filthy, cheating business. Capel's boss also knows that even a coach committed to running his program above board can get burned if he misjudges the character of two or three key players.

"I have all the confidence that this is the right decision," Castiglione said when he introduced Capel. "I know it's the right decision for me."

In the coming weeks, look for Castiglione to proclaim he remains convinced Capel will soon make every Sooner very, very proud ... again.

Read Dave Sittler's blog at

tulsaworld.com/sportsextra
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/article.aspx?subjectid=202&articleid=20100325_202_B1_JOECAS940980

I'm sure Joe C. is more than aware that the problems of this magnitude can't be chalked up to "Inexperience" on the coaches part. First of all, this is NOT Capel's first stint as a head coach and there isn't a problem with just one or two players. Two players rumored to have received cash, at least three players with bad attitudes and poor work ethic. We are on the verge of losing 4 players for all the wrong reasons.
Sorry, but judging character is toward the top of the list in successful recruiting and while missing on one or two kids is acceptable, missing on dang near an entire class is not.

[fwsooner22]

I keep saying it.......if you are going to recruit the top flight AAU kid you have to pay the freight.....and that is against the rules of the NCAA.....take the time to go watch a top flight AAU tournament....there will be two in the OKC area this summer......it's scarry to watch the adults that are looking for a piece of the pie...I was told it takes $30,000 to get a top flight AAU kid to commit.....Until that situation is cleaned up nothing will change.

[cheezyq]

I'm sure Joe C. is more than aware that the problems of this magnitude can't be chalked up to "Inexperience" on the coaches part. First of all, this is NOT Capel's first stint as a head coach and there isn't a problem with just one or two players. Two players rumored to have received cash, at least three players with bad attitudes and poor work ethic. We are on the verge of losing 4 players for all the wrong reasons.
Sorry, but judging character is toward the top of the list in successful recruiting and while missing on one or two kids is acceptable, missing on dang near an entire class is not.

I'm on the fence here. At VCU, he didn't have access to the kind of athletes he has access to at a big-time school in a big-time conference. I imagine if he coached Duke, it'd be the same thing. Look at UNC and the 4 (FOUR?!?!?!) McD's AA's that they signed this year, and they didn't make the tourney, either. And RW is an experienced, successful (even if also a DBAG) coach.

I think Capel's attitude was that he had to take chances on talented but questionable character (not off-court, but on-court) athletes, and that his youth and personal identification with the college athlete would help him deal with the potential ego issues. He recruited guys who were mostly pristine off the court, but on the court exhibited some flashy selfish play, lazy defense, etc. I think he probably felt he could cure those guys of their selfishness and lazy defense.

Regardless, I think it's clear with these McD's AA all-stars lately that it's nearly impossible to be sure that they'll be useful to your program. The Blake Griffin's that are self-motivated, mature, hard-working, super-talented AND humble are nearly impossible to find. And even he was only around for 2 years.

I think this has been a HUGE learning experience for Capel. Having Blake delayed the learning process because he masked the problems through his own talent, work ethic, and leadership. So now we're seeing things that we probably would have seen before, and the delay has it all crumbling at once.

HOWEVER, what I DON'T understand is that Capel brought over a system and recruiting style that was very effective at VCU...and he was hired to bring that SAME system here. He was obviously good at judging the character of those guys, so it's hard to understand how he could whiff SO BADLY on SO MANY guys in his first 3-4 years here. To me it's clear that he changed his philosophy on acceptable player character traits in recruiting between then and now...so I wonder - will he be able to get back to the way he USED to run things, and will he be successful? Did successfully recruiting top 100 talent destroy his ability to judge character for the long-term?

I still like Capel and am willing to live through this learning experience...as long as it IS a learning experience and that it leads to recruiting players with better character and winning with talent AND hard work.

[soonervegas]

fwsooner is right. AAU is killing college basketball. Does anyone truly think someone like Calipari is running things above board at Kentucky? If you believe that, I have some exciting new offers I would like to talk to you about.

The NCAA infraction committee is a joke. They are too reactive. They need to get aggressive.....but as long as the money is rolling in....

[ndpruitt03]

Just about everyone is in AAU ball. Cade Davis played AAU and he was like a 2 star. If AAU was really killing college basketball teams like Kentucky would suck.

[Crimsontothecore]

I'm on the fence here. At VCU, he didn't have access to the kind of athletes he has access to at a big-time school in a big-time conference. I imagine if he coached Duke, it'd be the same thing. Look at UNC and the 4 (FOUR?!?!?!) McD's AA's that they signed this year, and they didn't make the tourney, either. And RW is an experienced, successful (even if also a DBAG) coach.

