Pitt coach, ex-Duke player Jeff Capel: 'I never hated Carolina'
Jeff Capel
He played and coached at Duke in prominent, highly competitive roles, but Pitt coach Jeff Capel said with certainty and without shame:
“I never hated Carolina.”
Capel begins the second phase of his Pitt career Saturday when his Panthers (10-3) meet No. 15 North Carolina (10-3) in the ACC opener for both teams. The game tips off at noon Saturday at Petersen Events Center, which will be sold out for the first time in almost three years.
“I was a Carolina fan growing up,” said Capel, the 1993 North Carolina High School Player of the Year at Fayetteville South View. “I used to tell my parents when I was little, ‘When I get older, I want to go to Carolina.’ ”
As it turned out, North Carolina’s Dean Smith was one of the first coaches to offer Capel a scholarship.
“That’s probably where I was leaning, and then I met Coach K (at Duke),” he said Thursday. “The first time I met him face-to-face and spent some time with him, I knew right then that was the guy I wanted to play for.”
But Capel said he was torn “just because of the respect and admiration I have for the (North Carolina) program.”
“Every young kid back when I was little, most of the young kids in the state were Carolina fans because of (Michael) Jordan and (James) Worthy and those great teams that they had and great players and because of Coach Smith because of the man he was.
“It was a difficult decision (to say no to North Carolina), but it was the right decision.”
Capel’s brother, Jason, a Pitt assistant, played at North Carolina and started for the Tar Heels’ 2000 Final Four team.
“My brother loves his alma mater. He grew up wanting to play there,” Capel said. “He developed a lot of good relationships there.
“Like me, he’s a Pitt guy now. Saturday, he’s going to want to beat them. After that, he’ll get back to rooting for them.”
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Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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