Jeff Capel Remembers Pitt Legend Dick Groat
PITTSBURGH -- As a Duke Blue Devil, Jeff Capel played and coached in the shadow of Dick Groat's retired No. 10 and the enormous legacy he left behind as one of the greatest players in that program's history. But it wasn't until 62 years after Groat's jersey had ascended to the rafters and 17 years after Capel's career at Duke ended that the current head coach of the Pitt Panthers got to meet the man who would eventually call his games on the radio.
As an assistant coach at Duke, Capel met Groat in 2014, nine years before he passed away at the age of 92, when the Blue Devils traveled to Pittsburgh for the first time to play Pitt, then a newly minted member of the ACC. After years of admiring his jersey from the court and pouring over the remarkable statistics that defined his legendary athletic career in basketball and baseball, Capel got to see Groat, the human being.
"Before the game, when I was doing stuff on the court with the guys, I went over and I met him," Capel said. "I introduced myself and that started the friendship."
Their relationship only grew from there. When Capel would return to Pittsburgh, he'd bring Duke gear marked with the program's self-appointed nickname - "The Brotherhood" - as gifts to help keep him tethered to his alma mater. And when Capel relocated to the Steel City and became head coach of the Panthers, their bond got stronger and stronger.
During downtime at the Petersen Events Center, Groat and Capel would chat. For as much reverence as Capel had for Groat's storied basketball career, the two rarely discussed the job at hand, according to Capel. He wasn't looking for a professional mentor or source of knowledge, but a friend.
Capel found very quickly that Groat was the right man for the job. In Groat, he found a wildly successful, but endlessly humble man. His head never swelled, even after being named a college All-American in two sports, a top-three draft pick in the NBA, National League MVP and World Champion of baseball twice. Groat was friendly and accessible to everyone he met, especially the head coach of the college basketball team he adopted at the end of his playing days.
"I was just always blown away by how humble he was and how friendly he was," Capels said. "When he accomplished so much, to still be humble, to be friendly, to be accommodating, to be welcoming showed the grace that he had as a human being.”
Capel said he's grateful that before he passed, Groat was able to see that team he never played for, but grew to love over his 40 years calling their games, return to the NCAA Tournament, which had eluded them for the final three years of his time at the microphone.
As plenty of Groat's peers, mentors and fans have also remarked about the Western Pennsylvania icon, he was one of one, an unparalleled force on two stages reserved for the elite of their industries. There will never be another Dick Groat.
"I was fascinated with him," Capel said. "I’m fascinated with people in general, but especially people that are great at something. I think ‘great’ is the most overused word in sports, but he was truly one of the greats."
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