OU basketball: Capel supporters seem few
I hammered OU basketball coach Jeff Capel pretty good earlier this week, and I was very surprised at the response of readers. It was almost universal support for what I wrote.
That’s relatively unheard of. In the dark days of Sooner football, some zealots supported John Blake and even Howard Schnellenberger almost to the bitter end. Some hoop fans supported Kelvin Sampson even after the NCAA violations.
Jeff Capel listens to questions from the media before practice at the Lloyd Noble Center on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman on Monday, Feb. 15, 2010. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
But support for Capel seems minimal. I got one email — I’ll share it in my weekend mail bag — accusing me of “piling on,” and a couple of radio sportstalk hosts, James Hale and my partner Al Eschbach, weren’t crazy about the column. But otherwise, seems like I struck a chord.
Wednesday night at the Thunder-Memphis game, more people (some I know, some I don’t) came up to me to talk about the Capel column than to talk about the impending Laker-OKC series.
In some ways, that’s good news for Sooner basketball. Who knew anyone cared enough anymore to get riled up? Just goes to show you that the fan base, while turned off and maybe even dormant, hasn’t lost its interest.
Some OU insiders have suggested that Capel is being quiet on the advice (demand?) of attorneys, pending the NCAA investigation of Tiny Gallon. I have no doubt that’s true. And I can understand Capel not talking about the alleged payments from some Florida scumbag to Gallon.
But there is no legal reason for Capel to keep mum about who is point guard is going to be. The Sooners have five players on scholarship right now; one of them is Gallon, who might not be eligible and wants to bolt anyway, as he admitted on Twitter.
You’ve basically got four ballplayers — Cade Davis, Kyle Hardrick, Steven Pledger and Andrew Fitzgerald — and two of them were suspended for shoplifting a couple of months ago. That’s not much of a basketball team.
Fans deserve to know how this program crumbled so quickly and what Capel plans to do about it. Any advice to go into a total shell serves only to make Capel look worse and eat into his credibility with fans. Those fans apparently still care, to some degree. Better to incur their wrath than to run them off completely.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
And you think you’re tough on him? Really.
Write the article where you say the NCAA should give them the death penalty or the penalty given for lack of institutional control. Everyone outside of Oklahoma is thinking it, you’re just afraid to write it.
Tough article? Gimme a break.
Can he be relieved of his duties with cause, nullifying any buyouts or money owed? I can’t imagine the situation getting worse, but if Capel stays another season, it just might.
Death Penalty? C’mon Chris. Gimme a break. Go troll elsewhere. Everyone wants to kick a dog when he’s down. Kelvin Sampson produced 1 final four and 2 elite eights within a decade. Capel already has 1 elite eight in four years.
And you could argue the talent Capel has brought in (granted, it was a bad fit) has been better than Sampson. It’s bad now for Sooner basketball, but this is not all Capel’s fault. Did you blame Switzer for all the problems his players caused back in the late 80′s?
You have four players now. How many will remain if Capel is fired? A new coach is not going to fix everything.
Let’s get Switzer to coach the basketball team. If he could just recruit a couple Selman-like forwards, we would be in business.
I liked your article on Monday Berry….You are usually a bit of a homer which is fine but koddos for saying what needed to be said. I completely agree that there are a lot of OU fans, myself included that wouldn’t lose one bit of sleep if Capel found himself outside the program. What has he done seriously….other than recruit Taylor Griffin….Did he even recruit him or was he already on the team when Capel showed up? If he was already here then can you honestly say he has done anything? Blake was going to go wherever Taylor was at so most of the work was done when Taylor signed on.
Speaking of wiring $$$…Capel should be wiring a big chunk of that $1.55 mill directly to Blake’s account every month!!
Living here in South Carolina there was never an article about coach Capel trying to get the Clemson job. If he did the newspapers kept it to themselves. OU fan living in South Carolina.
