Capel and Recruiting

[Chescat]

Sorry, but a lot of the comments about Capel not closing on Walker and potentially
others, is IMO misplaced. Selling a program with our recent past is more than
difficult, I don't care how much early playing time is possible. Our Zero in conference wins last year, and the worse than mediocre past few seasons says a lot about the
present status of this program.
I'm very impressed that Capel can even get these high level recruits to even consider
us. All he has at his disposal is early playing time; his resume and history at Duke;
playing in the ACC; and the promise of being part of a turnaround. Top recruits see
all that, and then compare it to what already is in place at other programs that are
already established and that are winning.

With all that said, if he can improve our win loss record and get a few wins in
conference, he'll have something tangible to sell. Right now he has none of this.
I like what I see in Capel so far, but I'm reserving judgement until after the
season. Not landing Walker or for that matter, any top level recruit at this point
is not an indictment of Capel and his recruiting prowess. Let's watch what he
does with what he has, and see if the play on the floor dramatically improves
this season. If it does, as I suspect it will, then we will see what he can really
do recruiting.

 

[wbrpanther]

Sorry, but all these comments about Capel not closing on Walker and potentially others.
is IMO misplaced. Selling a program with our recent past is more than difficult, I don't
care how much early playing time is possible. Our Zero in conference wins last year,
and the worse than mediocre past few seasons says a lot about the present status
of this program.
I'm very impressed that Capel can even get these high level recruits to even consider
us. All he has at his disposal is early playing time; his resume and history at Duke;
playing in the ACC; and the promise of being part of a turnaround. Top recruits see
all that, and then compare it to what already is in place at other programs that are
already established and that are winning.

With all that said, if he can improve our win loss record and get a few wins in
conference, he'll have something tangible to sell. Right now he has none of this.
I like what I see in Capel so far, but I'm reserving judgement until after the
season. Not landing Walker or for that matter, any top level recruit at this point
is not an indictment of Capel and his recruiting prowess. Let's watch what he
does with what he has, and see if the play on the floor dramatically improves
this season. If it does, as I suspect it will, then we will see what he can really
do recruiting.

True dat.

 

[bayardstreet]

Well said but Miami cheats

 

[Pittnerski]

It sucks to see Louisville and Miami drug through the mud for two straight weeks at trials, and still up to their usua shenanigans.

Ville has like 5 top 100 guys committed already

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Sorry, but a lot of the comments about Capel not closing on Walker and potentially
others, is IMO misplaced. Selling a program with our recent past is more than
difficult, I don't care how much early playing time is possible. Our Zero in conference wins last year, and the worse than mediocre past few seasons says a lot about the
present status of this program.
I'm very impressed that Capel can even get these high level recruits to even consider
us. All he has at his disposal is early playing time; his resume and history at Duke;
playing in the ACC; and the promise of being part of a turnaround. Top recruits see
all that, and then compare it to what already is in place at other programs that are
already established and that are winning.

With all that said, if he can improve our win loss record and get a few wins in
conference, he'll have something tangible to sell. Right now he has none of this.
I like what I see in Capel so far, but I'm reserving judgement until after the
season. Not landing Walker or for that matter, any top level recruit at this point
is not an indictment of Capel and his recruiting prowess. Let's watch what he
does with what he has, and see if the play on the floor dramatically improves
this season. If it does, as I suspect it will, then we will see what he can really
do recruiting.

Previous seasons' records mean very little to today's kids. Its not 1992. Sorry.

 

[BFo8]

Previous seasons' records mean very little to today's kids. Its not 1992. Sorry.

This is a great post. It is way, way down the list of priorities for today’s players.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Previous seasons' records mean very little to today's kids. Its not 1992. Sorry.

This is a great post. It is way, way down the list of priorities for today’s players.

I have been posting this for years. If it were the 80s or 90s and we went 0-19, it could take a generation to dig out. Today's kids are different. Its a much more selfish generation of kids. As a whole, they care much morw about ME. What can this coach do for ME. What can this program do for ME. Winning ia great and all but its more of just a bonus, a tiebreaker if you will.

 

[BFo8]

I have been posting this for years. If it were the 80s or 90s and we went 0-19, it could take a generation to dig out. Today's kids are different. Its a much more selfish generation of kids. As a whole, they care much morw about ME. What can this coach do for ME. What can this program do for ME. Winning ia great and all but its more of just a bonus, a tiebreaker if you will.

