Oklahoma Sooners

Jeff Capel Head Coach Fourth Season 69-33 (.676) at OU   Capel Bio (PDF) OU Coaching Staff

Oklahoma caught most college basketball insiders -- if not all of them -- by surprise when it named then-31-year-old Jeff Capel its 13th men's basketball head coach on April 11, 2006.  In three short seasons, Capel has made the OU decision makers who selected him look genius.

After serving four years as head coach at Virginia Commonwealth, Capel arrived in Norman ready to launch the Oklahoma program back into the national limelight, and he has done just that.  In fact, Capel's swift rebuilding project has netted him the most wins (69) and best winning percentage (.676) of any coach in OU history after three years at the helm.

The Sooners' last two campaigns have been particularly impressive, with seven-win improvements occurring both seasons.  Oklahoma posted a 23-12 record in 2007-08 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  It followed with a 30-6 mark in 2008-09 and made the program's first Elite Eight showing since 2003. 

Last year's 30-win season was just the sixth ever for the school.  Capel watched his squad bolt to a 25-1 start and reach the No. 2 spot in the national rankings -- the program's highest perch in 19 seasons.

The Sooners' on-court exploits have been buoyed by Capel's remarkable achievement on the recruiting trail.  The energetic mentor with Tobacco Road lineage has signed four McDonald's All-Americans in the last three years.  OU had signed five such players in its history prior to his arrival.

Capel's success at Oklahoma should come as no surprise based on his performance at VCU, where he recorded a 79-41 (.658) overall record and a 50-22 (.694) mark in Colonial Athletic Association play.  His Rams boasted a 47-11 overall home record for a staunch .811 winning percentage.

In 2003-04, VCU's CAA Tournament championship game victory over George Mason catapulted the Rams to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996.  VCU lost in the first round to Wake Forest, but not before putting a major scare into the fourth-seeded Demon Deacons, 79-78.  Capel's 2004-05 squad, which finished 19-13, competed in the National Invitation Tournament, marking just the third time in VCU history that it made consecutive postseason appearances.

The Rams won at least 18 games each of Capel's four seasons at VCU with the 2003-04 squad registering a Capel-era-best 23-8 record.  His first team finished 18-10 in 2002-03 as Capel tied a school record for wins by a first-year head coach.  In 2005-06, VCU finished 19-10 overall and 11-7 in league play.

In August 2005, Capel served as an assistant coach on the gold-medal-winning USA Men's World University Games Team that finished 8-0 in Turkey.  Villanova's Jay Wright was the head coach while Seton Hall's Bobby Gonzalez served as the other assistant.  The squad featured, among others, Midwest City (Okla.) High School and Duke University standout Shelden Williams.

Capel began his coaching career as an assistant at Old Dominion University in 2000 before moving to VCU as an assistant for the 2001-02 season.  In 2002, he became the youngest NCAA Division I head coach at age 27.

A four-year starter for Hall-of-Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke from the 1993-94 through 1996-97 campaigns, Capel earned Atlantic Coast Conference honors each of his seasons in Durham.  The guard, who wore No. 5, averaged 12.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 3-pointers during his career.  He ranks 22nd in career scoring at Duke (1,601 points), 16th in minutes played (3,774), sixth in 3-pointers (220), seventh in 3-point attempts (553), seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (.398) and 10th in assists (433).

Capel started 28 games as a freshman for a Duke squad that lost to Arkansas in the 1994 national championship game, 76-72.  He led the Blue Devils in scoring as a junior (16.6 ppg) and helped Duke to a No. 8 final AP ranking as a senior.  He averaged 26.5 points over Duke's two NCAA Tournament games his final year, the same season he was named an Academic All-ACC selection.

Responsible for one of the most memorable shots in college basketball history, Capel nailed a running, buzzer-beating 30-footer to force double-overtime against rival North Carolina in a 1995 home game.  The contest ranked No. 1 on the list of 25 Greatest Moments in ESPN Basketball History and the play was nominated for an ESPY award.

Capel boasts a strong basketball pedigree.  His father, Jeff Capel Jr., was an eight-year Division I head coach at Old Dominion (seven years) and North Carolina A&T (one year), and currently serves as an assistant coach for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats franchise.

Capel's younger brother, Jason, was a four-year starter at North Carolina who averaged 12.1 points during the 1998-99 through 2001-02 seasons.  Jason Capel helped the Tar Heels to the 2000 Final Four.