PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Some are still skeptical and understandably so, Pitt basketball hasn’t had a winning season since 2015-16. It has been average to awful during its time in the ACC Conference (41 wins, 87 losses).
Among those who believe times are changing with the Panthers is the winningest Division 1 college basketball coach of all-time. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has won 1,132 games, but last night picked up his 344th loss at the Petersen Events Center.
“Jeff’s team is very good,” Krzyzewski said Tuesday. “They probably have a player of the year in their conference in (Justin) Champagnie. He’s terrific. He and (Au’Diese) Toney give them that toughness and experience that other guys can build off of.”
It has been a struggle during Capel’s first two years at Pitt, going 9-29 in the ACC, 30-36 overall. Krzyzewski believes Tuesday night was not a fluke.
“He’s done a really good job with his team,” Krzyzewski said. “Now that they are healthy, they have a set group. They have a rotation, because they play together. A number of those kids were 16 and 17 last year. One of the best ways is to go through that. (It’s) how he’s built his program. They are tough through experience.”
“They played a lot of minutes last year and showed flashes of really playing well. Now they are ready to take another step. That’s something we don’t have. Jeff’s stuck with those kids. It looks like they have great rapport. They are playing really hard and well together.”
His four years coaching him and seven coaching alongside him might make his opinion biased. Coach K believes the Panthers are reaping the benefits of their hire March 27, 2018.
“Jeff’s been a head coach since he was in his late 20s,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s the guy who built VCU’s program and then went out to Oklahoma and won 30 games. Had the national player of the year (Blake Griffin). He’s an established coach.”
“When he was fired. We were fortunate enough to get him to come back to Duke and help us with our program. They (Pitt) didn’t hire him to develop him. They hired him to develop a program.”
That program is now 8-2 and opened a lot of eyes on national TV Tuesday night.