Ex UNLV coach Dave Rice once said that the 2 things recruits asked him most were what type of system do you play and what do your uniforms look like.

Obviously that’s not the same everywhere but I think it’s at last semi valid at most places. Especially the part about the system, all these D1 guys think they have NBA potential and want to play in a system that maximizes their skill set.

Wins and losses are not all that meaningful to today’s players.

 

[steel_curtain]

I have been posting this for years. If it were the 80s or 90s and we went 0-19, it could take a generation to dig out. Today's kids are different. Its a much more selfish generation of kids. As a whole, they care much morw about ME. What can this coach do for ME. What can this program do for ME. Winning ia great and all but its more of just a bonus, a tiebreaker if you will.

-In the last 16 years of college basketball as I used ESPN stat history (thats as far back as ESPN let me go), the only teams to go winless in conference play are Pitt, Boston College, Depaul, Texas A&M, and TCU from a major conference.

-TCU came from a midmajor league, so they dont even really count as they didnt have the resources with the initial move to the Big 12. And Ta&m was on the old 16 game schedule. So that leaves the pitiful 3 of Pitt, BC, and Depaul.

-Pitt had the worst season in Power 6 with ease in the last 16 years last season. We finished 0-19 in the ACC with 8 wins for the entire season, historic lows for Pitt and ACC records for worst record and worst point margin per loss along with NCAA record for worst point margin per loss during this time frame

-In comparing Pitt to the other 2 teams, Depaul needed an additional 6 years just to win 5 league games in a single year. BC needed 2 additional years to turn it around, but also lucked out with an NBA 1st round lottery pick to get out of the basement.

-With the help of Jamie Dixon, Scott Barnes, Todd Turner, and Kevin Stallings working and failing together, 4 men ultimately gave Pitt basketball a self imposed death penalty.

-Considering there are no other programs in Pitts situation. And considering Pitt did lose 4 of its top 6 scorers from a winless acc team and was without question the worst conference team from Power 6 in multiple decades. And considering Pitt had 100 fans at the games last year. And considering the Pittsburgh press and every national writer has ripped Pitt apart in the last 12 months. And Considering Pitt is expected to finish winless in the conference this year by everyone except Pitt fans. And considering every player asked for their release from Pitt and needed recruited all over again by Capel. This was the single biggest rebuild from a power conference in basketball or footabll since Southern Methodist received the death penalty in football.

-There is literally zero situation that can even be compared to Pitt. It is that embarrassingly bad. Sorry for the reality check but some of you need it with how Dixon, Stallings, Barnes, and Turner completely destroyed and ruined this program.

 

[ThePanthers]

Ex UNLV coach Dave Rice once said that the 2 things recruits asked him most were what type of system do you play and what do your uniforms look like.

Obviously that’s not the same everywhere but I think it’s at last semi valid at most places. Especially the part about the system, all these D1 guys think they have NBA potential and want to play in a system that maximizes their skill set.

Wins and losses are not all that meaningful to today’s players.

Then we had no shot this year since capel hasnt got to show anyone his system here at pitt in game.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

IMO at least 90% of the blame is on Barnes & Stallings.

IMHO, If Capel had been hired instead of Stallings--Capel would have found a point guard and gotten the returning seniors to buy in and post-Dixon year one would have not had the big drop. Then there would also have been a decent situation to sell to quality recruits. The result would have been a respectable post-Dixon year two and we would have had nothing more than a slight blip of a downturn rather than the total disaster that occurred in post-Dixon year two and we would not be facing a climb out of the Pitt (pun intended)!

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

I strongly doubt that we will go 0 for in the ACC. There will be at least be 2-3 wins and with OOC wins a double digit win season. It will be at least a modest improvement.​

 

[pittizit]

Yep but we have great unis

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Let's see i could go to Miami where the weather and girls are beautiful and they also have a history of being very nice to their players . What about Louisville heck they get strippers and hookers and who knows what else for their players . Both schools play way better ball than Pitt ,but at Pitt I'm at an academic institution that's being recognized nationally for excellence .
What color are Miami's and Louisville s unins ?

 

[H2P 2003]

Previous seasons' records mean very little to today's kids. Its not 1992. Sorry.

Except walker literally said he wanted to go somewhere he could win right away.

Keep trying.

 

[Chescat]

Previous seasons' records mean very little to today's kids. Its not 1992. Sorry.

