Love his enthusiasm, but some definite overstatements and mistruths exist in that piece....I still don't understand why people have to put down Kelvin Sampson in order to raise up Jeff Capel. Jeff Capel can stand on his own. Kelvin Sampson is a fine basketball coach that did some great things for OU basketball. I will remember him for the good....
I hope that Coach Capel will be here long enough to be the best coach in OU basketball history. Fortunately for our program and for the sake of tradition, he has a lot of work left to do if he wants to earn that claim. He is off to a great start! :clap
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Try and tell Jeff Capel OU isn’t a Basketball School
Posted by Don't Call Me Bill on October 30th, 2009 under Basketball
He isn’t listening.
Dear OU FANS I have an announcement to make, the days of OU Basketball being viewed as something to do between a bowl game, the last six years a bowl loss, and spring practice is history.
Oh how far we have come in three years. To understand this amazing transformation and what lies ahead let us not forget our colored past.
On a ho hum day in 1980 OU hired the Jack Nicolson of college Basketball and OU’s Basketball fortunes changed forever. The 24/7 full court press, constant screaming and always entertaining Billy “No matter how bad the officials are don’t chunk trash on the court” Tubbs. Billy served us 14 years of Fast Times at Ridgemont High style basketball, the only thing missing was Jeff Spicoli ordering a pizza courtside.
Billy ball was a crafty mixture of Juco ball on glue with a full throttle 24/7 press and Harlem Globetrotter nicknames. Billy’s high flying loud mouth routine didn’t fit into David Boren’s cabinet plans, in stepped the chairman of the NCAA’s 2005 basketball ethics committee Kelvin Sampson. Sampson promised a clean and polished program filled with victories and graduating student athletes. Forward 12 seasons later a 279-109 overall record, three conference tournament championships, eleven NCAA tournament berths, six first-round exits, one trip to the Final Four, less than 25 graduated players and 577 improper phone calls later, OU and the OU fans were left holding one giant bag of dog Feces. An added benefit to Sampson’s teenager like cell phone habits not disclosed by the University was a 9 month Nazi style enema for the OU Athletic program by our favorite governing body once dubbed National Communists Against Athletes by Oklahoma’s favorite steroid/growth hormone stacking split personality Football player.
A behind the scenes 9 month hissy fit by a high profile OU head coach resulted in Sampson exiting stage left. This fall from grace is the catalyst for the best OU basketball coach ever to grace the OU logo.
Joe C’s hiring of this young VCU head coach barely old enough to sport a Landry Jones style porn mustache was given a big YES by the NCAA wigs. Sampson’s 2 McDonald All American signed prospects and the rest of the cell phone posse bolted in the middle of the night for promised greenbacks. The top ranked signed player put it this way “Capel won’t give us what Sampson promised us”. With few options and a young head coach I had visions of another long haul of Juco heavy recruiting classes filled with players of yesterday, William “Don’t Call Me Bill” Davis, Mike “Helicopter” Bell, Andre “the Creator” Wiley, Jackie “I don’t do class” Jones, Jabahri “One hitter” Brown, John “Poindexter” Ontjes, JR “NBA Only” Raymond, Jozsef “Little Allen Banister” Szendrei and the all time thrill a second Calvin “I never met a shot I didn’t like” Curry.
It’s okay remember “we are a Football school” has been drilled into our heads since the days OU Football coaches waltzed around Norman after midnight wearing mink coats, a scotch on the rocks in one hand and sorority skirt in the other. Remember the good ole days, Bill Banowsky Barry’s Godfather said “Barry win another National Championship and no one will care if you are smoke dope.” Heck this is OU Football boys, basketball is something we do after a bowl game and before spring practice.
Not this time Buster, this well mannered young coach with an Ivy League pedigree has a different plan and 5 star high school players coveted by UNC, Duke, UK, KU and every other D-1 school are listening.
In three years Capel’s recruiting is off the charts:
Blake Griffin was swayed into buying the vision and graced us with two years. Year two Willie Warren said no thanks to KU, UNC, UK and others. Year three includes two top 30 players Tiny Gallon and TMG, the class is ranked 7th in the country by Scout, four of the five signed are ranked in the top 75 and all five are four year prospects. Warren will give Capel two Lottery picks, this year’s class appears to include another lottery pick. No Juco nicknames this year we will reserve that prize for Taco Tech and OSU’s Sergeant Carter.
While Sooner fans were worried about OU’s zone blocking scheme and inability to punch it in from the one yard line against Baylor and UT Capel was and still is in a head to head battle with UNC and Duke for the number 1 ranked player in the Country, Harrison Barnes a 6-7 small forward from Ames, IA. Many experts believe he is headed to OU, his visit during the Baylor weekend was off the charts. Capel has already signed a top 30 player in Cam Clark 6-6 shooting guard from Sherman TX and TJ Taylor ranked 91 nationally. Capel is deep in the mix for a handful of top 35 players. Top 10 nationally ranked and the number 1 ranked center Josh Smith, Doron Lamb 6-4 shooting guard ranked 33 overall, Terrance Jones 6-7 Power Forward ranked 15th nationally and 3rd at his position. These are only a few of the official visits by national ranked players that have taken place this fall.
If someone told Jeff Capel this was a Football school first, he sure didn’t listen and I for one am glad.
