PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan)- It's been a stretch of uncertainty and unprecedented times for all of us, including Jeff Capel and the Pitt men's basketball program in which he leads.
Wednesday, Pitt gets the 2020-21 season started with its first official practice and for Capel, it's just what they need.
"We've been working out for a while but we're trying to have excitement and create excitement for today. This will be a season unlike any other so how do we create excitement, how do we have it where our guys have some sense of normalcy?
Hopefully with today, with the first day, there's excitement and I know our guys are excited. I'd be remiss if I didn't thank everyone at the University of Pittsburgh from our trainers to all the doctors, all the people that are helping that have gotten us in this position where we can get to this point. There is hope for a season."
As far as the work that's being done right now, Capel looked to the NBA for inspiration.
"We have to be prepared for everything. That's why it's important for our guys and for our campus to really adhere to the protocols of wearing a mask of washing hands of keeping social distance. I know somehow that's become a political thing but if you look at this NBA bubble that just happened and I know they were in a bubble, but I don't think it was the bubble that just worked, I think it's the discipline that people had towards the protocols that allowed it to work.
We can't create a "bubble" but one of the things we're trying to do is have a controlled environment. If we can continue to adhere to the protocols that the university has put forth to us, then that gives us a greater chance to play more than 13 games this year."
