Capel sells Pitt and the ACC
Throwin defensive specialist Sidy N’ Dir, a graduate transfer from New Mexico State, and you’ll find that nobody is laughing at Pitt anymore.
The enthusiasm, in fact, is palpable.And measurable.
Asource within the Pitt athletic department told me Thursday that Pitt has seen increases in season ticket early renewal sand new season-tickets a les, pumping half a million dollars of increased revenue into the coffers. Suites and court-side seating are sold out.
In other words, comparing the start of the Capel regime to the start ofthe Stallings regime — who could forget the combo pep rally/inquisition that introduced him? — is like comparing the atmosphere at Mardi Gras to a Tuesday night Pirates game.
Earlier this week, I sat down in Capel’s office to ask him a one-word question regarding his 2018 class: How? “Ithink the ACC has helped us a lot,” he said.
I found that interesting, because all I ever hear is how the move to the ACC killed Pitt basketball. I never agreed.It sounded like a weak excuse.So it was refreshing to hear Capel refer to the ACC as a selling point rather than a death knell.
“I’ve always felt kids want to play atthe highest level, against the best competition, on the biggest stage,” he said. “And I’ve always felt in college basketball there is no bigger stage than the ACC. That’s something we have really, really sold.”
He continued: “It’s been an OK transition [from the Big East to the ACC ] for Notre Dame. For Miami. It’s been OK for Louisville and Syracuse.We have to figure out a way to get this done.”
Capel is a firm believer that it takesa staff to attract players. He saidhe attended Duke as much for then-assistant Tommy Amaker as for Coach K. His staff includes his brother Jason and coaching vets Milan Brown and Tim O’Toole, and he figures once he gets a kid on campus (official visit or not), the upbeat atmosphere will become a magnet.
Inthe case of Xavier Johnson, connections with his AAU coach and highschool coach helped. Then, it wasa matter of asking him to visit on his family’s dime.
“Really, we just explained the situation we were in as far as a limited numberof visits,” Capel said. “We were trying to be really strategic [with the visits]. I didn’t know how many [kids] we’d go after. So his dad was like, ‘Hey, it’s only four hours away. We’ll just drive up.’ We didn’t even have to ask.”
Aswe talked, I turned to Capel’s office window, which overlooks Petersen Events Center. I wondered what heen visions when he looks through it.
“I envision it looking like it did in the early 2000s — I mean this place rocking, ”he said. “I was in here last night, we had a kid for an unofficial visit, and I said that to him. As a fan of basketball from afar, I remember attimes watching a Big Monday gameand seeing Pitt, seeing the Pete, seeing the Zoo and how crazy it was.
“Well, there was a guy with the kid, and he was from around here, andhe said when he was younger, you couldn’t get a ticket. I said, ‘I can’t wait ‘til we get it like that, where this is the show in town for basketball.’ “I get juiced up thinking about it.” Does he have a time line for that? “No ,I don’t have a time line,” Capel said. “It’ll happen, though.”
Ihave no idea how many wins all of this will translate into next season, but I know this: One in the ACC will bean improvement.
Iknow this, too: Capel still has a scholarship left, should he choose to use it.