you're allowed to have those reactions when you compete at the highest level. We don't and haven't in 10+ years. I'm not saying we shouldn't have high expectations, but it's not 0-100 every single time. Some things take time and I think over time he will get us back to winning basketball.
He's brought in two top 30 classes in 4 years. He's the only current coach to put a 3 star in the NBA after two years. He clearly has a great eye for talent - especially under valued talent. He hasn't hit on the big fish yet, but we're always the last 1 or 2 in the race for top kids. I'd like to think he'll begin to close on these kids. Why? he's done it many times before. His team has been hurt or suspended for most of the year and he's still winning games - meaning he's a good coach. There's nothing to suggest he's not. Nothing. the point he's not a good gameday coach is based on what? what is that based on? please tell me. he made changes to the staff before the year. added a recruiting director. He's getting ahead of the curve and realizing he needs a recruiting director to focus on two different entities - HS and transfers. It's not just HS anymore, so he realized he needed more help. He has a top 75 kid landed in 2023. He's hit on numerous transfers that are quality players. He is a players coach. kids love playing for him. this entire team stands with him. He's a great leader for this program. well respected around the league. he has a tremendous pedigree.
I'm still sold on what was sold to everyone when he was hired. he hadn't been an HC in 7 years before taking the Pitt job. he thought he could come in and just throw talented kids on the court and it'd work out. The first class is what led to this. Those kids weren't a fit.. and that's on Capel. X and Trey aren't team guys. They never were. Toney was.. but you start to become more selfish when that's the culture built from your two ball handlers. This year is a fresh start. There is no "me" on this team. Everyone wants to be here. Everyone. A kid that could transfer to a lot of P6 schools (Nike) next year wants to return to play for Capel.
Keeping him ensures development.. or at least the opportunity for development with younger players. Will, Noah, Max, Femi, John, Santos, and Payton are all longer term kids. All need time to develop. Losing them now might not seem like much, but that's over two years of wasted progression. You can't afford for that to happen you're not living in a recruiting hot bed.
Capel came to Pitt with ZERO pipelines developed. the best prospect in Western PA in 5+ years is on this roster and he's unplayable offensively. the other one is at Purdue.. and mind you, he was set on Purdue before Capel was hired. I was close to that recruitment. Capel spent a lot of time with Morton. It's pretty tough to sway a kid from a top 10 program to a team that just lost 19 conference games. There aren't any other pipelines. None from NY. None from Philly. He developed one in Ohio. He'll develop more. He showed up and NONE were developed. NONE. ZERO.
since I don't mention his flaws.. which I do.. here are my thoughts..
he needs to prioritize positional recruiting more. He hasn't landed a true PG since he's been here. That's a problem. X is.. but not really. Femi isn't. Burton isn't. Nike isn't. Trey isn't. Burton is easily the closest thing to it. He's a good QB out there who gets us into our sets.. but he's not a true PG.
roster management. early on, he threw a bunch of pieces together thinking they'd mesh. clearly, it didn't. he needs to manage ego's better. one way to do it? don't recruit any. he certainly has none on this team.. if he does, they're being managed MUCH better.
position flexibility. I think he needs to experiment with different lineups. Noah shouldn't just be restricted to backing up John. If Payton and Oladpo provided spacing I'd understand why you want them backing up Mo at the 4, but they don't. Noah should be getting minutes at the 4 and 5. Will should be getting minutes at the 4 as well. I think he's way too set on kids in certain spots. It was nice to see Femi more off ball though.
recruiting in general. it can be better. no doubt. developing the pipelines takes time if you don't have any staffers who have those pipelines setup. he needs to be more aware of where he stands with each kid. putting all of the eggs in Reid's basket. when you're dealing with LSU, don't ever assume you have the upper hand. He did. it burnt him.
the way I look at it is that he's ONE player away from a totally different perspective. If he landed Reid or RJ, there is a totally different energy right now. He's not far away. He simply isn't. if he was miles away I'd say throw in the towel. He's not. You CANNOT afford to restart again. you have a pile of underclassman who have decent potential and you have already sunk so much time into them. You have to let it play out. If these kids show zero progression next year and it's more of this, then you say "ok, time to go". You absolutely give him anther year. You'd be a moron not to.
now your turn to pile on. this is a bunch of rambling, but I don't have time to break it all down how I want to. Don't tell me I don't have a perspective. Don't tell me I'm clueless. I'm far from it.