Recap!
Welcome to Flashpoint! Exciting theme music! Pictures of Mike Turpen and Kirk Humphreys floating through the air! Happy Mother's Day! Kevin Ogle says Turpen is the one who got Capel on the show.
Blah, blah, blah...
Turpen tells Capel to talk about his family a bit. Capel says he has an amazing wife, it's the best recruiting job he's ever done. Wife's an attorney, met in college though they didn't really know each other. Started dating his first year out of school, long-distance relationship; her at Yale, him in France or Grand Rapids or Virginia or all over the place. Two amazing daughters; Cameron just turned 3, Sidney (Sydney? dunno) will be one in 19 days.
Humphreys wants to know if Cameron understands what her dad does. A bit, she loves the games, wants to wear her cheerleading outfit, always talking about "her boys." The person who got her to take her first steps was Blake Griffin.
Turpen wants to know what kind of human beings Taylor and Blake Griffin are, and then Kevin Ogle weirdly interrupts and asks about Blake's injury, which Capel says is fine and he's been cleared to resume basketball-related activities. Went to the Thunder/Lakers game with Blake last week. Blake is a great basketball player, Taylor is a really good basketball player, but they are a hundred times better kids than they are players. He knows he's been spoiled by them and what they represent, credits their parents.
Kevin Ogle says that was a high, but this season was a challenge. You had three or four McD's, was it hard for them to play together. Capel says first that expectations for this team were unrealistic. Secondly, no one -- Capel included -- appreciated what we lost off last year. Everyone apppreciated Blake, but not Taylor or AJ. He made big shots and plays.
We were victims of our own success, got soft w/everyone telling us how good we were, etc. Warned his players against what might happen, but they didn't have a good summer. Poor leadership, very young, very immature, etc.
Kevin Ogle wants to know if Capel is disappointed in the 3 guys going pro. No, he is not. He expected Willie to turn pro. Thought there was a chance Tiny may do it. The only one he is disappointed in was TMG. When he recruited him he thought he would be his Sherron Collins. Tommy's a good kid (let the head-exploding begin). But he started anticipating it in the middle of the conference season, began to prepare for that. Nature of the sport, our sport is so unique w/players leaving after one year. Capel wants the rule changed because unless you have an attendance policy the kid won't go to class the second semester. Reading between the lines and the face Capel made when saying this, I'm guessing the attendance policy is what made them suspect TMG was going pro.
Commercial Break! Celebrity Apprentice! No thanks. Something called newcarnewcar.com. Weird!
And we're back! Kevin Ogle wants to talk about the one-and-done rule. What? Isn't that what we just did? Is that rule tough? Very tough, Capel says. Has to change at the NBA level, thinks it might with the next CBA. He wants a minimum 2 years but would prefer 3. Believes there is a strong push by people in the NBA to get it to 2 years.
Does the rule that you can't work w/players over the summer handcuff you, Kevin Ogle asks. Capel wryly says that there are a lot of "interesting" rules in the sport. From exam week until August 23rd the coaches can't do anything with them. Strength coach can work with them but those are not mandatory.
All the sudden Turpen jumps in and says "What's his name? I know him!" He seems very excited about Joszef Szendrei. We call him Yo-Yo, Capel says. Turpen says that Szendrei is married to his law partner's daugther. Capel says that Szendrei has the biggest son he has ever seen. Really strange moment.
Capel has to awkwardly segue right back into talking about how there are a lot of rules like that handicap your ability to help kids.
Players for next season? Capel praises the returning core of six guys, four scholarship players and two walk-ons. Those guys have really worked hard and really embraced the challenge. They have laid a great foundation for the eight guys arriving in June. Incoming guys are talented but just as importantly want to be at OU, have a chip on their shoulder and feel as if they have something to prove.
Kirk Humphreys wants to know Capel's influences in basketball and in life. Capel says his dad first and foremost, then mentions his grandfather. Says we could do a segment in itself on him, the things he's accomplished in North Carolina and the impact he's had on people's lives. Was the mayor of Southern Pines, NC.
A bit about his brother being the new head coach at Appy State. Capel is happy for him.
Other influences in life: his mom, high school coach and college coach. The thing his HS coach, Coach K and his dad have in common is they use basketball to help boys become men. Because of that, Capel takes the title of coach very seriously and wears it with a badge of honor.
Humphreys wants to know if Coach K or his dad helped him out when things got tough this season. Talks to his parents every day and there were words of encouragement. As for Coach K, he did call and Capel reached out to him as well. They have a weird relationship, he says. Even though he's 35 and hasn't played for him since '97, Coach K is one of the few people in the world that can make Capel feel so good about himself.
Turpen wants to know how he works with Boren, Joe C and Sherri Coale. Capel thinks Boren is one of the best university presidents out there. They bonded during the interview process. Boren was asking about his young age, but Capel had done research and pointed out to him that he was a young governor. Most interesting moment of the show for me. Had never heard that tidbit before. Capel thinks Boren is the best.
As for Joe C., Capel thinks he is a horrible person and can't stand working for him. Kidding! He did not say that. Just making sure you're still reading. Capel thinks he's the best too! I hope he really believes these things, otherwise it must be really annoying to have to publicly shower so much praise on your bosses all the time. Joe C. gives you all the resources you need to be successful, and his support as well.
He and Sherri have developed a great relationship. He's been amazed at learning the things she's done with the program. This season might have been her best coaching job. He thinks she is an amazing woman and coach and the way she's branded her program is one he's tried to learn from.
Utterly bizarre moment as Mike Turpen says it's time for a "self-serving moment" and holds up a picture of seven young men and says they've earned poetry (???) and starts saying something about Rudyard Kipling. This is the second time I've watched this and I have no idea what is going on. In any event, Ryan Randolph is one of the people in the picture. Capel says his nickname is "Rook." We are fortunate to have him in the program, he had a great redshirt season. Turpen then asks him if he can get him to do some poetry for the team and everyone laughs so I guess it's just a joke I'm not getting, but whatever.
End of interview. Capel was good as usual and I'm grateful for any publicity we can get, I was just a bit disappointed as they billed it as being about the "politics of basketball" which I thought could be a legitimately interesting subject, but it was really just a pretty typical interview. Guess they needed a way to tie it to the usual topic of the show.
