Pitt-Duke game postponed after positive covid test within Panthers' program

Before Pitt’s game at Duke was postponed, Jeff Capel talked about his personal dealings with the coronavirus.

“It was a (expletive), to be honest with you,” he said.

Almost in the same breath, Pitt’s coach reiterated his thoughts on playing college basketball in the midst of a pandemic.

“I don’t think we should be playing right now,” he said.

Moments later, Pitt became one of the many schools across the country to have a game postponed when a covid-19 test within the program came back positive.

School officials said the postponement of Tuesday’s game in Durham, N.C., is tied to that test result, plus subsequent quarantining and contact tracing. It’s the first interruption of the Pitt basketball schedule this season. Six other games scheduled for Tuesday have been postponed or canceled.

The ACC also postponed the North Carolina/Syracuse women’s game, scheduled for Thursday. The Duke women have canceled their season.

There was no word on the status of Pitt’s next scheduled game Saturday against Notre Dame at Petersen Events Center.

Capel, who had recovered and was planning to coach the Duke game, had no comment on the postponement. University officials released the news after the coach met with reporters.

But he wasn’t shy about sharing his experiences in quarantine.

“It was tough,” he said. “I had symptoms and it was difficult dealing with the symptoms.

“The isolation was hard. I have a little bit better understanding of why solitary confinement is a form of punishment. I understand why Tom Hanks painted a volleyball and turned it into Wilson and thought he lost his mind when Wilson went away (in the 2000 movie `Cast Away).”

Capel, 45, considered himself fortunate, compared to others who contracted the virus.

“I didn’t have it as bad as some people had,” he said. “I didn’t have to be hospitalized. I was close. But I didn’t have to do that, so I’m grateful for that.”

His personal experience did nothing to change his outlook on the attempts of schools from coast to coast to complete a season that is scheduled to stretch into March.

“I still feel the way that I feel,” he said. “When you look around at what’s going on in the country with this virus and you see the impact it’s having on people, it’s having on families, it’s having on our country and you listen to people talk about `don’t travel,’ it just doesn’t feel right, especially at our level.

“Players aren’t getting paid to do this. It’s different, to me, when you’re a professional athlete. That’s your job.”

Speaking strictly in basketball terms, the postponement comes at a bad time for Pitt (5-2, 1-1 ACC), with players needing to become accustomed to playing without leading scorer and rebounder Justin Champagnie, whose knee injury will force him to miss six to eight weeks.

Plus, it’s critical for a team with several new faces — transfer guards Ithiel Horton and Nike Sibande, plus a five-man freshman class – to learn to play as a unit.

“It’s a huge blow,” Capel said of losing Champagnie, who is averaging 17.8 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. “Not only offensively what he did, but defensively with rebounding, with the versatility.

“Justin has a gift. He has a nose for the ball.”

Capel knows he can’t replace Champagnie with one player. He’s counting on everyone contributing, and at the top of that list is Pitt’s second-leading scorer and rebounder Au’Diese Toney, who was expected to return for Duke after missing the Louisville game Dec. 22 with an ankle injury.

“I’d love to have another guy who can be a double-figure rebounder like Justin was, but we need to have guys who are getting at least four or five,” Capel said.

“We got dominated on the glass,” he said of Louisville’s 45-26 rebounding advantage. “That’s the first time it’s happened this year. That’s something that can’t happen.”

Post players Abdoul Karim Coulibaly and Terrell Brown failed to grab a rebound.

“It’s going to be tough for us to win when we do that,” Capel said.

Meanwhile, he’s hoping freshman forward John Hugley, 6-foot-9, 240 pounds, improves his conditioning, a task made more difficult with the program on pause.

“John’s a guy who has talent, but the talent doesn’t match what the production should be,” he said. “One of the biggest reasons (for that), he’s not in great shape so he can play up and down for extended minutes to the level you need to play to be a good player in the ACC.”

Get the latest news about Pitt basketball and all things Panthers athletics.