So what you're saying is the status of Duke's program and winning are
not important in the minds of recruits?...Oh, that's right, quality of
the coach must not matter either. I guess it's uniforms that matter most
of all. Maybe we just ought to copy Duke's uniform style. LOL

 

[gary2]

Sorry, but a lot of the comments about Capel not closing on Walker and potentially
others, is IMO misplaced. Selling a program with our recent past is more than
difficult, I don't care how much early playing time is possible. Our Zero in conference wins last year, and the worse than mediocre past few seasons says a lot about the
present status of this program.
I'm very impressed that Capel can even get these high level recruits to even consider
us. All he has at his disposal is early playing time; his resume and history at Duke;
playing in the ACC; and the promise of being part of a turnaround. Top recruits see
all that, and then compare it to what already is in place at other programs that are
already established and that are winning.

With all that said, if he can improve our win loss record and get a few wins in
conference, he'll have something tangible to sell. Right now he has none of this.
I like what I see in Capel so far, but I'm reserving judgement until after the
season. Not landing Walker or for that matter, any top level recruit at this point
is not an indictment of Capel and his recruiting prowess. Let's watch what he
does with what he has, and see if the play on the floor dramatically improves
this season. If it does, as I suspect it will, then we will see what he can really
do recruiting.

Johnny Majors recruited pretty well when Pitt was coming off the floor in football.

Yeah, I know he gave out umpteen scholarships and might have cheated a bit.

You don't get Tony Dorsett if you can't recruit. Great recruiters recruit.

You either get it done or you don't.

 

[H2P 2003]

Johnny Majors recruited pretty well when Pitt was coming off the floor in football.

Yeah, I know he gave out umpteen scholarships and might have cheated a bit.

You don't get Tony Dorsett if you can't recruit. Great recruiters recruit.

You either get it done or you don't.

I’m curious...what are your thoughts on narduzzi at this point?

 

[Chescat]

Johnny Majors recruited pretty well when Pitt was coming off the floor in football.

Yeah, I know he gave out umpteen scholarships and might have cheated a bit.

You don't get Tony Dorsett if you can't recruit. Great recruiters recruit.

You either get it done or you don't.

Basically I agree with your post. This thread got away from my orignial points.
Capel has proven to be a great recruiter, but IMO he's up against it because
of the state of the program which he inherited, and the awful winning record
(Zero wins in the ACC). I believe he'll get it done here, but IMO he's gonna
have to show some success this coming season. Walker is already on
record saying that he chose Miami because of "winning."

 

[steel_curtain]

Johnny Majors recruited pretty well when Pitt was coming off the floor in football.

Yeah, I know he gave out umpteen scholarships and might have cheated a bit.

You don't get Tony Dorsett if you can't recruit. Great recruiters recruit.

You either get it done or you don't.

-In 1973. At a time with limited exposure with no internet or social media and limited tv. Far easier to turn something around then, as opposed to today with every media outlet from Pittsburgh to Espn to Timbuktu and back bashing Pitt nonstop.

-To put this in perspective, the Rhode Island message board knew they were out for Walker and was constantly bashing Pitt and saying Walker should choose Miami because Pitt is in a 4+ year rebuild according to them. Every person on twitter outside the Pitt circle has been saying, what year will Pitt finally win just 1 ACC game again?

-Pitt is like the kid in high school getting picked on daily by everyone in the media and opposing fanbases. Even the local press constantly rips Pitt. You know how hard it is for a recruit with other options to choose Pitt? We have 4 ACC wins in the last 2 years and are projected to go winless in the ACC this year. That means over a 3 year period Pitt is projected to average 1, ONE, Acc win per year. No other program in P5 has been remotely close to the pile of dogshit Capel was put in.

 

[H2P 2003]

-In 1973. At a time with limited exposure with no internet or social media and limited tv. Far easier to turn something around then, as opposed to today with every media outlet from Pittsburgh to Espn to Timbuktu and back bashing Pitt nonstop.

-To put this in perspective, the Rhode Island message board knew they were out for Walker and was constantly bashing Pitt and saying Walker should choose Miami because Pitt is in a 4+ year rebuild according to them. Every person on twitter outside the Pitt circle has been saying, what year will Pitt finally win just 1 ACC game again?

