Early Signing Period
- Thread starter gary2
- Start date
I think he's already going all out to sign someone. If he does, it won't be an impact player. But even if he does, the player probably won't end up here anyhow.
Personally I feel he better be
going "all out" to get this Pitt
team on track and maybe win
these next two OOC games.
I have to believe "anyone" he
could possibly sign at this
point is not very good. I
have no idea how he's going
to sign legit players if this
season continues as it is now.
The "Mintz" affair was big, I think the kid is one solid character and really wanted to come to Pitt and be a part of an exciting turnaround but as we know things took a bleak turn and with his future at stake he was probably advised to try and fit in some where else with a very stable, bright outlook.
The timing of signing day also played a big part. If signing day was December 1, lets say, he'd still be "committed" right now and observe the program over rhe next couple weeks. Not that that would.have helped much but lets say we beat the other cupcakes, Min and Vandy, he may have been more confident about Capel's future. Since it was Nov 10, he only had 2 choices: sign or decommit and he couldn't bind himself if he wasn't 100% sure.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Capel told JM “hey, I might not be here next year if you couldn’t already have guessed it.”
Just seems like he’s got the ski mask on and ready to cash in the buyout and move back to NC. Dude doesn’t look like he’s having any fun— even when we see him at football games and stuff.
Just seems like he’s got the ski mask on and ready to cash in the buyout and move back to NC. Dude doesn’t look like he’s having any fun— even when we see him at football games and stuff.
The transition from an NBA Academy to more like "real" college basketball has been too difficult. He hasn't been able to manage college kids and their college problems. At Duke, he had focused pros. I actually think Capel will learn from this and do well somewhere else but he's going to have to start in the MEAC or another low major.
I would be quite surprised if he did such a thing because it would be grounds for dissolution of his contract if he were driving kids away, IMO
This is all super troubling. The end of Jamie, Stallings, now this and it’s gonna be 10 yrs plus of losing ground following the golden era of Pitt bb. I’m worried it’s too far gone to come back.
All it takes is the right coach. Now, that is crap shoot, and it wasn't as ugly as this looks like it will be, but Howland came in and by the end of his second season had the program turned around.
College sports, most particularly basketball, is all about the coach.
It's not that difficult to build a program back up. The HC should transfer in some of his players, recruits etc. HL must act on replacing JC.
What I don’t understand is how this program only landed 1 recruit last year and has no commits currently for next year. What program anywhere in America at any level has landed 1 signee in a 15-month period?
And Capel’s “strength” was supposed to be recruiting. LOL
Don’t worry. He passed on ‘21 to concentrate on ‘22 according to all the gurus here. But never fear, there’s still ‘23 or later.
I don't understand why coaches now have to crash the program before leaving. Can we at least go back to like Ralph Willard, who won some games but not at the level we wanted and left us Greer, Hawkins, BK, and Jaron Brown?
Capel and Stallings are burning it to the ground
It is abundantly clear that players dont want to play for him. Why? I don't know.
He has more decommits (Mintz, JHS) than commits in the last 2 classes
Seriously, so at this rate we should have a winning season in 2087.
Whether you want to admit it or not the fact that he can actually get players like these to commit to Pitt considering the current state of the program is admirable. He recognizes talent early on and establishes relationships with them that impresses these kids and their handlers whomever they are enough to commit early . The problem is that other schools discover how good these kids can play and start to recruit them putting doubt in their minds about their decision to play at Pitt .So until Pitt can put a winning product on the court who can argue that there’s just better places to go play college Bb than Pitt .
My solution is to find 3 kids who combined can turn the program around and make them an offer they can’t refuse . Not only would it be cheaper than firing JC and finding a suitable replacement it’s more likely to work then taking a crap shot at hiring a coach who can win at Pitt . It’s even doable now with NIL in effect , go find these influential boosters who forced JD out and get the funds needed to get it done .
A good coach can get decent to better than average players to come to Pitt and STAY. The problem is we don't have a good coach. It's all about the coach.
I think we're trying to hard if we start commending him for guys who didn't even come here. His ability to construct/maintain an ACC roster over these last two years has been downright poor, and we seem to once again be in "Well, we missed on Plan A so it's on to Plan Z" mode.
