I have noticed a ton of dialogue about the world of college basketball recruiting and cheating, etc. I've also noticed a very clear message being delivered by those involved. So I just wanted to share my thoughts on the situation. Let's start out with two things that I think we can all agree on.
- Jeff Capel is a smart guy. He knows what he is doing. He landed Blake Griffin, Tiny Gallon, Willie Warren, Andrew Fitzgerald, Tommy Mason-Griffin, Cam Clark, etc. at Oklahoma. At Duke, he went on to one of the best recruiting runs we have ever seen. I understand that it is Duke and that it should be easy, but it is all relative. Duke did not recruit as well before Capel, and have not recruited as well since he left. There is no debate. Capel was literally the biggest thorn in the side to Calipari, Self, Williams, etc. Complete game changer. My point here, is that Jeff Capel can flat out recruit. He understands how to recruit. He did it at a mid level high major basketball school, and then he literally took Duke to another level at the highest level. Nothing in recruiting has changed since. Really, nothing has changed in a long time. The same things that were true 40 years ago are still true today. Have things changed a bit? Sure. But the same principles and strategy are still there. Think we can agree that there is nothing in college basketball recruiting that Jeff Capel does not know or is not aware of.
- The other thing we know for sure is that schools and coaches cheat in recruiting. Daily. It has been the case for 30+ years. As long as I have been alive. Maybe there is some more risk to it now because the kids are changing their minds more often and transferring. So maybe an investment does not get you what it used to as far as certainty. There are also a million ways to skirt the rules. Not always cash. I know that is the common one, but there are a lot of other ways - such as jobs, future promises, etc. We all know it happens, it is not a secret. We also know that the NCAA rarely ever gets involved and tries to discourage it. At all. For a school that is not going to play the game, it is what it is. It has been this way for a long time. There is no compliance hotline that you can just call and get a competitor in trouble. It just doesn't exist. So if you are no in that arena, you have to find another way. The good news is, there are probably ~90% of the kids out there that are not receiving any benefits. I have no idea what the actual number is, but maybe it is 80-85%. Somewhere in that neighborhood. Point is, there are a lot of quality players that are not getting any benefits. Also, those kids are the ones that are most likely to stay at a school and not come in with issues. Does it make things tougher? Maybe a little, but the good news is that we have seen a consistent winner can be built with the right kids.
Which brings us to the Reid situation. The problem is not losing Reid to LSU. The issue seems to come with not realizing you were in the deep end. We have all heard that Pitt developed a very strong relationship with the Reid family over the course of several years. So, they were apparently as close to this family as anyone, but had no idea that additional benefits would be involved? When the competition was LSU, Overtime/professional options, and several other high major schools backed out. To me, that is the problem. Unless the family literally never gave off a hint of that vibe for several years, and then completely changed their stance on Friday night. I don't know. None of us were involved in that relationship. From the outside, it just felt like this thing was headed in one direction.
Again, I can go down to the Bentley dealership in Wexford and look around. It will just be a complete waste of my time, as I cannot afford a Bentley. Or maybe I could, but it is not a wise investment.
The question that a lot of people have is why is it such a struggle at Pitt? That is the complicated question. Of course the state of the program when he took over is a part of it. A huge part. This program was in the ground from a national perspective. He had to pull some of the dirt out before he could even start pulling it out. The other part would be that it is just flat out more challenging to recruit to Pitt than Duke or one of the blue bloods. That is also not debatable. The question is, how much more difficult? And why is it any more difficult than the other non blue bloods?
When Jeff Capel has been his best, and the reason that he was hired at Pitt, he has recruited at a high level. That was what he was hired for. We have not seen him win with less. Maybe at VCU, but that is a great job in that conference and his youth, name, personality, etc. was enough. This is another level of challenge. After seeing what he did at Duke, I kind of feel like someone pulled out a very successful investor at a hedge fund and asked him to take over an accounting role. Like almost any hire that a school like Pitt is going to make, it was a projection. In this case, it seems like the projection was for Capel to win playing a different style. Winning with less talented kids. Thus far, it has been a challenge and it remains to be seen if it can be done. Starting this year really, it will be a new challenge for Capel and his staff to win and improve with this new style of kid. The egos and headaches seem to be gone. Some of the higher ranked kids that he did get are gone. To me, it feels like a reset in year four, in a lot of ways. I think it took him a couple of years to feel out the situation and learn. But long story short, it seems like the biggest selling point in his hire has been taken away from him here.
Sorry for all of the analogies and rambling, but that is just how I feel about things and where I stand. I don't care where you are coaching, there are no excuses at this level. This is not a middle school program that resides in an area with no talent or focus on basketball. This is basically the big leagues. The salary is there for the head coach and his staff to figure it out. Pitt is not the only school trying to do things the right away and dealing with transfers and COVID. Heather has invested in this big time. Again, there are no excuses in the ACC. Maybe this was the wake up call to completely shift the focus and reset the plan of Pitt basketball for this staff. Jeff Capel is young and the HC and AD are aligned and invested.
