Capel focuses on shooting, rebounding to bring back relevance

Jeff Capel knows this year has to be different for Pitt basketball, not just because of how COVID-19 will impact the season, but because he sees potential in his roster that goes beyond the players who've been available to him in his first two seasons.

And he made it abundantly clear after the team's first practice of the 2020-2021 season Wednesday where the focus of improvement after finishing 16-17, 6-14 in the ACC, has to be for the team: shooting.

Not only was Pitt's 65.2 points per game ranked 13th in the ACC last year, but it was the second lowest scoring average by the program since 1970, with the only worse year being Kevin Stallings' final season in 2017-2018. In addition to that, Pitt's 40.4 field goal percentage was 14th, with Boston College's 40.2 field goal percentage being the only ACC worse at shooting from the field.

"It's improving shooting, period," Capel said emphatically when asked what was his biggest focus on improvement for this season. "It's no mistake that last year was one of the worst shooting teams this program has ever had. It's not just three point shooting, but improving shooting all around. Part of it is making sure we get really good shots and the execution of what we're trying to run. Understanding the importance of screening, cutting, movement and doing those things with a purpose, being shot-ready and then being confident shooting the basketball."

Part of what boosts Capel's confidence that his team can be much better this year comes in his backcourt that finally gets to see Ithiel Horton, who missed all of last season due to NCAA transfer rules after coming to Pitt from Delaware. Capel also added his confidence in guards that have already played for Pitt, like Xavier Johnson and Au'Diese Toney.

"We have some guys, with Ithiel being able to play with the reputation of a shooter and has really shot the ball well in our preseason stuff," Capel said. "Au'Diese improved last year. Justin [Champagnie] has to be more consistent, he showed that he can do it but doing it on a consistent basis and it's the same thing with Xavier. William Jeffress is a guy who's shown he can shoot the basketball. We have to do that in game situations and it's not just threes. We need to develop some inside presence this year so we can get some easy baskets inside and draw more fouls. It's improving shooting, get the higher percentage shots and hopefully we can knockdown shots."

Horton noted on Wednesday that even as the team had to remain socially distant for the Spring and Summer, taking in coaching on the fundamentals of shooting the basketball was fine over Zoom, but the only way to actually improve was to get back on the court.

"The coaches just reiterated and hit on our mechanics and mentality going into our shot," Horton said about how the team worked on their shooting. "There's not much else you can talk about because it's mostly action. We're getting in here going through drills at game speed to get the right footwork down and the right mechanics and getting shots up. The only way we become a better shooting team this year is if we get shots up consistently and every day."

That 'we' Horton mentions includes thirteen players on scholarship, which Capel noted is the most he's had as he enters his third year coaching the Panthers. Players like Toney, Champagnie and Johnson are expected to set the tone for the new players adding to the program for what the expectations are under Capel.

"We have thirteen scholarship guys and that's the first time we've had that since we've been here," Capel said. "We have some returning guys that've been with us and that's helpful. We have four guys who've been with us the whole time we've been here so they have a better understanding of what we do and how we do things. We have three sophomores back which is very helpful and we have some talented new guys. We've got more size, more depth and we have to figure out how to put it together."

How Pitt puts this year together started in the offseason as the team dealt with the pandemic and made public stances in support of the Black Lives Matter movement:

"A lot of teams in the Summer become tight," Capel said when asked about how close his players got during the tumultuous offseason. "I think these circumstances helped that a little bit. You're not in the playing time yet and that can cause a team to not become as tight. But we really like this group, how they've worked, how they've tried to show up everyday. We still have a lot of work to do to get better. We have to get more disciplined, understand how much we need each other, show up every day, keep our promises on how we play, and do that at a very high level."

Capel noted that not only has he supported his players' efforts to express themselves in the midst of countrywide protests against racism in police brutality, but that he's taught them about the challenges that face young Black men daily in the United States.

"I don't know of anything my guys have done has been planned," Capel said. "It's been from the heart. Unfortunately for me, as a Black head coach, I had to have these conversations with my guys even before George Floyd. This is a responsibility I've always felt as an adult and certainly as a coach to educate our young people on certain rights and responsibilities as student athletes and what you're going to experience as a Black man in our country." 

"We've told our guys to be true to who you are," Capel continued. "'If you feel something and you feel strongly and passionately about it and you want to express yourself, do it,' is something I tell them. We've had a lot of conversations and we continue to have conversations with young people that really feel it and are impacted by it. Some aren't, which is fine. I've never tried to force anything on anyone just like I wouldn't want anyone to force anything on me."

Horton says that how Capel and his staff have helped the players have given them a home away from home.

"It's been a teaching point for us," Horton said when asked about how the team's approached social issues. "We have these conversations with our parents but being away from our parents we look to our coaches as our home away from home. It's been them sharing their stories and points of view and telling us what to watch out for when we're out walking. Obviously we're not just targets for being African-Americans but also African-Americans playing Pitt basketball so they make sure we're on the right track and staying safe."

