Once a basketball player in NC, now coaching in Pitt…

Jason Capel is the assistant coach, associate head coach, pit basketball. He works with his brother Jeff, and the Panthers are off to a great start this year.

They are 11-5, second in the ACC at 4-1. Coming off a tough loss, but also two big wins before then. First of all, Jason, how you doing, man? Happy New Year. Things are obviously going well there in Pittsburgh.

Well, yes. Happy New Year. Everything is going well.

Everyone is healthy and blessed to see the New Year. We're just trying to get better every day. We're just trying to work hard and understand that we want progress, not perfection.

Use every day as an opportunity to get better. Our guys are taking steps in the right direction. It's a long season. We got to keep taking those steps forward. So let me just ask this, because it was a tough start to the season.

How did you guys stay together after, because it's been a rough go, but how did you guys stay together after that start? And then we saw the culmination of that in a couple of wins last week over Carolina and Virginia. Well, I guess to the outside world, it was a tough start. We went our first game conventionally. We have a great crowd, a great atmosphere against a rival in West Virginia in the backyard ball. And, you know, for half, it was a good game. And the second half, we got knocked back on our heels a little bit and didn't respond.

I thought that game carried over to the next. VCU is a game where I thought we actually did a lot of good things. We just didn't come out on the winning side of it.

So, you know, we had a two game stretch where we didn't play the basketball that we know we were capable of. Now, we understood the work we put in the summer, the team we brought together that had to become a team. You know, this group is a lot of new guys that we didn't have in the summer.

We didn't have everybody until August. So we knew it was going to be a process, but we have older guys, we have guys about the right things. They want to win. They want to do things the right way. And, you know, to their credit, they never waver.

Their confidence was never shaken. We just got back to work. We got back to practice. You know, a lot of times you have so many games consecutively, you know, you really need to get back to practice, get back to the basics, get back to working on things to help you continue to get better. We did that.

The guys are trusted to process as they say, they put the battery in one another's backs and just continue to work hard. And you know, when you work hard, when you have a good group, when you have a group that's together, you have a chance for good things to happen. And, you know, like I said, we just want to get better every day with the chance to, uh, when, when, when game time comes, we want to know on that night. And that's our focus, the senior focus of saying at the moment, this is also, this is, I mean, it's a brand new era, I guess of not just college basketball, but college sports. Cause all, basically all of your best players came from somewhere else, not a high school, uh, blank Henson from Ole miss, uh, Jamarius Burton from Texas tech by way of Wichita state, Nelly Cummings from Colgate, Greg Elliott from Marquette there.

I mean, it's just, it's so transient. How, how hard is it to build a team when it seems like every year? I mean, it's a new group anyway, but every year it's an older guys too. So maybe it's easier. I don't know.

I asked you. Well, I think like you say you have older guys. I mean, the thing you said about every player that you've named their college graduates, they've graduated college.

So they're older, they're seasoned. Um, you know, many of them have come from winning situations or been a part of winning and they want nothing more than to, to win, you know, on, on, on their last goal of playing college basketball, being a part of, uh, the college sports environment, they want to win. And they trust that, um, the group that we brought together with them being an intricate part, each one, um, as well as Puerto Rico, Federico and all the other guys we brought in, um, they just want to be a part of winning. Again, it's a very selfless team. It's a team that has grown off the court to be very together. And when you have that and you have some talent and a belief, you know, good things can happen. Now, again, uh, it's, it's, it's a long season and we've gotten off to a pretty good start, uh, because we've been together because we've been pretty disciplined and because we've been connected and had, you know, a focus on, as I said, a singular, a singular focus, which is concentrating on the moment, whether that's everyday at practice, whether that's when it's game time, just being one to know at the end of that night. Um, we have a group that's been laser sharp, um, in focusing on those moments, Jason cable, assistant coach at Pitt is joining us here on the Adam Gold show. I have a number of questions, but I, I'm curious what the role that the administration has played, uh, in, uh, the fact that you guys have overcome whatever hurdles there were at the start and are playing really good basketball.

And I think Clemson is wonderful. That was a heck of a basketball game, uh, that unfortunately you guys came out on the short end of, but, uh, man, just high level basketball, really the last few weeks for you guys, especially in league play, but the level of importance of the administration's faith in what you guys are doing. Well, I think it's great faith. I think they understand that, uh, it's been a process.

Look, everyone wants things to happen. Um, overnight, you know, we live in a microwave society and we understand, and you know, you're in the business of winning, but you know, every situation isn't built to walk in and win. You have to, uh, you have to work, you have to build, you have to overcome. And, and we are in a situation where we put together a good group, a good group of guys, and that, that believe in what we're doing.

And you just, you trust that the people that entrusting you in the job believe in that as well. And, uh, they've been very supportive. Uh, you know, can't say enough about our fans, the Oakland zoo, the student body, uh, for the support they'd giving, um, getting behind our team, behind our guys, uh, because truthfully our guys deserve it. They work really hard.

