CAA Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)
By Joey Loose
6. Jeff Capel III – VCU (2002-2006)
It goes without saying that VCU has risen to become one of the best mid-major programs in the country, but this wasn’t the case when Capel was hired in 2002. When he was promoted to head coach, he was the youngest in the nation at age 27. He was tasked with turning around a program that had made just a single NCAA Tournament in the last 15 years. Clearly, the hiring was a success.
You can easily label Capel as the starting point for the renaissance with VCU’s program. He led the Rams to the NCAA Tournament in 2004, winning at least 18 games in each of his four seasons with the program. Before Capel left for Oklahoma in 2006, he had led VCU to three top two finishes in the CAA and certainly had this program trending upwards. Better years were on the horizon, but Capel certainly jumpstarted that upwards ascent.
We’ll speak later on a few other VCU coaches, but there are some important things to note about Capel’s tenure. We can reflect on an impressive 50-22 run through CAA play and we can laud the groundwork for the future of this program. There’s no telling what could have happened had someone else been given the reins; Capel certainly propelled it into a bright coaching future.