- Jeff Capel is a smart guy. He knows what he is doing. He landed Blake Griffin, Tiny Gallon, Willie Warren, Andrew Fitzgerald, Tommy Mason-Griffin, Cam Clark, etc. at Oklahoma. At Duke, he went on to one of the best recruiting runs we have ever seen. I understand that it is Duke and that it should be easy, but it is all relative. Duke did not recruit as well before Capel, and have not recruited as well since he left. There is no debate. Capel was literally the biggest thorn in the side to Calipari, Self, Williams, etc. Complete game changer. My point here, is that Jeff Capel can flat out recruit. He understands how to recruit. He did it at a mid level high major basketball school, and then he literally took Duke to another level at the highest level. Nothing in recruiting has changed since. Really, nothing has changed in a long time. The same things that were true 40 years ago are still true today. Have things changed a bit? Sure. But the same principles and strategy are still there. Think we can agree that there is nothing in college basketball recruiting that Jeff Capel does not know or is not aware of.
- The other thing we know for sure is that schools and coaches cheat in recruiting. Daily. It has been the case for 30+ years. As long as I have been alive. Maybe there is some more risk to it now because the kids are changing their minds more often and transferring. So maybe an investment does not get you what it used to as far as certainty. There are also a million ways to skirt the rules. Not always cash. I know that is the common one, but there are a lot of other ways - such as jobs, future promises, etc. We all know it happens, it is not a secret. We also know that the NCAA rarely ever gets involved and tries to discourage it. At all. For a school that is not going to play the game, it is what it is. It has been this way for a long time. There is no compliance hotline that you can just call and get a competitor in trouble. It just doesn't exist. So if you are no in that arena, you have to find another way. The good news is, there are probably ~90% of the kids out there that are not receiving any benefits. I have no idea what the actual number is, but maybe it is 80-85%. Somewhere in that neighborhood. Point is, there are a lot of quality players that are not getting any benefits. Also, those kids are the ones that are most likely to stay at a school and not come in with issues. Does it make things tougher? Maybe a little, but the good news is that we have seen a consistent winner can be built with the right kids.
Which brings us to the Reid situation. The problem is not losing Reid to LSU. The issue seems to come with not realizing you were in the deep end. We have all heard that Pitt developed a very strong relationship with the Reid family over the course of several years. So, they were apparently as close to this family as anyone, but had no idea that additional benefits would be involved? When the competition was LSU, Overtime/professional options, and several other high major schools backed out. To me, that is the problem. Unless the family literally never gave off a hint of that vibe for several years, and then completely changed their stance on Friday night. I don't know. None of us were involved in that relationship. From the outside, it just felt like this thing was headed in one direction.
Again, I can go down to the Bentley dealership in Wexford and look around. It will just be a complete waste of my time, as I cannot afford a Bentley. Or maybe I could, but it is not a wise investment.
The question that a lot of people have is why is it such a struggle at Pitt? That is the complicated question. Of course the state of the program when he took over is a part of it. A huge part. This program was in the ground from a national perspective. He had to pull some of the dirt out before he could even start pulling it out. The other part would be that it is just flat out more challenging to recruit to Pitt than Duke or one of the blue bloods. That is also not debatable. The question is, how much more difficult? And why is it any more difficult than the other non blue bloods?
When Jeff Capel has been his best, and the reason that he was hired at Pitt, he has recruited at a high level. That was what he was hired for. We have not seen him win with less. Maybe at VCU, but that is a great job in that conference and his youth, name, personality, etc. was enough. This is another level of challenge. After seeing what he did at Duke, I kind of feel like someone pulled out a very successful investor at a hedge fund and asked him to take over an accounting role. Like almost any hire that a school like Pitt is going to make, it was a projection. In this case, it seems like the projection was for Capel to win playing a different style. Winning with less talented kids. Thus far, it has been a challenge and it remains to be seen if it can be done. Starting this year really, it will be a new challenge for Capel and his staff to win and improve with this new style of kid. The egos and headaches seem to be gone. Some of the higher ranked kids that he did get are gone. To me, it feels like a reset in year four, in a lot of ways. I think it took him a couple of years to feel out the situation and learn. But long story short, it seems like the biggest selling point in his hire has been taken away from him here.
Sorry for all of the analogies and rambling, but that is just how I feel about things and where I stand. I don't care where you are coaching, there are no excuses at this level. This is not a middle school program that resides in an area with no talent or focus on basketball. This is basically the big leagues. The salary is there for the head coach and his staff to figure it out. Pitt is not the only school trying to do things the right away and dealing with transfers and COVID. Heather has invested in this big time. Again, there are no excuses in the ACC. Maybe this was the wake up call to completely shift the focus and reset the plan of Pitt basketball for this staff. Jeff Capel is young and the HC and AD are aligned and invested.
