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View Full Version : Hadn't Seen This One About Capel Posted Yet



Scott D
3/15/2007, 08:43 AM
Thought it was a pretty good story.


Capel Watching as Alma Mater, Former Team Clash

Mar 15, 3:22 AM (ET)

By HANK KURZ Jr.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -He wore the royal blue and white of Duke, but recruited the guys who will be wearing black and gold and trying to beat the Blue Devils on Thursday.

Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel views with humor the first-round NCAA tournament matchup pitting the Virginia Commonwealth team he recruited against his alma mater.

"Well, they got what they want," he said in a telephone interview Wednesday from Oklahoma, where his Sooners finished 16-15 and without a postseason invitation.

It's a matchup the Rams clamored for when Capel was their coach, and one he knew would never happen because Duke's Mike Krzyzewski loathes coaching against his players.

Now, he plans to watch with reasons to root for both teams.

"I can't lose," he said. "I'm rooting for VCU and the players there, and I'm rooting for the coaches at Duke."

First-year VCU coach Anthony Grant has often commended Capel for the character and work ethic and talent of the team he left behind, and Capel accepts the complements with grace. But, he said, it's unfair to consider the Rams his guys.

"That's Anthony's team," he said.

Which is not to say he doesn't still feel strong connections. There have been a few conversations with some of the players this year, and a few exchanged text messages.

"I'm really, really excited for them," he said of the Rams. "I'm proud of them for what they've been able to accomplish so far and excited about the possibilities.

For Rams senior starting guards B.A. Walker and Jesse Pellot-Rosa, this will be the second trip to the NCAA tournament as Colonial Athletic Association champs. They also made it in 2004, losing 79-78 to fourth-seeded Wake Forest in Raleigh, N.C.

As well as anyone, Capel knows what it took them to get back.

"They've worked hard, individually and collectively as a group," he said. "Anthony's come in and done a tremendous job taking the program to another level. I think it's a testament to the hard work and character of the guys in that program."

And to Capel, who will watch from afar as they chase a dream he once shared.

"It's a really great group of young people that wanted to come there and be a part of something bigger than them," he said. "They have an opportunity to beat the premier college basketball program in the country, probably the most recognizable name in the country, the most recognizable coach in the country. They have a tremendous opportunity, and I know those guys are going to be ready to take advantage of it."

Capel is not the only one being pulled in two directions by the matchup.

Gerald Henderson ranks as one of VCU's career scoring leaders, and followed his college career in the mid-1970s by spending 13 more seasons playing as a guard in the NBA. But while Henderson would seem a natural to pull hard for the Rams, there's the small matter of his son and namesake, who is a freshman for Krzyzewski's Blue Devils.

"He was real excited when he heard we were playing them," the younger Henderson said Wednesday. "He said, 'Good luck, but they're known to have good guards there at VCU.' That was something funny. But he's excited that we're playing his alma mater."

Henderson told the Richmond Times-Dispatch it will be hard to pull for his alma mater when his son is playing for the other team, but it will get easy once it's over.

"I'll be pulling the rest of the way for whichever team wins," he said.

Cam
3/15/2007, 08:56 PM
"That's Anthony's team," he said.
That quote says a lot about Capel's character IMO.

Rogue
3/15/2007, 09:05 PM
How long was he at VCU?

Cam
3/15/2007, 09:14 PM
How long was he at VCU?
2002-06

Big Red Ron
3/15/2007, 09:25 PM
How long was he at VCU?they almost beat wake forrest in 2004.

King Crimson
3/15/2007, 09:31 PM
Wake was a 4 seed that year, i think i read earlier today. 68-67 or something, one point game IIRC.

Big Red Ron
3/15/2007, 09:34 PM
Wake was a 4 seed that year, i think i read earlier today. 68-67 or something, one point game IIRC.Just imagine if Capel had won that game. He might be IU's new coach.;)

King Crimson
3/15/2007, 09:36 PM
hey, don't drag me into this. I liked Kelvin, but it was time for a change on our end and his.

i think we'll be about the same as this year next year.....but i like where we are going.

Big Red Ron
3/15/2007, 09:53 PM
hey, don't drag me into this. I liked Kelvin, but it was time for a change on our end and his.

i think we'll be about the same as this year next year.....but i like where we are going.Hey don't read too much into what I'm saying. I'm mostly kidding around anyways but my point is that if he'd won that game he'd of been at the top of alot of coaching lists.

BigRedJed
3/15/2007, 10:38 PM
That guy's a class act. As much as I defend Kelvin on here, I'm damn glad to have Capel, just based on the intensity and class that I've seen from him fo far, and think there's an excellent chance he'll end up being a brilliant hire.

BigRedJed
3/15/2007, 10:40 PM
And, BTW, as much as I defend Kelvin, I also have never said that it might not have been a good change for both he and OU.

That said, don't let me turn this into a Sampson thread. Let's love on OU's current head basketball coach, the guy we should be focusing on these days anyway.

OSUAggie
3/15/2007, 10:51 PM
Was that how VCU played under Capel or is that just Anthony Grant's style (I assume it's Grant's, since he's a Donovan guy)?

King Crimson
3/15/2007, 10:55 PM
Was that how VCU played under Capel or is that just Anthony Grant's style (I assume it's Grant's, since he's a Donovan guy)?

they run the same 3/4 court trap we run. but, believe what you want to believe.

OSUAggie
3/15/2007, 10:58 PM
You guys don't run it all night, though... Is that just a matter of having the horses? Just trying to figure out if OU, in the coming years, will be running a mixture of D, like this year, or something closer to the way VCU played tonight...

King Crimson
3/15/2007, 11:19 PM
You guys don't run it all night, though... Is that just a matter of having the horses? Just trying to figure out if OU, in the coming years, will be running a mixture of D, like this year, or something closer to the way VCU played tonight...

i don't know the answer to that. i do know that we don't score enough to set up the press....to run it more than in situations. we closed on KU pretty hard in the second half in Norman running that quasi-diamond press. just couldn't get over the hump and KU was in the double bonus the last 5 minutes.

stoopified
3/15/2007, 11:44 PM
Good article.

tommieharris91
3/16/2007, 12:16 AM
That quote says a lot about Capel's character IMO.

At least we know he's not John Blake.

Big Red Ron
3/16/2007, 01:22 AM
i don't know the answer to that. i do know that we don't score enough to set up the press....to run it more than in situations. we closed on KU pretty hard in the second half in Norman running that quasi-diamond press. just couldn't get over the hump and KU was in the double bonus the last 5 minutes.Yep, and when we have the horses. we're gonna be tought to beat.

IronHorseSooner
3/16/2007, 07:34 AM
To have a good press, you need a mobile big man (6'8" or bigger). We had a hard time just having a big man on the court. We will have the guards and wing men to run a good press; however, it will be how guys like Moose and Blake catch on to it. The future of the program will hinge on just how much those guys progress and learn on the defensive end. BTW, how many more years of eligibility will Moose have?