I’ll also say that I support him. One year does not a career make. True, this year was awful. Next year may not be much better, BUT to look at the silver lining, it appears that all the prima dona types are looking to bug out. Sounds like a good deal to me. Load up with some decently talented kids with good character and watch the show. They may not be Final Four material right away, but I’d rathr watch them try by playing their hearts out than by coming in and expecting it to fall into their laps.
Every coach has ups and downs, the fan base needs to support them either way. That’s the only way they will improve. Capel needs to step back and get a hold of his program. It’s not always about the most talented or gifted people out there. But how they will play into your system and what type of person they are. Get some hard working kids out there. Look at the OU women, work extra hard, it doesn’t matter the big names you have. Attitude can get you a long ways also.
I still support Coach Capel, and feel he is the right man for the job, but I got to admit my comfidence has been shaken pretty hard. How the program went from an Elite 8 appearance and 3 McDonald’s all-americans to issues about being able to field a team in less than a year is amazing! Maybe getting back to “grass roots” recruiting, lunch-pail type players and not chasing the hi-profile recruit is the way to go?.
Even if you support Capel, you have to wonder where he is, what he’s doing, and why is he not talking? The man ought to man-up and say something. His program is taking a public relations pounding and the guy is saying nothing. That is what bothers me. If his lawyer has told him to be quiet, he ought to say so in a press release. His silence coupled with all the conjecture is killing the program.
I understand the legal issues. But this is another example of a clueless in over his head coach.
Sorry but I don’t completely blame all of the players without Capel taking responsibility. Granted, he took some responsibility at the end of the season and vowed to move the team forward. But his silence is not golden, it speaks volumes.
He should be granting an interview or two and talk about the state of things. There are things that could be out of bounds. But he needs to get it together before it’s too late. Or maybe that’s the point, it’s just too late.
elite 8 in 2009…
I think this year Capel was a victim of the one & done culture in college basketball. Talent gave way to character flaws which cannot be put solely on the shoulders of Coach Capel. Entitlement culture / McDonalds All Americans Gallon, Warren, & TMG felt entitled…didn’t respond to Capel, who tried everything to get the best out of his players. Yes, some of it falls on him because he recruited them, but he can’t control everything that happens on or off the court. I thought throughout the year Coach Capel put his team in a position to win a lot more games than they did and the players on the court didn’t deliver. I support Coach Capel…the 2009 season was a real gift and it wasn’t just because of Blake, who was brought to the program by Coach Capel.
This article is garbage…there isn’t any secret to why this season was such a disaster, entitled players who had bad attitudes, lack of leadership from Warren, players that didn’t respond to any number of tough/soft love and couldn’t win games. Stop riling up the mob and give Coach Capel a chance to learn from his recruiting mistakes.
I wasn’t sure how things would work out when we recruited him, but felt we should give him a chance. His recruiting, In my opinion, has been excellent as far as talent is concerned. However, who can foresee a kids character. It’s unfortunate that almost all of those recruited were, should I say short on character and long on, well just about everything that matters to a coach. Stay with him a while longer.
I support him, my patience is running out. By remaining silent they are not defending the program to potential recruits. You know that coaches across the country are preaching doom and gloom to recruits that are considering OU. Jeff! Please go public and defend your program. Other coaches are getting the last word to recruits and it is hurting the players and fans of the University of Oklahoma.
The blame for this mess falls squarely on Joe Castiglione’s shoulders. He’s the one who decided the OU mens basketball program wasn’t worthy of a proven coach and decided to hire an up-and-comer on the cheap. The problem now is, if Joe fires Capel, it looks like Joe failed, which he did. So, Capel is going to be given every chance to right the ship. Personally, I don’t think he can right the ship because he’s not a very good recruiter (he’s had 2 recruits stay longer than 2 years in Norman and he’s not recruiting very many JUCO’s) and he’s a worse coach.
At this point, all we can do is hope the next coach is able to rebuild the program or we may be the new Colorado of Big 12 basketball. So sad to think we’ve fallen as far as we have in such a short time.
