Capel to stay or go?
Published: 3/20/2008 6:44 PM
Last Modified: 3/20/2008 6:44 PM
Jeff Capel's supposed candidacy at South Carolina remains a serious backstory to Oklahoma's NCAA tournament stay in Birmingham. So serious, in fact, that the South Carolina newspaper The State sent a reporter to the regional to work on a Capel feature.
Everything I've heard tells me Capel is the Gamecocks' first option. Unless that's a smokescreen, the Sooner coach will have a decision to make at season's end.
Here, then, are three reasons Capel would remain at OU:
1. Assuming Blake Griffin returns and prep signee Willie Warren is as good as advertised, the Sooners are in line for a big 2008-09 season, which would enhance Capel's chances for a higher-profile (ACC?) job than South Carolina's.
2. Athletic director Joe Castiglione and the university should be poised to reward the second-year coach with a contract much richer than the $750,000 deal he is under currently.[ep]
3. Capel thrives on player relationships, and he is particularly close to Griffin. Ultimately, he won't be able to leave players embedded with him for two tough years.
Now, I can also come up with three reasons Capel would leave OU for South Carolina:
1. It's much closer to his North Carolina roots than Norman, and the pull to be near home is likely that much stronger now that he has a year-old daughter.
2. Basketball takes a backseat to football in Columbia. In Norman, where a sleepy fan base doesn't even fill the Lloyd Noble Center for OSU or Texas, Capel must be sick of riding in the pickup bed.
3. If the ACC is Capel's eventual coaching calling, some OU-like rebuilding at nearby South Carolina should get him there with little trouble.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
