The sports world, of course, was consumed and saddened by the tragic death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter and seven others believed to have been on board.
Capel, through his experiences with USA Basketball, had had personal interactions with Bryant and shared the discussions he has already had with his Pitt team about the news.
"One of things I think to talk about is just how precious life is and don't take it for granted. I think we, everyone, we take so many things for granted. Life has a way of smacking you in the face and making you realize you take things for granted.
It's just a tragic, tragic day. I mean I haven't felt like this, maybe ever, over someone that wasn't related to me. And seeing our guys, we got the news literally right after practice yesterday, right when he huddled and walked off. The news was given to me and seeing our guys' reaction...Kobe was like the [Michael] Jordan of these guys' generation. He was beloved, he was an icon. He's someone that all these guys looked up to. He's someone that seemed invincible to be honest with you and to see this happen to him and his baby is heartbreaking."
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Capel said that Coach K and the Blue Devils were recruiting very hard to get Kobe Bryant to come play for them and it is believed that had he gone to college, it would have been at Duke. Bryant, of course, instead became the youngest player to play in the NBA when went into the league as a 17 year old.
"You had this high school kid that comes into the NBA and if you think about his career, he was brash, he was confident. You basically watched him grow up. From a kid who was a rookie shooting air balls in playoffs against Utah to a champion."
Capel also told of his personal interactions with Kobe.
"Through USA Basketball (he had interactions with him). When I was at Duke, I know one time we played Miami down at Miami and he came to the game. He came to our locker room afterwards, met the guys. Obviously a really great guy. It's hard, man, to see something like this happen to someone that seemed so happy and had everything together and doing so many positive things for people, for the world. It's something that's going to sting for a long time."
Capel said it will likely be an emotional game for both Pitt and Duke when they meet tomorrow night but they must move forward and keep playing, saying it would most likely be what Bryant would have wanted.