Pitt's Jeff Capel warns players, parents about too much basketball

Jeff Capel encourages young people, including and especially his 7-year-old son Elijah, to enjoy playing basketball.

But the Pitt coach issued a warning Monday to parents and players that too much of a good thing isn’t necessarily for the best.

The subject surfaced on the ACC coaches conference call Monday when a reporter asked Capel about the increasing number of injuries in men’s college basketball. Capel said he believes the situation could be tied to young people playing too often too soon.

He said his friends in the NBA tell him players are showing up in their camps hurt or injured.

“They’re getting kids, and their bodies are damaged,” he said. “Their bodies are already broken down because of how much basketball that they play.”

Players often go from their high school seasons almost immediately into AAU and summer ball without much down time.

“Look, AAU is really good and summer basketball is really, really good,” Capel said. “I’m not one of these guys that bashes it. I actually think there are good people in it. I think they’re really good coaches. And I think it provides kids opportunities.

“But I do think it can be too much when you go from a high school season, you immediately jump into that and that is a very high level right now.”

He said colleges also can be guilty of pushing kids to play and practice after the season.

“I think sometimes in college, some of the things that we do, you feel like you have to do it,” he said. “When you have time, you feel like you have to use time. We have these hours in the summer. You have the individual workouts now. You have the hours up until you start practice. Practice is earlier now than it was back in the day.

“I just think all of these things are a huge catalyst to some of the injuries that college athletes in our sport, in men’s basketball, are facing.”

The solution?

Parents can help, he said. And, as the father of three, he said he can play a part.

“One of the things I hope to do, especially if my son is good enough — and he loves it right now — is to limit how much he does,” Capel said.

“I want him to play. I want him to have the love for it. But at the same time, I think you have to limit.”

Capel said when he was an assistant at Duke, recruiting and developing elite players with an eye on the NBA, the staff encouraged them to make sure they didn’t overdo it.

“I think it’s very important for the parents to be smart about what they allow their child to do,” he said. “We used to tell guys, or encourage them, ‘Hey, shut it down after a certain point in the summer. You don’t need to prove anything. You’ve done this. You don’t owe anyone anything. Take care of your body, rest. It’s important for you to have a great senior year of high school, but (also) to be rested.’

“As a parent, you have to not be caught up into all the glitz and glamour and understand what’s in the best interest of (your) child. Is my child tired? Is he playing three games a day for two consecutive weekends? Is that smart? Two or three games a day, traveling, all of these things. It’s a major, major problem.”

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