I'm just using context clues and assuming here, but it seems like his reputation within recruiting circles isn't very strong. He brought Johnson, McGowens, and Toney here when Pitt was coming off a winless conference season and Capel had more or less a clean slate after not having coached for so long. So I don't know if the reason we can't recruit is necessarily the results as much as it is the coach. Seems like, after three years of assessment, guys just don't want to play for him.
JD was struggling getting commitments from HS kids his last few classes and filled his roster with second rate grad transfers . Stalling well enough said and now JC . I’m not saying it can’t be done , but I don’t believe there’s enough money to make a big time coach to leave his current successful program to come to Pitt . Hiring an up and comer is always a crap shoot .
Could someone come in and make Pitt better sure , but it just seems thinking someone’s coming in here to rejuvenate the program to what we all want just seems like dream .
This actually makes a lot of
sense. I had to laugh at the
"NBA Academy" reference,
but it's true. Coaching at
Duke, and especially under
Coach K is not typical of
the "real" world of college
Bball. Following a coach
Stallings at a school that had
a dumpster fire as a program
is as "real" as it gets. IMO,
hard as it was to get this
program back on its feet, it
should have been accomplished
within the four years where we
are now. Departures, personnel
issues, poor recruiting, program
mgt....whatever, he hasn't
gotten it done. I feel that the
program is almost as bad as
what he inherited.
I look at McGowens, Johnson, Toney, Champagnie, Hugley, etc. and think the ingredients were there. We might have needed another piece or two, particularly another big, but that's not a bad roster. So I think it's far from impossible to recruit well to Pitt, because I've seen Capel do it. But that horse appears to have left the barn, and it seems like he's done landing players of that caliber. If he can't recruit, what good is he? We already know he doesn't do anything else very well.
A new coach would at least have the ability to sell hope and perhaps get that initial recruiting bump as a result (and hopefully manage those players better on and off the court). I don't see what our other options are at this point. The Capel regime is just a sinking ship.
I thought his time at Duke learning under Coach K was a huge benefit but it might have been his biggest detriment. Forget talent, the overall "make-up" of Pitt-level players is much different than the NBA academies. These kids are babies and need babysitting. I think he was out of touch.
I'm no inner-workings-of-basketball genius, so I can really only regurgitate what I've read. But my takeaway has been that Coach K, schematically, is really a hands-off type of coach. That freedom is great when you have three 5-stars and two 4-stars on the court. But I question if he is the best coach to learn under if one is heading to a school like Pitt. It just seems like we play purposeless basketball so often. It could be a result of being overmatched in some instances, but when freshmen from St. Francis and the Citadel go off against you, I have a hard time believing it doesn't go beyond raw talent.
Things aren’t looking too good right now for the JC era , hope was what JC was too !
If a player doesn't come here for whatever reason, he's not a recruit and Capel failed. And if he leaves to go somewhere else, Capel failed at maintaining a roster. Both are 2 primary responsibilities of a coach. In year 4 of his tenure here, he has been a dismal failure.
Life is full of choices and why someone chooses a path different than yours doesn’t make anyone a failure .
If a recruit does choose you and for whatever reason if either party decides it was a mistake neither are failures . Your a failure when you fail to act on your feelings .
Where JC is failing is in finding an effective recruiting strategy that focuses on a niche type player that wants badly to play for a school like Pitt . There are players out there that in the right system that could be an effective ACC level player for Pitt that other high profile programs aren’t prioritizing . A perfect example was Ryan Luther .
He has shown no ability in his career to "coach up" those players. He needs stars and he's not getting them. He was supposed to be Mark Gottfried/Lorenzo Romar and hopefully be a better coach but he isnt getting those players
Correct. Give Capel a team of 13 Ryan Luthers, and he will give you an 0-20 conference record.
I know Johnson and Champagnie weren't rated very highly, but that was more a case of being underrated. He should focus in that 100 - 200 range in hopes of finding a few more of those types. Well, it might be too late now.
I don't follow recruiting all
that much. My gut reaction
to what's available to Capel
at this point is.....there's not
a hell of a lot available.
Vader, this is where you're
valuable to this board. Can
you at this point, give us a
realistic update about what
players Capel has a chance
of signing?
I guess there’s always a first time for everything so it’s possible
Similar threads