-Pitt is like the kid in high school getting picked on daily by everyone in the media and opposing fanbases. Even the local press constantly rips Pitt. You know how hard it is for a recruit with other options to choose Pitt? We have 4 ACC wins in the last 2 years and are projected to go winless in the ACC this year. That means over a 3 year period Pitt is projected to average 1, ONE, Acc win per year. No other program in P5 has been remotely close to the pile of dogshit Capel was put in.

Pitt is NOT projected to go winless in the ACC this year.

 

[gary2]

I’m curious...what are your thoughts on narduzzi at this point?

I thought Narduzzi was a good hire. I thought his personality fit here. I think in his first season he struggled mightily on game day. I think that has improved until this year. I am convinced he was much too stubborn. He would not tweak his system to fit his personnel. That has changed a bit this season. I think Narduzzi has not always put his best players on the field and not always maximized their use (Whitehead and Ford). That continues today.

Narduzzi would look better if we played a sensible OC schedule.

As far as recruiting, I was OK with recruiting until this season. I trusted the coaching staff. They seemed to be hitting on early targets even though they were 3 stars. If our recruits are 5.6 and 5.7 players on rivals I am OK with that. We can not have 5.5 and less recruits. A number of our highest rated recruits have not panned out and even moved on.

Local recruiting has been disappointing. I realize the pool is no longer there. That said, we are Pitt and we do need to get the lion's share of the best players from our area (including white kids). We haven't. Narduzzi can not accept local failure and just move on. The impression that we don't get our own has an impact greater than who we actually recruit and lose.

Recruiting balance has not been good. It seems to me, recruiting has concentrated too much on defense. Numbers and quality at certain offensive positions have been lacking.

Right now, I am down on Narduzzi. The results of the rest of this season could help change that.

Next season the defense should be good, but the offense needs a lot of help. Recruiting should be targeted at providing that help.

 

[steel_curtain]

Pitt is NOT projected to go winless in the ACC this year.

-How many links do you want to see? I dont even like posting this because it makes the situation look worse and worse.

-How does Sports Illustrated sound? Ill give you 1 link and stop. The Bold is what is written about Pitt, with link attached. Enjoy, because this is what EVERYONE thinks about Pitt basketball all over the internet. Sports Illustrated expects Pitt to be worse then 0-19 this year in the ACC and win less then 8 games this year. They call us unwatchable.



JEFF CAPEL, PITT
Last season: 8–24, 15th in ACC

Putting it nicely, Pitt was basically unwatchable last season, so the bar is rather low for Capel as he returns to head coaching after an unceremonious exit from Oklahoma in 2011. He rebuilt his career as Duke’s top assistant and ace recruiter, and will put that acumen to the test as he attempts to revive a once-proud program that fell completely by the wayside under Kevin Stallings and went an impressively bad 0–18 within the conference. In the offseason, Capel reeled in freshmen guards Xavier Johnson, Trey McGowens and Au’Diese Toney, all of whom should get some development time this season. Still, it’s likely this gets worse before it gets better. Any move back toward respectability would be a positive for the Panthers at this point.


https://www.si.com/college-basketba...-outlooks-chris-mack-penny-hardaway-tom-crean

 

[gary2]

-In 1973. At a time with limited exposure with no internet or social media and limited tv. Far easier to turn something around then, as opposed to today with every media outlet from Pittsburgh to Espn to Timbuktu and back bashing Pitt nonstop.

-To put this in perspective, the Rhode Island message board knew they were out for Walker and was constantly bashing Pitt and saying Walker should choose Miami because Pitt is in a 4+ year rebuild according to them. Every person on twitter outside the Pitt circle has been saying, what year will Pitt finally win just 1 ACC game again?

-Pitt is like the kid in high school getting picked on daily by everyone in the media and opposing fanbases. Even the local press constantly rips Pitt. You know how hard it is for a recruit with other options to choose Pitt? We have 4 ACC wins in the last 2 years and are projected to go winless in the ACC this year. That means over a 3 year period Pitt is projected to average 1, ONE, Acc win per year. No other program in P5 has been remotely close to the pile of dogshit Capel was put in.

I doubt that anyone speaking to Capel would hear from Capel the excuses you are willing to grant to him. Capel knows you are judged on your results, not your situation. There is no curve.

 

[steel_curtain]

I doubt that anyone speaking to Capel would hear from Capel the excuses you are willing to grant to him. Capel knows you are judged on your results, not your situation. There is no curve.

