‘I want more’: Jeff Capel displays the benefits of patience in college basketball

In a college basketball landscape filled with NET rankings, NIL, the transfer portal and constant coaching movements, what’s lost is a program’s ability to build and rebuild. And rebuilding is exactly what head coach Jeff Capel and Athletic Director Heather Lyke have done for Pitt men’s basketball.

Tuesday night marked Pitt’s second consecutive 20-win season. That is a feat the Panthers haven’t achieved in over a decade, dating back to when Jamie Dixon was their head coach. Capel attributes the program turnaround to the support around him.

“To me, that’s a testament to Heather [Lyke], [former] Chancellor [Patrick] Gallagher, the Board of Trustees, our staff and the guys that we’ve been able to recruit,” Capel said. “We’ve taken a lot of lumps, but we’ve continued to show up.”

In their 11th season in the ACC, the Panthers are finally reaching the potential that Lyke saw in Capel when she brought him to the program back in 2018. 

“Early on, a wise friend of mine told me that you need five characteristics in hiring anyone — integrity, character, culture, work ethic and talent — in that order,” Lyke said at Capel’s introductory press conference in 2018. “And we found those characteristics in Jeff.”

But the start of Capel’s tenure is well documented as a struggle. Not only did the Panthers struggle on the court, but they struggled off the court. In Capel’s first season, the Panthers started 5-0 but finished 14-19. All in all, the Panthers failed to eclipse a winning record — or even a neutral record — in Capel’s first four seasons.

Off the court, the Panthers saw multiple in-season transfers, multiple players facing criminal trouble and an overall lack of team chemistry. To say Capel entered 2022 on the hot seat is an understatement.

But out of nowhere, Capel turned it around. With a roster of three returning players in 2022, Pitt somehow sparked off a 24-win season, highlighted by two NCAA tournament victories. 

Obviously, with such a great season, there were higher expectations for Capel and the Panthers heading into the season. But once again, off-the-court issues affected the Panthers. 

A prominent — but troubling — guard being dismissed from the team about a month before the season made a light backcourt even lighter. Along with a season-ending injury to four-star first-year center Papa Amadou Kante, a promising Pitt season seemed to evaporate into thin air.

This feeling worsened when the Panthers started 1-5 in ACC play. 2022-23 seemed like a fluke, and the Panthers were reverting back to the Panthers from Capel’s first four seasons.

But then again, out of nowhere, Capel turned it around. Pitt sparked off huge upsets over Duke and Virginia en route to winning 10 of 13 games. Capel acknowledged the Panthers’ resiliency in their season turnaround.

“It would’ve been very easy for all of us to walk away or to give into it,” Capel said. “But we continued to show up. I’ve had unbelievable support.”

The Panthers’ 20th win of the season came off Florida State and head coach Leonard Hamilton. Hamilton began coaching the Seminoles in 2002 and is the longest-tenured coach in the ACC. Hamilton had high praise for Capel’s turnaround despite college basketball’s current landscape.

“I’m so happy for Jeff that people have been patient with him,” Hamilton said. “[Coaching] is not an easy thing to do. This is not easy. Programs don’t get to fix themselves up overnight, but there’s an atmosphere in college athletics that you’re supposed to be able to fix it immediately. They are reaping the benefits of supporting [Capel].”

As of now, Pitt sits on the NCAA tournament bubble, needing a win against NC State and a successful showing in the ACC tournament to push them in. But regardless of how the season finishes, Capel has cemented himself as the leader of the Pitt men’s basketball program for the foreseeable future. 

Hamilton sees bright things ahead for the Panthers.

“Before too long,” Hamilton said, “you’re going to see [Pitt] being one of the top programs in the country.”

As for Capel, he is happy where the program is, but knows there’s more to accomplish.

“First time in a decade is pretty cool,” Capel said. “But I want more.”