I think Capel's attitude was that he had to take chances on talented but questionable character (not off-court, but on-court) athletes, and that his youth and personal identification with the college athlete would help him deal with the potential ego issues. He recruited guys who were mostly pristine off the court, but on the court exhibited some flashy selfish play, lazy defense, etc. I think he probably felt he could cure those guys of their selfishness and lazy defense.

Regardless, I think it's clear with these McD's AA all-stars lately that it's nearly impossible to be sure that they'll be useful to your program. The Blake Griffin's that are self-motivated, mature, hard-working, super-talented AND humble are nearly impossible to find. And even he was only around for 2 years.

I think this has been a HUGE learning experience for Capel. Having Blake delayed the learning process because he masked the problems through his own talent, work ethic, and leadership. So now we're seeing things that we probably would have seen before, and the delay has it all crumbling at once.

HOWEVER, what I DON'T understand is that Capel brought over a system and recruiting style that was very effective at VCU...and he was hired to bring that SAME system here. He was obviously good at judging the character of those guys, so it's hard to understand how he could whiff SO BADLY on SO MANY guys in his first 3-4 years here. To me it's clear that he changed his philosophy on acceptable player character traits in recruiting between then and now...so I wonder - will he be able to get back to the way he USED to run things, and will he be successful? Did successfully recruiting top 100 talent destroy his ability to judge character for the long-term?

I still like Capel and am willing to live through this learning experience...as long as it IS a learning experience and that it leads to recruiting players with better character and winning with talent AND hard work.
Wow, this is probably the most spot-on opinion of the situation I've read so far. Well stated!
I guess I'm also willing to support Capel if this is just a bump in the road..but good heavens!...this is more like driving off a cliff than a bump in the road.

[badger]

HOWEVER, what I DON'T understand is that Capel brought over a system and recruiting style that was very effective at VCU...and he was hired to bring that SAME system here. He was obviously good at judging the character of those guys, so it's hard to understand how he could whiff SO BADLY on SO MANY guys in his first 3-4 years here. To me it's clear that he changed his philosophy on acceptable player character traits in recruiting between then and now...so I wonder - will he be able to get back to the way he USED to run things, and will he be successful? Did successfully recruiting top 100 talent destroy his ability to judge character for the long-term?

I still like Capel and am willing to live through this learning experience...as long as it IS a learning experience and that it leads to recruiting players with better character and winning with talent AND hard work.
Isn't this what ended up ending KS's Big Dance streak, that he started going for big name recruits instead of recruits that fit his system?

[stoopified]

I vividly recall Billy Tubbs having recruiting classes blow up on him due to character,academic ,and other assorted issues. I agree both with Joe C's decision to support Capel and Sittler's assessment of that support.

[Sooner04]

I vividly recall Billy Tubbs having recruiting classes blow up on him due to character,academic ,and other assorted issues. I agree both with Joe C's decision to support Capel and Sittler's assessment of that support.
Yeah, but that was after:

1 Final Four ('88)
2 Elite Eights ('85, '88)
4 Sweet Sixteens ('85, '87, '88, '89)
4 #1 seeds ('85, '88, '89, '90)

4 Big 8 Conference Championships ('84, '85, '88, '89)
3 Big 8 Tournament Titles ('85, '88, '90)

Billy had earned a little leeway by the time the Jones, Patterson and McCovery situation blew up in 1990. Capel's got to be able to remove the stigma that all of his success at OU is tied to one player.

Personally, I think Jeff would already be gone if he hadn't been hired by Castiglione.

[OUmillenium]

Yeah, but that was after:

1 Final Four ('88)
2 Elite Eights ('85, '88)
4 Sweet Sixteens ('85, '87, '88, '89)
4 #1 seeds ('85, '88, '89, '90)

4 Big 8 Conference Championships ('84, '85, '88, '89)
3 Big 8 Tournament Titles ('85, '88, '90)

Billy had earned a little leeway by the time the Jones, Patterson and McCovery situation blew up in 1990. Capel's got to be able to remove the stigma that all of his success at OU is tied to one player.

Personally, I think Jeff would already be gone if he hadn't been hired by Castiglione.

Can you shed some light on that situation? I was in HS at the time and this was one of my favorite OU teams. They were loaded with talent. Never heard any details on why those guys left other than "academics".

[Crimsontothecore]

Yeah, but that was after:

1 Final Four ('88)
2 Elite Eights ('85, '88)
4 Sweet Sixteens ('85, '87, '88, '89)
4 #1 seeds ('85, '88, '89, '90)

4 Big 8 Conference Championships ('84, '85, '88, '89)
3 Big 8 Tournament Titles ('85, '88, '90)

Billy had earned a little leeway by the time the Jones, Patterson and McCovery situation blew up in 1990. Capel's got to be able to remove the stigma that all of his success at OU is tied to one player.