Of course, the pandemic is another aspect that has forced the team to embrace challenges off the court.

"We're following the protocols and what coach is telling us," Horton said about how the team was keeping from testing positive for COVID-19. "Not going to parties even though we're young. It's definitely tempting after being locked in the house for three or four months but we have to stay disciplined, indoors and keep our masks on."

Capel notes that all these challenges bring a lot on young college students, but that from these challenges he sees the chance for each of his players to grow from the discipline it will take to get the team through this season.

"Everything is different," Capel said of the challenges the team faces with COVID-19. "What we've tried to do since the beginning, and I talked to the guys about this in March, is to control what we can control. Right now that's our effort, our discipline, doing things off the court, following the guidelines and protocols, then show up with energy, enthusiasm, listen, and get better each day. For a player you're a creature of habit. All the things we've done normally are out of wack and that can make you a little wacky. We're just going to concentrate on the things we can control."

What Capel can't wait for is the start of the season, as that might be the first sense of normalcy that his players have seen since their last game on March 11th.

"It continues to give us hope," Capel said when asked about the start of the season being Nov. 25. "These young people have gone through and continue to go through a very difficult time in the history of collegiate athletics. It's challenging if you look at the current environment with how they're taking classes and all the protocols, it's not normal, especially for a college kid. To have a little bit of normalcy and then have hope as we get closer to playing on November 25th, knowing that won't be normal but that there's hope is important for us to follow the guidelines and protocols laid out by our governor, doctors, scientists and the university. Hopefully we can continue to do that and not have any interruptions."

The players Capel will lean on to show the newest additions to the team what normalcy for Pitt basketball should be like are his returning stars and Horton. He emphasized that even though he's the coach he wants each of his players to take ownership of the program.

"It's the returning guys, more so Xavier, Au'Diese, Justin, Ithiel and those guys have done a good job with that," Capel said when asked about setting the tone for his new players. "We need them to continue to do that. We need other guys to step up and do it. One thing we've tried to teach since I've been here is that ownership of the program isn't mine. I'm just the caretaker, it's ours. It's on all of us to make this thing work. In order to do that, you heard me say this last year and you'll continue to hear me say this, but we have to understand how much we need each other. Everyone has a really important role and we need everyone doing their role every single day."

Part of setting that tone has come from the lessons already learned from Capel's leaders like Johnson, who celebrated his 21st birthday on Wednesday. Johnson became the first Pitt sophomore in the program's history to pass 750 career points and 300 assists, and his 897 points is the second-most of any Pitt sophomore in the program's history, only behind DeJuan Blair's 987.

But what Johnson had to learn was even within his success that he had to be a better teammate, remain humble and trust his teammates more.

"I honestly learned how to trust my teammates more," Johnson said about where he's grown the most. "I learned last year that I was stopping myself and thinking about going to the next level. This year I'm going to keep my head down and just keep grinding. I tell Justin to never get too big of a head. That's one thing I'll stay on him constantly about because that's one thing I did that I don't want him to do. I want him to be better. He's gotten better taking the ball off the dribble and he's staying positive, keeping the same mentality he had last year."

"I worked on becoming a better teammate," Johnson continued. "Last year I wasn't the best teammate and I had to change my attitude going into this season to make all my teammates better around me on and off the court. I have to look for the extra pass, stay positive in my teammates' heads and do the little things to help them reach their best ability."

He credited Pitt's coaching staff for bringing him back to Earth after a hot start to his collegiate career, saying that they even involved his former AAU coaches to help get the message to him.

"The coaching staff really stayed on me," Johnson said about who helped him grow the most. "They tried to get me not to do Hollywood things and they called me Hollywood on the low. My AAU coach talked to them over the Summer about the little things I do. The main things they want me to do is win. That's what the coaching staff told me, my AAU coach, and myself. That's my job right now to put a banner up in the rafters and that's the only thing I have on my mind."

Johnson also said he's trying to pass on those lessons to Champagnie, who led the team with 419 points last season as a freshman.

"I just tell him to never let his head get to big," Johnson said while chuckling. "I don't want him to do the same thing and gets stuck in the same spot I was. I just don't want him to be me, I want him to be better. He's doing really good and gotten better at taking the ball off the dribble and focused on being the same player he was last year and I love that."

Capel added that Johnson talking to Champagnie was part of his coaching staff's plan for keeping him humble and focused going into his sophomore season.

"Something we've talked to Justin a lot about is that he can learn a lot from Xavier and what Xavier went through with expectations," Capel said. "It's very different when playing with expectations. Sometimes it can get the best of you. Sometimes you're getting patted on the back and everyone is telling you how good you are and that can make you a little soft. Then you start feeling yourself a little bit and you don't work as hard as you normally did. That's something we've talked to Justin about. We're very mindful of it. We haven't seen anything that shows that it's affecting him that way but it is something we've talked to him about."

