Pittsburgh Basketball: Patience will be key in the Jeff Capel era

After going through a number of candidates, Pittsburgh pulled a rabbit out of the program’s hat in hiring Jeff Capel from Duke. So how long of a pass should he get before he’s held accountable for the results?

I’m not sure they did it, but the University of Pittsburgh somehow was able to get Jeff Capel from the Duke Blue Devils. He was the top assistant on the staff and is credited with getting his old team the top recruiting class in three of the last four seasons. Panther fans are hoping he can bring some of that to the Steel City, where it’s not the easiest place in the world to bring players to.

He was previously the coach of both VCU and Oklahoma but will be tasked with rebuilding a team that went 0-19 in the ACC this season. The entire roster had plans to transfer after Kevin Stallings was fired, but several have indicated that they’ll return to play for Capel.

With the Capel era now getting underway, the question now will be how much time does he get? Stallings himself had just two years and administrations these days have the lowest level of patience they’ve ever had. It could take a long time for Pitt to get back to being competitive, and I’m concerned he won’t get as long a rope as he should.

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One way to get talent that won’t likely come to Pitt as a freshman is through the transfer market, but those players will have to sit out a year. And let’s be honest – 90% of the players currently on Pitt’s roster wouldn’t be there even three years ago when Jamie Dixon was at the helm.

Unless a Trae young type of player comes around, it’s going to be a slow and sometimes painful rebuild. The level of patience these days is very short, and complaints may start rolling in after year three.

But a Final Four coach could be the best example of a program being patient and it working out. Porter Moser struggled in his first few years as Loyola-Chicago‘s coach and could’ve been fired. But he was allowed to stick with his group of players and once they became upperclassmen, they rewarded their patience with a historic Final Four run.

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The administration for Pittsburgh doesn’t have the greatest reputation at the point, so it would be best if they stayed out-of-the-way. The payoff will come for this team with the Capel hire, but the fans and the school need to show patience. Otherwise, this program is destined for future failure.