Tulsa World: Capel says he will return to OU

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Capel says he will return to OU

OU men's basketball coach Jeff Capel says he has reached an agreement for a raise and a contract extension. Capel led his team to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight this season. STEPHEN PINGRY/TULSA WORLD

By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer
Published: 4/3/2009 8:39 AM
Last Modified: 4/3/2009 6:11 PM

Bill Haisten's Column: "The economics of college athletics have changed incredibly."

Sports Editor Mike Strain’s blog: Three reasons why OU needed to keep Capel

DETROIT -- The speculation about Jeff Capel's future as men's basketball coach at the University of Oklahoma is over.

"I'm going to be at Oklahoma," Capel told the World in an interview this morning in Detroit during Final Four activities.

Capel said that he has agreed to a contract extension and a raise from OU. He didn't specify any details of the agreement.

"I don't like to talk money. I'll let Joe handle that," Capel said referring to OU athletic director Joe Castiglione.

Castiglione was unavailable for comment this morning. He's not in Detroit for Final Four activities today.

OU released a statement this afternoon, saying "work is under way" on Capel's contract and it will be submitted to the university's regents for approval.

"We're very pleased and proud of the leadership Coach Capel has provided to our basketball program and the significant improvements that he and our team have made," OU President David Boren said in the statement.

"We intend to provide a reasonable raise for Coach Capel next year based on his performance and the compensation of his peer group. The final action on this matter will of course be made by the OU Board of Regents."

Capel now will have received a raise after all of his three basketball seasons at OU. He received a raise -- to $1.05 million per year -- after last season and also got an extension through the 2013-14 season.

Capel said he never had interest in Arizona, even though a Phoenix area newspaper reported this week that Capel was in negotiations with Arizona officials who were trying to fill their men's basketball coaching vacancy.

Sources told the World that no school had contacted OU for permission to interview the Sooners' coach. Capel's name most recently was linked to Arizona, but for weeks reports indicated he might be a candidate at Virginia and Georgia. Both schools filled their vacancies this week.

Capel said the first time he was aware his name had been linked to Arizona was when he saw it in a report on a "crawl" across the bottom of a television show. Capel said he was reading his daughter a book when he saw it, and his wife looked at him wondering what was going on.

Capel said he called his recruits and their parents to reassure them that the reports weren't true. He has signed two McDonald's All-Americans -- Tommy Mason-Griffin and Keith "Tiny" Gallon -- in the current recruiting class.

OU's record has improved each year during Capel's tenure. He led the Sooners to a 30-6 record this season and their first Elite Eight appearance since 2003. After taking over for Kelvin Sampson, who left for Indiana, Capel led the Sooners to a 16-15 record and missed the postseason in 2006-07. OU was 23-12 and reached the NCAA Tournament's second round in 2007-08.

"Our program has made tremendous strides the last couple of years and I continue to be excited about the direction it's heading," Capel said in the press release issued by OU this afternoon. "I appreciate the relationship I have with President Boren and Joe Castiglione, and we've had very good discussions about my agreement at the University of Oklahoma. I look forward to completing that process and my plan certainly is to remain at OU."

Capel attended the United States Basketball Writers Association awards breakfast this morning, when Sooners sophomore Blake Griffin was presented the Oscar Robertson Award as national player of the year. Kansas coach Bill Self was presented the Henry P. Iba Award as national coach of the year.

By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer

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COMMENTS

Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "He'll be back: Capel says he will return as Oklahoma coach," which was published on 4/4/2009. So far, 26 comments have been made.

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