A New Candidate

We’re going to get back to the coaching search today. In an interview with the Associated Press Tubby Smith said yesterday that he is extremely happy in Minnesota and that he had no intention of leaving the school. Now knowing coach speak that could just be a cover and the right thing to say while his agent secretly negotiates behind closed doors, but for the sake of this article we’ll assume that Smith will be a long shot. That leaves UVa with 3 top-flight coaching candidates left; Anthony Grant of VCU, Sean Miller of Xavier, and Jeff Capel of Oklahoma. Grant is listed as the favorite to get every available opening and because of his coaching experience at Florida under Billy Donovan, look for Grant to return to the SEC this season, especially if Billy Gillespe of Kentucky is fired and Donovan takes the Kentucky job.  That leaves it down to Sean Miller of Xavier and Jeff Capel of Oklahoma. There is another coaching rumor that Jamie Dixon of Pitt will be leaving to take the Arizona job if it is offered to him which would mean that Miller, a western Pennsylvania native, will be taking the Pittsburgh job. That leaves Jeff Capel as the top candidate for the UVA coaching job, and as I read into him I think he might be the best fit.

                Capel played at, brace yourselves fans, Duke, from 1993-1997. The 34 year old spent 4 years as head coach at VCU before taking the job at Oklahoma and was an assistant at VCU and ODU in the three years prior to that. Capel’s Father was the head coach at ODU during his time there. Capel is obviously an ACC boy through and through and UVA would most likely symbolize the pinnacle of his career, especially since Johnnie Dawkins appears to have the inside track for the Duke Job if Krzyzewski ever retires. If UVA could land Capel it would symbolize the best of both worlds between Smith and Grant. Capel would bring Grants youth and enthusiasm, as well as knowledge of the region and recruiting base, but also Smith’s proven track record.  Capel has Oklahoma as one of the top teams in the country in only his third season at the school. As a UVA fan I would take that deal in a second. While it would take a bit of cash to wrestle away from Oklahoma I think he would be well worth the investment.

                Now this is assuming the athletic department actually wants Capel and not Smith. If the athletic department wants Smith they did a horrendous job of pursuing him. Smith is now in a tough spot if he wants the job because he needs to pander to Minnesota in case the deal cannot be worked out. However if the athletic department does in fact want Capel and is using Smith to take the attention off Capel during the tournament so they can negotiate better than this is a brilliant move, but lets be honest those are rare here. The Wahoowatch approves of the 3 candidates mentioned in this article, but expect other candidates to emerge.