But the most exciting potential addition to the team is Nike Sibande, a transfer senior guard from Miami Ohio who hasn't been cleared for eligibility yet for the season, but Capel hopes he adds to his experienced backcourt.

"He gives us a guy with experience on the college level in the backcourt," Capel said of Sibande. "We have Au'Diese and Xavier with experience, Ithiel does but he didn't play last year. So Nike would be a guy that gives us experience. He's scored over 1,500 points, he's a really good athlete and he just gives us another guy that can create offense for us."

Capel said that although Sibande hasn't been cleared to play yet this season, he's hopeful the NCAA will change that by the November 25 start of the season.

"It's about trying to help the kid continue to fulfill his dream and live out his dream," Capel said about the transfer process. "Is it right that the NCAA puts the institution that the kid is leaving in that position? Who's to say? I'm no expert, but we're hopeful. We're hopeful that Nike is able to play right away. He had a really good experience at Miami Ohio. He really cared about his coaches and the people there and he really worked his butt off for three years there. We're hopeful that the NCAA will grant the appeal and he'll be able to play."

Sibande in practice has wowed teammates, including Johnson who compared Sibande to the young NBA star Ja Morant.

"This is the most athletic team I've played on," Johnson said. "Noah Collier is freaky athletic and Nike reminds me of Ja Morant, for real. Au'Diese is starting to get his knees back and Justin has always been athletic. Will is athletic, still young and growing into his body."

But what Collier, Sibande, Champagnie and Toney and Abdoul Karim Coulibally represent are flexible players who are athletic enough to be dangerous shooters, attackers with the ball, and help the team on the wings. And that's a huge part of Capel's plans to take Pitt basketball up a notch this season.

"It definitely gives us a chance to be more versatile," Capel said of having bigger players on the wings. "We can be bigger, play bigger lineups and also be smaller but athletic. One of the biggest keys for us is rebounding. We have to clean up defensive rebounding. I think in our first two years we've been top five in defense and that's without being a really good defensive rebounding team. That's an area we have to improve. Hopefully with the size, the length, the athleticism, we're able to do that. Hopefully with the added depth we have more competition in practice and more competition for playing time so we can improve in that area. But I am excited for the possibilities for some of the things we can potentially do with this group."

Defensive rebounding plays a huge role in getting Pitt to play at a faster tempo, and Pitt wasn't able to do that last season when it averaged 22.2 defensive rebounds per game, the worst in the ACC.

"We wanted to play fast the first two years but didn't have the personnel and last year we couldn't make a shot," Capel said. "We didn't rebound defensively so it was hard for us to get out in transition. Hopefully this year we can improve there and with more depth we'll play more guys. It's not something that we tried to do as part of a game plan to slow it down and have fewer possessions, it's just something that's happened."

As Pitt gets closer to starting its season, Capel's top tasks of taking the team out of the ACC's basement in shooting and rebounding will be the focal points to keep his players centered on basketball. Those challenges may be the most pivotal point in him getting the program back into NCAA tournament contention.

• Femi Odukale is a 6-foot-5 freshman guard who Capel's also excited to see be part of the team this year and contribute to the team's combination of athleticism and size. He's coming off an injury that Capel says hasn't sidelined him completely, but does have him avoiding any contact in practice.

"He's able to do non-contact practice. He's able to do anything in practice without any contact. There's no definitive timetable for when he'll be cleared for full contact. But everything else he's been cleared for about a week of doing things without contact."

• One might think that senior center Terrell Brown is the presumed starter at his position after filling that role for the last three seasons. But Capel indicated that the increased competition and athleticism have made it a camp battle that he won't announce until it's time to start the season.

"We have more options than we've had," Capel said about the center position. "I feel good about where we are, but we still have a lot of work to do. I don't know who it's going to be yet as far as starting in that spot. But we have options and that creates competition and that gives us 42 days before we have to put it out there who gets that spot."

• Capel made it clear that he's not the expert taking on talks about bubbles and that he's ready to follow ACC guidelines when it comes to those matters.

"We aren't considering it because our league isn't considering it," Capel said when asked if Pitt was considering playing in a bubble. "We aren't going off to do anything without the input and cooperation of our league. I'm not an expert, a scientist or a doctor, I'm a basketball coach. So I'm going to follow the lead of the people who are experts in that field. I don't know much about pandemics, medicine or any of those things. We're going to follow the lead of what the people tell us to do. As of right now I don't know of any bubbles within the ACC. It's something that our league hasn't talked about. It's something that we, as coaches, have talked about it being beneficial for us, but it's not something that, as of right now, will happen."

He followed up that leaving decisions about how to handle the pandemic is someone else's job and that he wants to focus on coaching.

"I'm following what they tell us to do" Capel continued. "One of the things about being a good teammate, player or coach, is to be a good listener. What I do is concentrate on my job. I'm going to listen to the scientists and the doctors, I'm not going to listen to a politician. I'm going to follow everything they tell us to do."