Born three months apart and growing up in North Carolina hometowns separated by 83 miles, Jeff Capel and Jerry Stackhouse were friends, rivals and teammates on the basketball court.

As high school freshmen, they had no intentions of coaching. Playing was their thing as Capel went to Duke and Stackhouse to North Carolina.

“I think if you asked both of us, back when we were in ninth, 10th grade, if we would coach,” Capel said, “both of us would have told you you were out of your mind to even ask that question.”

But they will be directing their teams as head coaches Wednesday night when Pitt (2-2) plays Vanderbilt (3-1) at Petersen Events Center in the Panthers’ first home game against a Power 5 opponent. The game marks the first meeting between the schools since Vanderbilt defeated Pitt, 80-74 in overtime, in the 1988 NCAA Tournament.

Basketball took Capel and Stackhouse in distinctly different directions. Capel went into coaching, and Stackhouse was the third overall choice in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.

They’ve been friends since ninth grade, although they attended different high schools. Pitt’s coach grew up in Fayetteville, N.C., competing against Stackhouse, a Kinston, N.C., native.

“Good friend, really good guy,” Capel said.

Stackhouse went to North Carolina, reached the 1995 Final Four and was named Sports Illustrated Player of the Year, During the 2000-01 season, he led the NBA in total points (2,380) and made free throws (666) while Capel was launching his coaching career as an assistant to his father at Old Dominion.

When Stackhouse retired as a player, he wanted to coach. He started an AAU program and paid his dues as a coach in the NBA G League and an assistant in Memphis and Toronto.

“He’s shown how serious he was about wanting to coach,” Capel said. “When I did USA Basketball, he would come out and watch us practice. Here you have this great player, former NBA All-Star, one of the top shooting guards in the NBA during his time, he’s out there with a notebook. Pretty cool to see what he’s doing.”

In his third season at Vanderbilt, Stackhouse has led the Commodores to a good start behind Scotty Pippen Jr. Son of the NBA great, he is the SEC Preseason Player of the Year, and is averaging 16.5 points per game after finishing last season second in the SEC and 16th in the nation in scoring (20.8). He is only second on the team in scoring this season behind 6-foot-6 junior Jordan Wright (18.8).

The Commodores will be a serious challenge for a Pitt team that has won two in a row and has renewed hope after senior guard and Texas Tech transfer Jamarius Burton made his debut last week against Towson.

While Burton was recovering from a knee injury, Pitt committed 32 turnovers in his absence in a 74-59 loss to West Virginia on Nov. 12. Burton gives Pitt another ball handler, who can give sophomore point guard Femi Odukale a break.

“It gives us a guy who’s mature, has played in big moments, played in big games,” Capel said. “So, you know he won’t be afraid or overwhelmed by the moment.

“The fact that we do have the West Virginia experience, that’s helpful, also. As tough as it was to lose, it was a great learning experience for us. We’re still trying to figure our team out, but I like the steps we made in the past week, week and a half.”

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