NCAA Basketball: Top 10 impact head coaching hires from 2006

10. Jeff Capel III (Oklahoma)

Oklahoma was in fantastic shape in 2006 when coach Kelvin Sampson departed for Indiana (what a mistake!). The program had made the Final Four just four years earlier and was a regular in the NCAA Tournament. There was a lot of pressure on the next head coach to continue that momentum and succeed on the recruiting trail as well.

The Sooners turned to a young head coach named Jeff Capel III. A former guard at Duke, Capel had gotten into the coaching game on his father’s staff at Old Dominion just six years earlier. He had spent the last four years as head coach at VCU, helping build the Rams back into a successful basketball program. Oklahoma represented a much bigger challenge, but the former Blue Devil was ready to meet it.

Along his five-year journey, he managed to recruit Blake Griffin and led the Sooners to a 30-win season and the Elite Eight in 2009. Combine that with another NCAA Tourney bid and Capel did solid enough work. Today, he’s head coach at Pittsburgh and hopes to have a more lasting impact than with the Sooners. Still, that Elite Eight was something to remember, even if it was followed by less than successful seasons.