In an alternate universe

[Sean Miller Fan]

Nike Sibande misses the Gannon game with flu-like symptoms. Ithiel Horton parks in that big garage by the Cheesecake Factory, Pitt beats the Citadel by 30, Pitt fans think while we may not beat WVU, we can go in there and hang with them and maybe have a chance. And with the program looking sort of ok enough, Mintz signs.

Its amazing the hits Pitt took in a 9 day span. I went from predicting 6-14 but saying 9 or 10 ACC wins was possible since the league was so bad to Stallings. Its made me wonder if we are being too hard on Capel for things that aren't totally in his control especially since I do believe fan reaction at least partially caused Mintz to decommit. However, I go back to recruiting and retention. He just hasn't shown any ability to recruit and retain his players. Mintz was a great recruit, don't get me wrong but he and Santos were his only 2 HS guys in 2 classes and with 80% signed, he wasn't getting another Top 150 guy this class. Vader was writing love letters about a guy we were fighting GW for. And he's had too many busts from players with decent rankings (Drumgoole, Collier, AKC not a bust but not a starter, Jeffress still young but not ACC level in Year 2). I said all along that Capel DESPERATELY needed a great class signed in November and Mintz just wasnt enough.

I still think Capel is a really great guy and I feel bad for him because he has been the victim of some bad luck but the main problem is he's done almost nothing to change that luck.

 

[JS School]

I don't think Capel is as bad as many of us make him out to be, it just turned out he was a poor fit to replace Stallings. He can't recruit well enough to sign and retain top 100 players given where Pitt is right now and he can't coach well enough to make players ranked 150-200 into a respectable team.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I don't think Capel is as bad as many of us make him out to be, it just turned out he was a poor fit to replace Stallings. He can't recruit well enough to sign and retain top 100 players given where Pitt is right now and he can't coach well enough to make players ranked 150-200 into a respectable team.

Yea I don't think any of us thought he was particularly good at coaching but we thought he could recruit maybe like a Buzz Williams at a difficult place to recruit to, or a Leonard Hamilton-lite in a difficult place to recruit to. BTW, you wouldn't think FSU is hard to recruit to but listening to an ACCN roundtable, Leonard Hamilton basically got PO'd when all the other coaches said they wanted narrower recruiting windows. He basically said there's no D1 recruits within 3 hours and he has to go all over so he wants extended recruiting windows.

 

[JS School]

Yea I don't think any of us thought he was particularly good at coaching but we thought he could recruit maybe like a Buzz Williams at a difficult place to recruit to, or a Leonard Hamilton-lite in a difficult place to recruit to. BTW, you wouldn't think FSU is hard to recruit to but listening to an ACCN roundtable, Leonard Hamilton basically got PO'd when all the other coaches said they wanted narrower recruiting windows. He basically said there's no D1 recruits within 3 hours and he has to go all over so he wants extended recruiting windows.

When I think of Florida, I usually think of either glamorous like South Beach or gritty like Belle Glade. But Tallahassee is sort of like somewhere in Arkansas with slightly better weather.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

When I think of Florida, I usually think of either glamorous like South Beach or gritty like Belle Glade. But Tallahassee is sort of like somewhere in Arkansas with slightly better weather.

Tallahassee is on the Redneck Riviera. Its also referred to as Floribama. Great weather yes, but for basketball recruiting its not as good as one might think.