It seems everyone wants to know what's going on with this recruiting class, and in short - nobody knows right now. None of the national guys know and people that cover Pitt specifically don't know either. It's been a guess for everyone this whole time. Everyone has been making assumptions about this class, but in short nobody knows outside of Jeff Capel himself. That's the reality.
So what's the issue? I mean we can look at the following:
A) Jeff Capel isn't a good recruiter
B) The assistant aren't either
C) Pitt's overall brand as a program is more damaged than people realize
D) Some people generally expected too much of Capel right away
E) Capel didn't know how tough this would be to turnaround a whole program
F) Capel overshot on some kids and wasted time on kids he wasn't going to land in year one.
OR
G) He's not panicking, the recruiting class comes together after the season, and everything will turn out fine for Pitt.
Some of those things I mentioned above are obviously not true, but if you want to dissect what's going on, maybe it is one of those things. When you have zero recruits, anything is on the table, I suppose.
I've been pretty steadfast that Jeff Capel will sign a decent class in 2019, but 2020 and beyond will be when he takes in some better classes and really elevates the program. I never expected the Fab-5 to come in here in year one. Capel came here as an assistant, not a head coach. He's a good recruiter, but he was recruiting at Duke. There's a difference. And Pitt's in worse shape than many realize or will admit. So I think the expectations some had for Capel were based more on hope, than in reality. I think the FSU/Louisville upsets really accelerated where Pitt really was perception wise, but they've come back to earth of late.
It's still going to be hard to turn this around quickly, it's going to take some work. Capel has said as much He's said he's willing to roll up his sleeves and take the time and put in the hard work to turn Pitt around. That's why he was given a 7 year deal to start with, because it's not an overnight endeavor.
So like we've said a few times:
1) We know about Gerald Drumgoole, Christian Brown, Karim Coulibaly etc. in 2019. Those are some of the names, and there's going to be more over time.
2) We know they will look to reclassify some kids, but again, those names aren't always known right now. The Champagnie twins perhaps, but other than that...who knows? It's too early.
3) We know they will look at grad transfers, and you won't know those names until later.
4) We know they will look at JuCo's, and again, those are options that develop later.
So most of the kids they may look to, aren't even known commodities to us yet. I'm sure Capel has a big board of ideas, however. He's not going into April blind.
I've said before, it's worth being concerned with the state of recruiting right now, they've missed on a lot of players. It is what it is, no way to sugarcoat that. But I also think Capel is a pretty good coach and recruiter.
So if I were a betting man, I'd bet Jeff Capel will have a better roster next season than he has for this season. I'd bet he has a player or two up his sleeve that we don't know about. And I bet the 2020 recruiting class will be better than the 2019 class.
So what's the issue? I mean we can look at the following:
A) Jeff Capel isn't a good recruiter
B) The assistant aren't either
C) Pitt's overall brand as a program is more damaged than people realize
D) Some people generally expected too much of Capel right away
E) Capel didn't know how tough this would be to turnaround a whole program
F) Capel overshot on some kids and wasted time on kids he wasn't going to land in year one.
OR
G) He's not panicking, the recruiting class comes together after the season, and everything will turn out fine for Pitt.
Some of those things I mentioned above are obviously not true, but if you want to dissect what's going on, maybe it is one of those things. When you have zero recruits, anything is on the table, I suppose.
I've been pretty steadfast that Jeff Capel will sign a decent class in 2019, but 2020 and beyond will be when he takes in some better classes and really elevates the program. I never expected the Fab-5 to come in here in year one. Capel came here as an assistant, not a head coach. He's a good recruiter, but he was recruiting at Duke. There's a difference. And Pitt's in worse shape than many realize or will admit. So I think the expectations some had for Capel were based more on hope, than in reality. I think the FSU/Louisville upsets really accelerated where Pitt really was perception wise, but they've come back to earth of late.
It's still going to be hard to turn this around quickly, it's going to take some work. Capel has said as much He's said he's willing to roll up his sleeves and take the time and put in the hard work to turn Pitt around. That's why he was given a 7 year deal to start with, because it's not an overnight endeavor.
So like we've said a few times:
1) We know about Gerald Drumgoole, Christian Brown, Karim Coulibaly etc. in 2019. Those are some of the names, and there's going to be more over time.
2) We know they will look to reclassify some kids, but again, those names aren't always known right now. The Champagnie twins perhaps, but other than that...who knows? It's too early.
3) We know they will look at grad transfers, and you won't know those names until later.
4) We know they will look at JuCo's, and again, those are options that develop later.
So most of the kids they may look to, aren't even known commodities to us yet. I'm sure Capel has a big board of ideas, however. He's not going into April blind.
I've said before, it's worth being concerned with the state of recruiting right now, they've missed on a lot of players. It is what it is, no way to sugarcoat that. But I also think Capel is a pretty good coach and recruiter.
So if I were a betting man, I'd bet Jeff Capel will have a better roster next season than he has for this season. I'd bet he has a player or two up his sleeve that we don't know about. And I bet the 2020 recruiting class will be better than the 2019 class.
