Jeff Capel III

College coach infobox


Name = Jeff Capel
Sport = Basketball
| ImageWidth =
Caption =
DateOfBirth = birth date and age|1975|2|12
Birthplace = flagicon|United States Fayetteville, NC
DateOfDeath =
Deathplace =
College = Oklahoma
Title = Head coach
Awards =
Championships = CAA Tournament Championship (2004)
CAA Regular Season Championship (2004)
CurrentRecord = 23-11
OverallRecord = 101-59 (.631)
Player = *
Years = 1993–1997
Team = Duke
Position = Guard
Coach = *
CoachYears = 2000–2001
2001–2002
2002–2006
2006–present
CoachTeams = Old Dominion (asst.)
VCU (asst.)
VCU
Oklahoma
CollegeHOFID =
BBallHOF =

Felton Jeff Capel III (born February 12, 1975) is a former college basketball player at Duke University and the current men's basketball head coach at the University of Oklahoma.

Youth

Capel is from a basketball family. His father is basketball coach Jeff Capel II, and his younger brother Jason played basketball at Duke's biggest rival, the University of North Carolina.cite web | title=Jeff Capel | publisher=SoonerSports.com | url=http://www.soonersports.com/school-bio/jeff_capel.html | accessdate=2007-12-29 ] As a senior at South View High School in Hope Mills, North Carolina, Jeff led his team to the 1993 state championship. He also set school career records in points (2,066), rebounds (668), and assists (663).

College career

While at Duke University (1993-1997), he earned a starting position as a freshman and was a starting guard for four years. On February 2, 1995 in the regular season game played at home against UNC, with Duke trailing 95-92 at the end of the first overtime, Capel hit a running 40-foot shot at the buzzer which sent the game into double overtime. Although Duke lost the game 102-100, Capel's shot was hailed as one of the most memorable plays in Duke basketball history, and it was nominated for an ESPY Award for College Basketball Play of the Year.

Capel's college career was marked with success. During his years as a Blue Devil, he racked up an impressive stat sheet, including 1,601 points, 433 assists, and 220 three-point field goals. He finished his career among Duke's all-time Top 10 in minutes played, three-point field goal percentages, three-point field goals, and assists.

Professional career

Following his graduation from Duke, Capel played professional basketball for three years, playing in France and the CBA. Capel was also drafted in 1997 by the Raleigh Cougars of the USBL.

Coaching career

He began his coaching career serving as an assistant coach under his father, Jeff Capel II, at Old Dominion University for the 2000-2001 season. In 2001, he joined the coaching staff of Virginia Commonwealth University as an assistant. He was promoted to head coach of the Rams for the 2002-2003 season--making him, at the time, the youngest head coach in Division I men's college basketball (27 years old).

In his four years as head coach at VCU, Capel guided his team to a record number of wins (79) and the highest winning percentage (.658) of any Division I program in the commonwealth of Virginia. Following the 2003-04 season, Capel was named both the Richmond Times-Dispatch and VaSID state Coach of the Year after leading the Rams to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996. Coaching highlights include a near-upset of Wake Forest University in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Surprisingly, one of his toughest opponents was the division II cross - town rival, Virginia Union University. Capel's Rams lost two years in a row to the "panthers" on VCU's home court.

In 2005, Capel was named an assistant coach in the USA Men's World University Games Team, joining then Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez in assisting Villanova head coach Jay Wright. The United States won the gold medal in İzmir, Turkey, in August.

On April 11, 2006, Capel was named the head coach at Oklahoma, succeeding Kelvin Sampson. Though the Sooner Nation as a whole greeted Capel's hiring with optimism, one notable downside of the coaching change emerged--Sampson's departure caused three of the players who had signed with OU (once considered a top 5 recruiting class) to rethink each's decision to attend OU. Scottie Reynolds went on to Villanova, where he led his team to the NCAA tournament and Damion James was a key part to a Texas team which was defeated by Southern California in the second round of the NCAA tournament. In his first year as head coach, the Sooners missed any form of postseason play.

But in his second year, the Sooners finished 21-10 during the regular season (9-7 in Big 12 play) earning them a #4 seed in the Big 12 Tournament and a #6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Personal life

Capel is married to fellow Duke alumna Kanika Réale Blue, daughter of Daniel T. Blue, Jr. and Edna E. Blue. They wed in 2003. The two had their first child April 26, 2007 by the name of Cameron Isabella Capel at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Head coaching record

CBB Yearly Record Start
type=coach
conference=
postseason=
poll=noCBB Yearly Record Subhead
name=Virginia Commonwealth
startyear=2002
conference=Colonial Athletic Association
endyear=2006|CBB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
season = 2002-2003
name = VCU
overall = 18-10
conference = 12-6
confstanding = T-2nd
postseason = CBB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
season = 2003-2004
name = VCU
overall = 23-8
conference = 14-4
confstanding = 1st
postseason = NCAA 1st RoundCBB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
season = 2004-2005
name = VCU
overall = 19-13
conference = 13-5
confstanding = T-2nd
postseason = NIT Opening RoundCBB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
season = 2005-2006
name = VCU
overall = 19-10
conference = 11-7
confstanding = 5th
postseason = CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = VCU
overall = 79-41
confrecord = 50-22CBB Yearly Record Subhead
name=Oklahoma
startyear=2006
conference=Big 12 Conference
endyear=|CBB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
season = 2006-2007
name = Oklahoma
overall = 16-15
conference = 6-10
confstanding = T-7th
postseason = CBB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
season = 2007-2008
name = Oklahoma
overall = 23-12
conference = 9-7
confstanding = T-4th
postseason = NCAA 2nd RoundCBB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Oklahoma
overall = 39-27
confrecord = 15-17CBB Yearly Record End
overall=118-68

References

Persondata
NAME=Capel III, Jeff
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Capel III, Felton Jeff (real name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Basketball player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH=February 12, 1975
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=