Oh Berry, you are so quick to try and destroy a program.Last year the Sonners made the final 8, any other regional they are in the final 4, they were the best team next to North Carolina. Anyone that think Blake would have went to OUbecause his brother it their,is wron, Sampson could not have got him. Capel will get it back, what coach does all the fans want, most of those coaches will not come to OU, they are all ready at established programs, get real OU fans,basketball has changed, it is a bigger challenge to build agood team, and Capel can get the job done.
Capel is a good young coach… young.. is the key word if he stays and we give some support, like show up to some games he will do fine . so do your part buy a ticket and use it and give him the time to build his team he has character and deserves the chance.
The last two posts, Chet and Charles, both hold key points to a good program. It isn’t just about one season and the morons that flaked out. It’s about a team, including the fans, pulling together to make a good program. Bandwagon fans need not apply.
Give Capel a break. Take a look at any coach be it professional or college and most if not all have had periods of doom they have had to work through, especially in the early years. Not sure what he is suppose to say at this time but I respect this gentleman for wanting things done with hard work and character. It would be a shame to run him off and then watch him bring another program to prominence. Whatever happended to patience? Let’s support and not tear down.
Berry, you have to be kidding if you think you accomplished anything with your column, or if you think everybody is dumb enough to want Capel gone. That you interpret the silence of the real fans right now as support for you and your gloating attack on the coach is silly.
Joe has obviously ordered Capel to keep quiet until the investigation is finished. The verdict on Capel is not in yet. While you and the worse of OU fans might think otherwise, the sane in the Sooner nation are taking a wait and see position. The best thing for the program is for Capel not to be involved in this mess with Galon, and for him to prove to be the coach that we want him to be. Time will tell, but one thing is for certain. You writers and fairweather fans don’t know if Capel is or is not a good or bad thing for OU in the long run.
There’s a reason why Stoops locked you reporters out of practice this spring = you have a special talent for stirring up trouble.
Berry, I support Coach Capel and hope he is given the chance to work through this.I don’t think your column was piling on, but I would be interested if you woul next week post three columns or stories you wrote in relation to Coach Capel in the month afterwards period of the Sooners loss to North Carolina last year at the Elite 8. Anotherwords, I’d like to see a journalistic sampling of your thoughts then in relation to Coach Capel and the state of the program.
Let me ask you this question, Berry…North Carolina, UCLA and UConn did not make the tournament this season Sean Miller is rebuilding at Arizona, Kansas had football players and basketball players brawling with each other. Calipari just lost five or six underclassmen at Kentucky. Is there possibly a reoccurring trend here as to what college basketball as a whole has become?
I’m not dogging you for the column–that’s your job, and quite frankly, I found David Ubben’s coverage of the Sooners this season to be virtually invisible while this implosion was occuring–but why all the passion from you now when– if you guys had really been on top of things some of these things should have been written after the Alaska tournament? I think I’m asking fair questions and just so we have an objective barometer of your writings on Coach Capel–I would like for you to post what you wrote about Coach Capel after the Elite 8 last year.
Yeah–I’m a Coach Capel supporter.
I stand behind and support him, I appreciate what Kelvin Sampson and Billy Tubbs has done at OU but Jeff knows and may have the ability to get some serious talent to OU. The last recruiting class didn’t pan out-but that happens sometimes. You don’t see Kentucky fans complaining about their one and dones. OU caught a bad break with kids who didn’t care about winning or didn’t know how to play defense-hard to gauge from watching kids play AAU ball. I don’t have a problem with Jeff keeping quiet-he has been working as he was seen recruiting in South Carolina. Let this mess work itself out……maybe not next year but the year after we will be thinking about some serious moves in the NCAA. BOOMER!
