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http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jeff-ca...-the-tree/

I hate to hear that about Coach Capel. One of the finest gentlemen we've had coach the Monarchs. Those first few seasons with him were quite special. This article is a nice tribute to a good man.

And I sure miss the days where the fan base would be furious because we didnt make the NCAAs for four seasons.

(01-25-2017 11:50 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jeff-ca...-the-tree/

Great Article!

I skimmed, but the part about Jason and UNC that always irritated me was A) Jeff talking him out of going to ODU. If it was obvious from the start that he wasn't going to consider ODU, that's one thing. But for the dad to tell him NOT to go to ODU really frosted me, and B) How could Jeff then go into the homes of anything but an ordinary recruit and convince him ODU was the place for them. Do you not think opposing schools were saying, 'Hey, he talked his own son out of going there, but he's telling you it's good enough for you?' Severely limited what recruits we could go after IMO.

Fact is, after Jason decided for UNC, Jeff should have resigned. His credibility was severely compromised.

I'm sorry it turned out that way because I agree with Monarx -- terrific gentleman, good coach. I'm sorry for his condition, truly sad.

(01-25-2017 11:50 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jeff-ca...-the-tree/

Thanks, a really special article that hits so many of the right notes.

As someone that knew Jason in high school (before he transferred), I have no issues with that. I also have a son and that gives me some perspective. Jeff was in the position of either encouraging his son to go the school of his dreams or follow his dad to a school that his son did not have interest in attending. Jeff is certainly a great man and did the honorable thing. Convince your son to follow you for his own personal gain or to go to the school he wants to attend?

Lets not lose track of perspective. Jason was a top 5 recruit in the entire country. ODU is not and never will be on the level of where they are attracting top 5 recruits. It makes zero sense for a top 5 recruit to attend ODU. If the kids we recruited at the time and they believed that since a top 5 recruit didn't attend, then that school isn't good enough for them that is on the kids and their lack of a sense of reality.

Whether that hurt him, I don't know. I do know he left Blaine with a couple good players in Ricardo Marsh, Pierre Greene, John Waller, and Rasheed WRight.

(01-25-2017 12:36 PM)jumpshooter Wrote:  I skimmed, but the part about Jason and UNC that always irritated me was A) Jeff talking him out of going to ODU. If it was obvious from the start that he wasn't going to consider ODU, that's one thing. But for the dad to tell him NOT to go to ODU really frosted me, and B) How could Jeff then go into the homes of anything but an ordinary recruit and convince him ODU was the place for them. Do you not think opposing schools were saying, 'Hey, he talked his own son out of going there, but he's telling you it's good enough for you?' Severely limited what recruits we could go after IMO.

Fact is, after Jason decided for UNC, Jeff should have resigned. His credibility was severely compromised.

I'm sorry it turned out that way because I agree with Monarx -- terrific gentleman, good coach. I'm sorry for his condition, truly sad.

That wasn't my takeaway from that story. I saw it as a dad helping his son realize what he always wanted. He wasn't telling him not to go to ODU, he was telling him something he may not have understood consciously until that moment: that three of the schools are on that list because of someone else (Jason, or Tommy Amaker), but the fourth school is where he wanted to be all along. Sure, Jason could have gone to ODU to make his dad happy, or even because his dad told him to. But then he's not making a decision based on his own best interests. Maybe he's never truly content because he's at the school he was expected to go to, and not the school he wanted to. Maybe he transfers. Maybe Jeff gets a high-major job and Jason follows.

Forcing Jason to go to ODU would have been a disservice both to him and to ODU. And it would have meant putting job ahead of family -- and that almost never works out in the long run. Good on Jeff for understanding that, even if it means my school didn't get the big fish.

First, if you want to subject yourself to it, see the doc on Amazon about Steve Gleason. The former NO Saint that has ALS and watch how quickly that diesease progresses. It'll give you an idea of what the later life of JC, Jr is going to be like. Its very sad.

I was a freshman at ODU when Purnell left and we were looking for a new coach. I was even interviewed by the mace and crown and quoted about it (not b/c I knew anything about basketball, but more because the guy interviewing was talking to everybody that walked by about who we thought the next coach should be and listed a few names, JC being one of them - why they picked my quote I'll never understand - I'd never heard of any of the coaches and had no clue what I was talking about).

I remember when Jason was in HS and we were all hoping that he'd come to ODU, but I certainly didn't think it was going to happen. I have no problems with how that went down and JC, Jr. certainly guided his son the right way IMO. If ODU really held that over him, then shame on them.

Another tid-bit - I didn't know that JC, Jr was rumored to be the next HC of FSU. Or was he talking about himself/JC, III.?

(01-25-2017 01:47 PM)ODU_NYG Wrote:  Another tid-bit - I didn't know that JC, Jr was rumored to be the next HC of FSU. Or was he talking about himself/JC, III.?

JC II interviewed for the FSU job. After his second NCAA trip he became the hot new up and coming coach. I think his name being tied to, either in fact or in rumor, so many possible jobs did just as much to hasten his departure from ODU, if not more, than not landing Jason.

I'm really sorry to hear about Coach Capel. He really is a great man.

(01-25-2017 02:47 PM)ODU2K1 Wrote:  

(01-25-2017 01:47 PM)ODU_NYG Wrote:  Another tid-bit - I didn't know that JC, Jr was rumored to be the next HC of FSU. Or was he talking about himself/JC, III.?

