Commentary on day’s news in 300 words or less
It’s not Kevin Stallings 2.0, but when you lose to Louisville at home by a million points, Stallings certainly springs to mind.
Stallings lost to Louisville, 106-51, on Jan. 24, 2017.
Jeff Capel lost to Louisville, 100-59, on Saturday, nearly the nine-year anniversary.
Capel could never be as bad as Stallings. Nobody could. Stallings went 0-18 in the ACC one year and 4-32 over two. He might have been the worst coach in Pittsburgh sports history.
Capel has done some winning lately — he went 34-26 in the ACC over the previous three years — but he’s 56-83 in the conference overall and has made just one NCAA Tournament appearance. Last year’s team crumbled. This year’s team appears to be in trouble. If Capel doesn’t start winning again soon, this might have to end after eight years.
I wouldn’t be shocked by a rebound. The last time I counted out Capel was three years ago, when he started 1-3 and lost to West Virginia and Michigan by a combined 172-116. Two games later, he trailed visiting Alabama State at the half. I wondered if he’d make it to the next game.
Pitt made it to the NCAA Tournament that year and won a game (two if you include the play-in). The Panthers started 3-0 in the ACC last year before falling apart, losing 12 of their final 17.
Bottom line: After a two-year revival, Pitt (8-10, 1-4) has hit hard times again. Half-empty arenas. Lots of losses. If the rebound doesn’t begin Wednesday against a bad Boston College team, you’ll wonder where this season is going and if Capel will make it to another.
One tournament in eight years isn’t what anybody signed up for.