They're together bunch. And, uh, again, we've gotten off to a good start, but we understand it's a long season. It's a, uh, it's an underrated place.

Isn't it? Uh, it is, it is, you know, I, I had the, the pleasure of calling games here when I worked for ESPN, Raycom sports. Um, so I've seen what it was, what it's been like, and to be here as a coach, to feel that energy, uh, to see it and, and, and to see it this year, uh, with what we've been able to do early in the season in ACC, um, has been pretty special. I mean, even when, uh, over break, when the students weren't here, you say a Carolina game or Virginia game, uh, the ones locally still turned out.

We still had great crowds, great atmosphere, and we're going to need it as the season progresses. Jason cable is joining us here. All right. Give me a, give me a scout on the Duke blue devils. We have seen here a bunch. Uh, it's, it's not, they have not gotten the start that they wanted, but when you look at them on tape, what do you see? Uh, they're a good team. Uh, they're a good team.

They have great size. You know, I think, uh, you know, you look at, you know, roads at the point guard position. I mean, he's a guy that took them, uh, helped lead them to the final four when he stepped into that, uh, point guard role, uh, towards the middle of the end of the season last year.

And he commands that he's, he's one of the top guards, uh, in ACC, they have size, they have versatility. Um, they have young guys that are only going to get better. Uh, so we understand we have our work cut out for us, especially, you know, going into a place like Cameron indoor stadium. Um, but we've been pretty good on the road and to win on the road, you have to be together.

You have to be confident. Um, and you have to play as one unit and understand it's going to be a fight, uh, you know, for 40 minutes. And we have a group that has done well in those environments. This is a little different from any place that we've played so far on the road, a true road game.

Um, but I think we're up for the challenge understanding. We're playing against a very big team, a very talented team, and, uh, we have to play really well to get a win. You're not going up against coach K anymore.

It's a whole, uh, it's a whole new thing. Did the win at NC state? Cause I think the Wolfpack are really good too. Did the win at NC state prove anything to your guys? And now another no brainer money saving tip from progressive. That doesn't sound good. Paper shredders jammed, but I think I fixed it. Oh, well try shredding these $50 bills.

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You know, he took Kansas down to the wire. They're a very good team with one of the best guards in the country. And I think Burns is playing very good basketball up front. I mean, you got to really score the basketball and defensively with their pressure and their intensity. They can take you out of your offense if you allow it. But again, we were confident we have an older bunch and we met force with force on the road and to get wins and, you know, another team's home.

That's what you have to do. And so we were happy with the win. We were confident we were going to win and we continue to build from there. You know, you look at going to Syracuse, you look at coming home and playing North Carolina and Virginia. So again, it's a team that has gained confidence, but more so become a team and become more and more connected as we progress through this season. And we're going to need it in Durham.

Yeah, you got three game winning streak, a three game road streak as well, by the way, coming up, Duke, Georgia Tech and Louisville. I want to ask you a question about watching your brother as the head coach. How much does he remind you of your dad? Oh, that's a great question. Very much. You know, it's kind of eerie at times. I catch myself. I turn away and laugh because he can make facial expressions. He can say things. He can, uh, some of his mannerisms are identical. Um, it could be on the court. It could be in a film session. Um, it can be in a team meeting and just some of the things he says again, he does.

And more, more so than anything, his facial expressions look exactly like our father. Uh, there are things that, you know, he'll say in practice or, you know, at different times and we'll kind of look at each other and laugh because we both know, yeah, you got that from that, you know? Um, so it's pretty cool. Um, it's pretty cool to work side by side for me.

It's pretty cool to, you know, be a soldier and try to help build and, um, be with him and, and, and, and, and take steps forward and doing something special here in Pittsburgh. It's more fun than TV. Uh, it's more stressful than TV.

You put a nice suit on, put a nice tie on, get a fresh haircut. You know, you know, the teams, you talk basketball, you smile pretty and win or lose, you go home and you feel pretty good about yourself. Um, whereas, you know, being a coach, the preparation of it, understanding that feeling in your gut, uh, never goes away, but as a competitor, um, you know, you don't feel that when you stop playing the game coaching is what gives you that TV gives you the excitement and it's a load of fun. Um, but there's nothing quite like being on those sidelines. If you can't be on the court, being on those sidelines and having that feeling in your gut, whether it's good or bad, win or lose, um, you're playing for, you're playing for something that means a lot to not only yourself, but more importantly, you know, to those kids that you're helping and hoping can have and share it. Some of the moments that we all had as players, final thing would, would you have gone back to coach if it wasn't, uh, to work with your brother or would you have stayed in TV?

I would stay in television. That's an easy answer for me. Yeah. I appreciate your time, Jason cable. Good luck at Duke coming up tomorrow. I appreciate it. And we'll talk to you down the road. All right. Thanks a lot guys.

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