Pitt Hires Duke Assistant Jeff Capel as Head Coach
Duke assistant coach Jeff Capel has been hired as the next head coach at Pittsburgh, the school announced. The deal is reportedly for seven years and could be officially announced by the school on Wednesday.
Capel, 43,has served as the associate head coach at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski since 2011. He played at Duke from 1993 to 1997 and enjoyed a brief professional basketball career in France and the Continental Basketball Association. He went on to serve as the head coach at VCU from 2002 to 2006 and then Oklahoma from 2006 to 2011. The He has an overall head coaching record of 175–110.
The news of Capel agreed to coach at Pitt comes just after reports surfaced that Jon Scheyer was reportedly being considered for the vacancy. Those rumors were shot down.
Capel, who has is credited with helping Duke land some of the top recruiting classes in the country, was considered a candidate to succeed Krzyzewski. Other past assistants considered possible successors include Northwestern head coach Chris Collins and Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski. The departure of Capel opens up the conversation of who would replace Krzyzewski when he decides to retire. Krzyzewski turned 71 years old in February and has shown no indication of considering retirement.
• From 2014: Successor Series: Who would take over for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke?
Capel filled in for Krzyzewski in 2016 when the head coach missed one game due to illness. In 2017, Capel served as an interim head coach when Krzyzewski missed time due to back surgery.
Pittsburgh fired Kevin Stallings on March 8 after a 34–41 showing in two seasons as the team's head coach. Eight players have requested transfers since Stallings was let go.