JC II interviewed for the FSU job. After his second NCAA trip he became the hot new up and coming coach. I think his name being tied to, either in fact or in rumor, so many possible jobs did just as much to hasten his departure from ODU, if not more, than not landing Jason.

I'm really sorry to hear about Coach Capel. He really is a great man.

I think they were tied together. In my opinion deep down Jeff knew Jason wasn't going to play at ODU and he was trying to leverage his desirability at the time into a job in a conference Jason would play in. Florida State and St. Johns were both discussed. I think both schools were interested in Jeff Sr in hopes that Jason would come along. Makes sense, I remember when Jeff was hired here, we were all excited that his son was one of the best 8th graders in the country. Jeff also kept our hopes up about Jason. When Jason went away to prep school for his senior year he said something along the lines of Jason would be getting his time away now, since he'll be coming home later.

At one point Coach K was talking about retiring, and rumor was if he did Jeff 3 would have transferred to ODU too. We'll never know.

Anyway, once Jason didnt come, and Capel was rumored for tons of jobs but didnt land any, recruiting hit the tank. Yes, talk was that if it wasn't good enough for the coaches son, why should anyone go. Ricardo and Rasheed were all the high quality players that were left when he got fired. I liked Pierre and John but they weren't great players. Charles Dunnington, Troy Nance and Joe Principe were on that team too. And we talk about the players now that shouldn't be D1...

BT was left with a major rebuild and did a bang up job.

Coach Capel was my 2nd favorite coach in ODU history behind only Sonny Allen. Allen is ahead of him in my book because he put ODU on the map with the "running Monarchs". But getting back to Capel, he brought in one of the best recruiting classes ever with Bowdler, Bassett, Poug, Byers, and Benson ( the highest rated but never played because of a heart condition). He also coached us to our biggest win ever in the NCAA. One other fact is a Coach Capel team never lost to a lower seed in the CAA tournament. I don't believe we have ever had another coach to do that. Think about that. We may not always have the top seed but it's a real bummer when a lower seed knocks you out. As mentioned in a previous post, he was a gentleman and a class act. And he must have been a heck of a good influence on his kids. They may not have played here but how many fathers can have a son that played and starred at both Duke and UNC?

Wow, I had no idea. What a touching article. So well written and so sad. And a few of us took a lot of heat back in the day, especially near the end of his tenure but I'll tell you all right here. When many of you looked at up at SCOPE and you saw that Capels Corner banner hanging every game, that was me and my buddies. "Coach" was a great guy, who always had time for you,the kind of man who would see you in Kelly's tavern and ask you to come over and say hi to a recruit they really wanted, a guy named Mike Byers.

This is so sad.

Still one of the best days ever for me and my buddies. Saint Patrick's Day, 1995. First the greening of Ghent party. And later that night, one of the best basketball games ever played, ODU's triple overtime victory against Villanova.

Best to all the Capel's.

ALS sucks.. My father passed away last month from ALS. 3 years of hell. ALS fuccckin sucks.

OMG... what a wonderfully written article. I think the description of Jason's recruitment decision with the story of Jeff, the dad's, input makes me think better of the coach as opposed to feeling he was 'dissing" ODU. Very moving.

My heart goes out to the Capels. I know the scourge that is ALS. My niece was diagnosed almost 6 years ago at the age of 43. She has already surpassed the average life span after diagnosis. The article didn't mention the coack' age but my guess would be realy 60's which is rather old for first diagnosis. The ALS center at UVA has eased the burden of such an atrocious disease. They help provide the most amazing equipment including a wheelchair that is so advanced I can't even describe everything it does!

All the money raised from the ice bucket challenge has enabled some amazing breakthroughs. Pray that some of them really make a difference and can bring some hope to our loved ones suffering from ALS.

Well written and touching article about a son's love and respect for his father. Moving.

(01-27-2017 12:30 AM)Monarch Homselr Wrote:  OMG... what a wonderfully written article. I think the description of Jason's recruitment decision with the story of Jeff, the dad's, input makes me think better of the coach as opposed to feeling he was 'dissing" ODU. Very moving.

My heart goes out to the Capels. I know the scourge that is ALS. My niece was diagnosed almost 6 years ago at the age of 43. She has already surpassed the average life span after diagnosis. The article didn't mention the coack' age but my guess would be realy 60's which is rather old for first diagnosis. The ALS center at UVA has eased the burden of such an atrocious disease. They help provide the most amazing equipment including a wheelchair that is so advanced I can't even describe everything it does!

All the money raised from the ice bucket challenge has enabled some amazing breakthroughs. Pray that some of them really make a difference and can bring some hope to our loved ones suffering from ALS.

+1

After watching my father battle ALS for 3 years it was dreadful. I wish we had gone with UVA ALS clinic instead we went with Dukes clinic and it was awful. Doctors could never agree with each other. Medical equipment was never order, said to be back order, waiting for a parts or IT to program computers. My father died while waiting for his first computerize wheelchair. He was nonverbal for the last 8 months of his life. At all cost I was willing to pay for anything to make his life better. I felt because he was age 65 at diagnosis they just didn't move as fast as someone younger. Doctor said the avg age for diagnosis is 56 years old at Duke.

Help find a cure: http://webdc.alsa.org/site/PageServer?pa...C_homepage

(01-27-2017 08:23 AM)GO_MONARKS Wrote:  Well written and touching article about a son's love and respect for his father. Moving.

+10000