Personally, I think Jeff would already be gone if he hadn't been hired by Castiglione.

I couldn't agree more. Tubbs 2 worst seasons were his first (9-18) and his last (15-13). He had at least 20 wins in each of his other 12 seasons. Comparing Capel's train wreck after 4 seasons to Tubbs is apples to oranges.
It also floors me to see people point to Roy Williams season at UNC in an effort to give Capel a pass. PLEASE! RW is a veteran coach with a slew of 30 win seasons under his belt not to mention final fours and a national title.
Capel is 82-51 in four seasons (62.1%) and has missed the big dance 50% of the time.
Sometimes the blind support I hear for Capel reminds me of the fans who were convinced John Blake was a good hire.

[Leroy Lizard]

To no one's surprise, I'm going to take a different tack.

OU is a football school, not a basketball school. I expect the basketball team to be competitive but, most importantly, not disgrace the university with dirty laundry.

I say we oust Capel. He brought players into the system that, in my opinion, have no business being at the university. To top it off, I think he's a lousy coach.

Just put five players on the court that have some talent (even if they're not superstars), have good character, do well in school, and understand teamwork and work ethics.

You probably won't win any championships, but you can still be competitive. And who knows? They might surprise us.

[Collier11]

fwsooner is right. AAU is killing college basketball. Does anyone truly think someone like Calipari is running things above board at Kentucky? If you believe that, I have some exciting new offers I would like to talk to you about.

The NCAA infraction committee is a joke. They are too reactive. They need to get aggressive.....but as long as the money is rolling in....

I dont think AAU is killing college bball, I think these "handlers" are what is killing college bball. They are the ones talking these players into meeting with agents, taking money, and telling them they are better than they are. Parents need to start stepping up and saying "youre going to school and youre going to play ball and youre going do it the right way"

[soonervegas]

I dont think AAU is killing college bball, I think these "handlers" are what is killing college bball. They are the ones talking these players into meeting with agents, taking money, and telling them they are better than they are. Parents need to start stepping up and saying "youre going to school and youre going to play ball and youre going do it the right way"


That is probably a better take on what I was trying to say. It's the circus surrounding AAU ball....

[fwsooner22]

I dont think AAU is killing college bball, I think these "handlers" are what is killing college bball. They are the ones talking these players into meeting with agents, taking money, and telling them they are better than they are. Parents need to start stepping up and saying "youre going to school and youre going to play ball and youre going do it the right way"


Basically, we agree. I don't blame AAU. I blame the moms and uncles and "friends". It's not going to stop. Please don't assume any of you know what's going on until you go to one of these events. It will turn your stomach if you are a basketball purist (or in my case just old school).

[cheezyq]

Isn't this what ended up ending KS's Big Dance streak, that he started going for big name recruits instead of recruits that fit his system?

Maybe, I remember getting guys with talent like Foust and McKenzie, and others, and that despite the talent, we ended up in the NIT one year. I'm sure I've got those players mixed up, but I imagine the correlation is probably similar.

[Collier11]

well part of KSs problems IMO is that he started recruiting up and down type athletes for a slow down system, they didnt fit

[Sooner04]

Kelvin missed the tournament one time ('04).

That team was young (Lavender, Foust, McKenzie).
That team was troubled (Brown booted for the wacky tobaccy).
That team was injured (Bookout, Detrick, Alexander).

That team finished at .500 in the Big 12 and was a victory over Texas in Dallas away from maybe sneaking into the Tournament. Looking back on it, that was one of Kelvin's better coaching efforts. If memory serves me correctly, I think De'Angelo Alexander started at center in the 2nd round NIT game.

[...sooner]

Kelvin missed the tournament one time ('04).

That team was young (Lavender, Foust, McKenzie).
That team was troubled (Brown booted for the wacky tobaccy).
That team was injured (Bookout, Detrick, Alexander).

That team finished at .500 in the Big 12 and was a victory over Texas in Dallas away from maybe sneaking into the Tournament. Looking back on it, that was one of Kelvin's better coaching efforts. If memory serves me correctly, I think De'Angelo Alexander started at center in the 2nd round NIT game.

i also remember alot of those guys being in trouble & transferring too.

lavender alexander & mckenzie-transfer
foust brown-trouble

[cheezyq]

To no one's surprise, I'm going to take a different tack.