I support Coach Capel and so did most of you for his first three years. I guess–in the course of less than year he became a total idiot. Like the guy at North Carolina, the guy at UCLA, the guy at UConn, the new guy at Arizona, the guy at Kansas who’s players were brawling with KU football players. Or Calipari who just lost six underclassmen. They’re all idiots–just like Coach Capel. Get rid of Williams, Calhoun, Howland, Self, Sean Miller and Calipari. Fire all of them–they all suck… or maybe it’s just a sign of a far larger problem with college basketball as a whole.
I support Coach Capel–just like I did last year and the two preceding years.
It is when things go badly that you can take the measure of a man or woman.
I assume Coach Capel has never experienced such an array of mistakes and misfortune in his young career.
Personally, I believe he will make a comeback. OU will field a competitive team next season, and as a bonus, we get the benefit of a much better, and wiser coach.
I didn’t have a problem with Capel when he was hired. I felt like he was a good hire. But this last season was a leadership nightmare that hopefully he will learn from. There are many coaches who could have taken this same team and made them a cohesive unit. Capel is still young for his profession but must develop these skills to stay in his profession.
You guys need to give Barry a break. If it wasn’t for OU athletics, Barry and the staff at the Sports Animal would starve to death. Pimping ain’t easy. Just an opinion.
The 13-18 record doesn’t in itself drive me over a cliff, the lack of any coherent roster or team building does. I’m a rarity in that I follow OU hoops closer than I do OU football and have for about forty years. I like Coach Capel and very want him to succeed, but I’ve never seen anything like this. My question would be–what would happen if Cade got injured, or Fitzgerald and Pledger decided over the summer that college wasn’t really for them either? Would we even be able to field a team? My answer would be no.
I honestly thought Berry and John Rohde would step up the coverage on OU hoops after what transpired in Alaska and help David Ubben cover the team. I have no problem with the column. When a program which made post season play 25 years in a row prior to Coach Capel’s arrival in Norman implodes like this–some things have to be written.
I support Coach Capel–but with a caveat attached… get this thing back on the right track next season or resign. I’m not talking about winning twenty games–I’m talking about having a coherent program which has a chance to build for the future.I’m talking about having a roster. This is unacceptable.
James Hale and Al Eschbach weren’t too crazy about your column? That should be considered a ringing endorsement of it. Typically, they would have called for your firing for daring criticize anything OU.
I am an OU grad (Al’s era) and am totally embarassed by the state of the OU roundball program. I was never too keen on Kelvin’s blue collar style but did support him up until his cheating. Now that Capel has had time to build “his” team – this is what we get?
Joe C. should get rid of this guy NOW. Call him out for his blunders and send him packing. That action would be justified.
One bad year should not doom Capel. You people are ridiculous. We are one year removed from an Elite 8 finish where we lost to the eventual champion. You people need to to stay off the bandwagon because you’re only on it when things are good. People saying bring back Sampson show their stupidity. Sampson disgraced two programs, OU and Indiana, Indiana while he was on probabtion. The guy is a disgrace to college basketball which is why is out of college basketball. If you watched OU games this year Capel was coaching his tail off, he tried tough love tactics, not letting the team in the locker room, benching guys, holding their hands whatever he could think of, and the primma-donnas didn’t respond. Capel can’t snap his fingers and make kids mature. I thought Gallon made great strides in his game as the season went along. The college game was entirely too fast and physical for him at the beginning of the season but by seasons end, he was really starting to play pretty well. Mason-Griffin had some great games but it seems clear to me that he was only in school because of the one year rule and never planned to stay any longer. That isn’t Capel’s fault, if a kid has made his mind up (whether fans agree or not) its his decision, not Capel’s fault. The reality is, the Big 12 was really good this year, and without Warren for most of Conference play, this team just didn’t have the talent on both ends of the floor (mainly defensive) to win enough games. When Warren played, OU beat teams like OSU and Texas, when he didn’t, OU lost.
