Jeff Capel knew his words would get him in trouble, and the consequences came in the form of a public reprimand from the University of Pittsburgh on Sunday night.
"The University of Pittsburgh has issued a public reprimand of head men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel for violating the ACC Sportsmanship Principle following Pitt’s game at Clemson Saturday, March 6," Pitt released in a statement. "Coach Capel accepts full accountability for his actions, understands the consequences of the comments and has spoken privately to the appropriate parties involved."
The comments Capel made after Pitt's loss to Clemson on Saturday targeted ACC officials for applying what the coach saw as a 'double standard' against the Panthers for the last two seasons, and especially this season.
The ACC Sportsmanship Principle states: “Public criticism of officials or public comments evaluating the officiating of particular contests is not in the best interest of intercollegiate athletics. Individuals associated with the athletics program are prohibited, therefore, from commenting while acting in an official capacity on officiating other than directly to the Conference office.”
Capel made it clear Saturday that he knew he would be reprimanded for what he was saying. Throughout several points of the regular season he had referenced his history of playing and coaching in the ACC and how he understood that star players got preferential treatment on foul calls. The coach doesn't believe Justin Champagnie was getting that benefit despite leading the ACC in scoring for most of the season, finishing second behind Duke's Matt Hurt, and collecting the most rebounds in the conference.
But each time he made those comments in January or February, Capel always included the caveat that his players had to make due with their situations and do what they could to stay focused on the game and not give officials any reasons to call them for technical fouls.
While he did that at the beginning of his statement Saturday, the tone of his comments shifted when he pointed out how Champagnie wasn't given a single free throw and how other teams had been demonstrative in unsportsmanlike conduct but hadn't been punished with the same technical fouls during games. He ultimately concluded his comments by calling the situation, 'bullshit.'
Capel now has to prepare his Panthers to play No. 13-seed Miami in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday, 2 p.m. at Greensboro Coliseum.