OU is a football school, not a basketball school. I expect the basketball team to be competitive but, most importantly, not disgrace the university with dirty laundry.

I say we oust Capel. He brought players into the system that, in my opinion, have no business being at the university. To top it off, I think he's a lousy coach.

Just put five players on the court that have some talent (even if they're not superstars), have good character, do well in school, and understand teamwork and work ethics.

You probably won't win any championships, but you can still be competitive. And who knows? They might surprise us.

I'm sorry, but I can't agree with this at all.

#1, Capel's a young coach. We knew (or should have) that we'd have to put up with a learning curve of some sort. Granted, it's far worse than we expected, but I think what I said earlier is a reasonable explanation for what might have happened in this particular case. His learning curve could have been handicapped by perhaps the most talented, hardest working, superstar player that college has seen in a long time.

#2, Up to this point, I think Capel's been more than consistent on his off-court policy. You screw up, you leave...or you're benched. He hasn't tolerated academic issues, and didn't tolerate the only off-court criminal violation that I can think of during his tenure so far...the shoplifting incident earlier this year. Most of the character issues have been selfish and lazy play on the court...and that was primarily this year only. I agree that he probably misjudged a lot of players, or more specifically, misjudged his ability to get the BEST out of those types of players at the elite levels. But he has a history (previous to OU) that suggests he DOES know how to recruit good character players. He never had access to the WW/KG/TMG-style players at VCU. This is big-time ball in a big-time conference. It's an upgrade from where he was, and the players are different at this level.

#3, Until this year, we've all mostly agreed that he's been a good coach...or that he seems to be improving as a coach, and brought this team back from a pretty dark place after KS left. I don't think we can sit here and pin his entire OU legacy on ONE bad year, even as bad as this one was. Like I said before, Roy Williams at THE premier basketball school, in THE premier basketball conference, recruited 4 McD's AA players, in addition to the enormous amount of talent he already had, and STILL missed the NCAA. IMO, you gotta give a young coach still learning the ropes of big-time recruiting a little more slack, especially with all the egos running around high school and college basketball these days.

#4, Florida. Always been a football school. Always WILL be a football school. Won 2 NCAA Basketball championships. Texas is a football school. Oklahoma is a football school. Michigan and Ohio State are football schools. But all of those have built competitive and consistent basketball programs.

Even more specific, OU is a premier university, not just a "football school". It's silly to say that just because we've been historically successful at football that we should just be satisfied with putting an occasional basketball team together to make the tourney. That idea doesn't even compute with me. I expect nothing less than for OU to be elite in any sport. If we aren't working towards achieving elite status in every sport, ESPECIALLY football and basketball, then the AD needs to go. Period.

[C&CDean]

At this point I'd take one Eddie Najera for a dozen Willie Warrens. Give me one Cade Davis to 6 TMGs. One Kevin Bookout to 5 Tiny Gallons. One Ryan Minor to 25 shoplifting dumbasses. One Taylor Griffin to the whole ****ing team this past year with the exception of Cade.

I don't think Capel is a bad coach. I think he majorly ****ed up in the personalities he recruited. Just like Bob Stoops has done in football getting burned by going after all the 5-star talent, Capel has gotten fried going after all the burger boys. Find some kids who wanna play ball and then coach the hell out of them. I don't think a single player on the UNI team was ever a McD's boy.

[birddog]

At this point I'd take one Eddie Najera for a dozen Willie Warrens. Give me one Cade Davis to 6 TMGs. One Kevin Bookout to 5 Tiny Gallons. One Ryan Minor to 25 shoplifting dumbasses. One Taylor Griffin to the whole ****ing team this past year with the exception of Cade.

I don't think Capel is a bad coach. I think he majorly ****ed up in the personalities he recruited. Just like Bob Stoops has done in football getting burned by going after all the 5-star talent, Capel has gotten fried going after all the burger boys. Find some kids who wanna play ball and then coach the hell out of them. I don't think a single player on the UNI team was ever recruited by anyone.

fixed. good post

[...sooner]

At this point I'd take one Eddie Najera for a dozen Willie Warrens. Give me one Cade Davis to 6 TMGs. One Kevin Bookout to 5 Tiny Gallons. One Ryan Minor to 25 shoplifting dumbasses. One Taylor Griffin to the whole ****ing team this past year with the exception of Cade.

I don't think Capel is a bad coach. I think he majorly ****ed up in the personalities he recruited. Just like Bob Stoops has done in football getting burned by going after all the 5-star talent, Capel has gotten fried going after all the burger boys. Find some kids who wanna play ball and then coach the hell out of them. I don't think a single player on the UNI team was ever a McD's boy.

And Tony!