-There are excuses and there is reality. I could load this message board up with so much negative press about Pitt in the last 12 months from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CBS, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, other message forums, facebook, twitter, etc.. people wouldnt even want to come back. Thats reality. And no other program, none, is in the position we were currently in when Capel took over.

 

[gary2]

-There are excuses and there is reality. I could load this message board up with so much negative press about Pitt in the last 12 months from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CBS, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, other message forums, facebook, twitter, etc.. people wouldnt even want to come back. Thats reality. And no other program, none, is in the position we were currently in when Capel took over.

So Miami and Louisville have not gotten negative press? Schools that recruit against Miami and Louisville aren't attempting to use that press against them? No one on social media is railing against corruption in basketball recruiting? But still they manage to recruit at elite or near elite levels.

We had a season without a conference win. That happened. It was so devastating. It will most likely take us years to recover.

What ever happened to things can turn around in basketball quickly? It is not football. All you need is 3 really good players.

 

[steel_curtain]

So Miami and Louisville have not gotten negative press? Schools that recruit against Miami and Louisville aren't attempting to use that press against them? No one on social media is railing against corruption in basketball recruiting? But still they manage to recruit at elite or near elite levels.

We had a season without a conference win. That happened. It was so devastating. It will most likely take us years to recover.

What ever happened to things can turn around in basketball quickly? It is not football. All you need is 3 really good players.

-You are comparing schools that cheat and win while paying players, to a school that has 4 ACC wins in 2+ years and counting. With a 20 game ACC losing streak, and counting. An apple does not look or taste like an orange.

 

[TiredRam97]

Well said but Miami cheats

Maybe Pitt should cheat. Everyone else does and barely gets a slap on the wrist.

 

[gary2]

-You are comparing schools that cheat and win while paying players, to a school that has 4 ACC wins in 2+ years and counting. With a 20 game ACC losing streak, and counting. An apple does not look or taste like an orange.

You brought up the press and social media in my Majors post. You doubled down on it putting excuses in Capel's mouth. Now you simply want to walk away from it? Sure, be my guest. Your new argument does not look like your old argument.

 

[steel_curtain]

You brought up the press and social media in my Majors post. You doubled down on it putting excuses in Capel's mouth. Now you simply want to walk away from it? Sure, be my guest.

-You compared something from almost 50 years ago to today. Then you compared schools that pay players and win to a school that hasnt won in years

-The only thing you can compare with Pitt is other teams that win 8 games in a single season or go winless in conference. Even that is difficult since Pitt was the worst team in college basketball going back multiple decades.

 

[Chescat]

So Miami and Louisville have not gotten negative press? Schools that recruit against Miami and Louisville aren't attempting to use that press against them? No one on social media is railing against corruption in basketball recruiting? But still they manage to recruit at elite or near elite levels.

We had a season without a conference win. That happened. It was so devastating. It will most likely take us years to recover.

What ever happened to things can turn around in basketball quickly? It is not football. All you need is 3 really good players.

I hate to say it Gary, but IMO cheating, bringing in strippers, paying families of
recruits etc. is for many...par for the course. Bad as those things are, they're
acceptable and almost expected at some programs. The two you listed,
especially Louisville is an example of that. They cheat and still get their
top recruits, and they still win. Don't win, and look at the result...Pitt is
THAT result.
I agree with your point about "all you need is 3 really good players."
Hell, get the right two and you can turn it around.
All I'm saying is, Capel might have to prove some success this year
before he can land some of these elites. Of course if he plays the
cheating game like Louisville and others.....maybe we get em here sooner.
Pitt ain't playing that cheating game though IMO.

Oh, I almost forgot, it's really all about uniforms LOL

 

[gary2]

I hate to say it Gary, but IMO cheating, bringing in strippers, paying families of
recruits etc. is for many...par for the course. Bad as those things are, they're
acceptable and almost expected at some programs. The two you listed,
especially Louisville is an example of that. They cheat and still get their
top recruits, and they still win. Don't win, and look at the result...Pitt is
THAT result.
I agree with your point about "all you need is 3 really good players."
Hell, get the right two and you can turn it around.
All I'm saying is, Capel might have to prove some success this year
before he can land some of these elites. Of course if he plays the
cheating game like Louisville and others.....maybe we get em here sooner.
Pitt ain't playing that cheating game though IMO.