One bad year should not doom Capel. You people are ridiculous. We are one year removed from an Elite 8 finish where we lost to the eventual champion. You people need to to stay off the bandwagon because you’re only on it when things are good. People saying bring back Sampson show their stupidity. Sampson disgraced two programs, OU and Indiana, Indiana while he was on probabtion. The guy is a disgrace to college basketball which is why is out of college basketball. If you watched OU games this year Capel was coaching his tail off, he tried tough love tactics, not letting the team in the locker room, benching guys, holding their hands whatever he could think of, and the primma-donnas didn’t respond. Capel can’t snap his fingers and make kids mature. I thought Gallon made great strides in his game as the season went along. The college game was entirely too fast and physical for him at the beginning of the season but by seasons end, he was really starting to play pretty well. Mason-Griffin had some great games but it seems clear to me that he was only in school because of the one year rule and never planned to stay any longer. That isn’t Capel’s fault, if a kid has made his mind up (whether fans agree or not) its his decision, not Capel’s fault. The reality is, the Big 12 was really good this year, and without Warren for most of Conference play, this team just didn’t have the talent on both ends of the floor (mainly defensive) to win enough games. When Warren played, OU beat teams like OSU and Texas, when he didn’t, OU lost.
I believe Capel should resign so that the University of Oklahoma Basketball Program can start with a clean slate. Additionally, any player recruited by Capel should be allowed to leave if he so chooses. Will this result in grave consequences? Probably. However, the program will rebound. Look at the Baylor Basketball Program which was almost destroyed a few years ago. It has rebounded and competed for the Big 12 Championship this past year and played very well in the NCAA Tournament. AD Joe C. needs to hire an experienced coach with a record of maintaining strict discipline both on and off the court. Oklahoma no longer is just a football school. The previous three coaches were successful and the next coach can also be successful, again competing for the Big 12 Championship and being respectable in the NCAA Tournament.
Why does Capel have to tell us everything going on in the program. A year ago he was on top of The coaching tree,now you say he is at the bottom. How can you think his skills as a coach has changes. When you win your great, if you lose you don’t know what you are doing. your colum in todays paper suggest no one is supporting him. This is one basketball fan that IS.
Oklahoma fans are the most cut-throat, what have you done for me yesterday fans on the planet. I’m embarrassed to be associated with such fair-weather fan base. When things are good, everybody’s all smiles. The minute things go wrong, they ask for the coach’s resignation. When the football went 8-5, people were actually calling for Stoops’ head. After one sub-par year? Give me a break! Sooner fans aren’t loyal at all. I’d hate to see the death threats Bob Stoops will receive if he doesn’t wins 11 games. Flat out embarrassing!
I have been attending Ou basketball since 1974 and have seen up and downs. last year everyone thought that Jeff was the best thing since sliced bread.This year has proven that he might not be that good.
He made a mistake and recruited some thugs. A roster turn over was due. therefore it will be a shaky time.
Lets have a little patience.
Jeff is a good man and a good Christian man . I feel comfortable he will right the ship with the kind of players we can be proud of.
If there is blame to be placed it should lie in the lap of Joe Castiglione who did not conduct a thorough search and allowed his pal Kelvin Sampson to pick his replacement.
Jeff started early ( 3rd game?)this year throwing the players under the bus. He publicly ridiculed his team in the papers and in press conferences. Threats of removing scholarships… you communicate this with the media? Does this mean he has no blame? Blame the players all you want but he is the coach and the leader of the team. He must bear the burden of blame. Why did Tiny not play in Stillwater this year? Rumors were he had contact with an agent. Did they investigate and decide he could play the rest of the year? Believe me, I think Capel is the right person for the future but if a player played and there was knowledge of payments to him. The NCAA must crack down.
I enjoyed your article and if coach won’t fess up, you did the right thing Maybe they could find another Norman High basketball coach to build a fire under the players that are left.
chas
Berry,
Perhaps we all think you were right, and if so, that doesn’t mean we don’t support Coach Capel. By all accounts, Coach is a class act and the expectations are that he will bring the program back to standards they certainly didn’t meet this year.