Capel to miss at least one game with virus
No other positive cases in program
Pitt men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel tested positive for COVID-19 and will not coach in his team’s game Tuesday against Louisville, the university announced Saturday.
Subsequent tests conducted within the program revealed no other positive cases.
It will mark the first time Capel has missed a game in his tenure at Pitt, which began in March 2018.
No determination has been made at this time about who will serve as head coach in Capel’s absence. Each of the three assistants on Pitt’s coaching staff — Tim O’Toole, Milan Brown and Jason Capel, Jeff’s younger brother — has experience as a Division I head coach.
Capel joins a growing list of
Division I coaches, including in his own conference, who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past several months. Among the others are Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Baylor’s Scott Drew and Tennessee’s Rick Barnes.
The Panthers themselves have not had any interruptions in their season through six games due to positive COVID-19 tests. Over the summer, the program had what the school described as a “small number” of positive tests.
Earlier this month, Capel expressed conflicted feelings about playing during the ongoing global pandemic, a belief that was echoed days later by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“These kids are away [from their families] and they’re out and they’re laying it on the line to entertain people. Something just doesn’t feel right about it right now,” Capel said at the time. “The numbers were what they were back in March. I look at it every day, man. It seems like every day it’s getting worse. I don’t know why you cancel it in March, but you say it’s OK to do it right now. But what do I know?”
Pitt, coming off a 70-55 win Wednesday against Miami, is 5-1 this season. After the game against the Cardinals, Pitt is off for six days before traveling to Duke, Capel’s alma mater, Dec. 29. It is unclear at this point whether Capel will be back on the sideline for that contest.