Oh, I almost forgot, it's really all about uniforms LOL

First let me stress I know Capel is not saying or like this.

At work, it used to be really irritating to hear recent hires complain about the money, the benefit, the hours. They knew what the job was when they accepted it. They agreed to the situation.

Stallings knew he was replacing Jamie. Capel knows last years team did not win a conference game. That is the situation they agreed to accept. They knew they would be judged on their results regardless of the situation. I expect Capel to be a successful recruiter. He does not need or want the excuses some seem so willing to provide.

Nothing to do with cheating, everything to do with forgetting the excuses. People accepting excuses are (in my opinion) less likely to succeed.

 

[MyNameisJoe]

Maybe Pitt should cheat. Everyone else does and barely gets a slap on the wrist.

I'd almost bet the farm Pitt cheats - everyone does. Are we on the level of extremes, obviously not, but I'm going to assume - logically, that Pitt does as well

 

[Chescat]

First let me stress I know Capel is not saying or like this.

At work, it used to be really irritating to hear recent hires complain about the money, the benefit, the hours. They knew what the job was when they accepted it. They agreed to the situation.

Stallings knew he was replacing Jamie. Capel knows last years team did not win a conference game. That is the situation they agreed to accept. They knew they would be judged on their results regardless of the situation. I expect Capel to be a successful recruiter. He does not need or want the excuses some seem so willing to provide.

Nothing to do with cheating, everything to do with forgetting the excuses. People accepting excuses are (in my opinion) less likely to succeed.

Makes sense to me. Not so sure the Louisville's of the college world would
though. LOL

 

[TiredRam97]

Maybe Pitt should cheat. Everyone else does and barely gets a slap on the wrist.

I'd almost bet the farm Pitt cheats - everyone does. Are we on the level of extremes, obviously not, but I'm going to assume - logically, that Pitt does as well

Then they do an absolutely terrible job at cheating. Recruiting stinks in both football and basketball.

 

[gary2]

Then they do an absolutely terrible job at cheating. Recruiting stinks in both football and basketball.

I believe Jim Hammett has indicated that Virginia Tech feels Pitt cheated in order to secure McGowens. Take that for whatever you wish.

 

[TiredRam97]

Then they do an absolutely terrible job at cheating. Recruiting stinks in both football and basketball.

I believe Jim Hammett has indicated that Virginia Tech feels Pitt cheated in order to secure McGowens. Take that for whatever you wish.

Good. I hope they did. It needs to improve upon that. It’s no coincidence to me that the last four pitt coaches have had no issues recruiting at their other jobs.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Johnny Majors recruited pretty well when Pitt was coming off the floor in football.

Yeah, I know he gave out umpteen scholarships and might have cheated a bit.

You don't get Tony Dorsett if you can't recruit. Great recruiters recruit.

You either get it done or you don't.

Your being naive!

 

[Delpanther]

Sorry, but a lot of the comments about Capel not closing on Walker and potentially
others, is IMO misplaced. Selling a program with our recent past is more than
difficult, I don't care how much early playing time is possible. Our Zero in conference wins last year, and the worse than mediocre past few seasons says a lot about the
present status of this program.
I'm very impressed that Capel can even get these high level recruits to even consider
us. All he has at his disposal is early playing time; his resume and history at Duke;
playing in the ACC; and the promise of being part of a turnaround. Top recruits see
all that, and then compare it to what already is in place at other programs that are
already established and that are winning.

With all that said, if he can improve our win loss record and get a few wins in
conference, he'll have something tangible to sell. Right now he has none of this.
I like what I see in Capel so far, but I'm reserving judgement until after the
season. Not landing Walker or for that matter, any top level recruit at this point
is not an indictment of Capel and his recruiting prowess. Let's watch what he
does with what he has, and see if the play on the floor dramatically improves
this season. If it does, as I suspect it will, then we will see what he can really
do recruiting.

What I’m about to say has nothing to do with my views on Capel about whom I remain very positive but Capel is really selling Capel and not Pitt at this point.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Sports Illustrated expects Pitt to be worse then 0-19 this year in the ACC and win less then 8 games this year.

That isn't what that actually says, not that anyone would expect you to understand context.

Pitt could, theoretically, be a worse team this year than last and still not go 0-19 this year. 0-19 is really hard to do, which is why it almost never happens. And why it costs a coach his job even with a lot of years left on his contract when it does happen.