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In Coach K's absence, Jeff Capel can prove himself as a potential heir apparent
Even though Duke loses a hall of fame coach with 12 Final Fours appearances, five national titles and three Olympic gold medals, there’s a silver lining to Mike Krzyzewski’s impending leave of absence.
The Blue Devils will now have the chance to audition maybe the leading candidate to someday succeed Krzyzewski.
Associate head coach Jeff Capel will slide over one seat on Duke’s bench for up to four weeks as the 69-year-old Krzyzewski recovers from the back surgery he’s scheduled to undergo Friday. It’s an interim promotion that could become permanent in a few years if the Blue Devils flourish under Capel’s leadership.
Fired at Oklahoma six years ago after back-to-back 18-loss seasons made worse by an NCAA investigation into his staff’s recruiting practices, Capel has rehabilitated his reputation by becoming Krzyzewski’s most valuable lieutenant. Capel elevated Duke’s recruiting, landed many of the pillars of the 2015 national title team and took on added responsibility each time Krzyzewski’s USA Basketball duties drew his attention elsewhere.
When Capel joined Krzyzewski’s staff in 2011, Duke’s blueprint for success was different than it is today. The Blue Devils were winning mostly with three- and four-year players, a formula necessitated by some high-profile recruiting misses on future lottery picks Greg Monroe, John Wall and Harrison Barnes.
Two factors played a big role in Duke reversing that trend and joining Kentucky as college basketball’s most chic destinations for one-and-done prospects.
One factor is Krzyzewski’s ability to leverage his success with USA Basketball. NBA stars embracing and lauding Krzyzewski made him more attractive to today’s top prospects, as did the additional face time he logged with high school players at the U-17, U-18 and U-19 levels.
The other factor is Capel’s remarkable knack for building relationships with elite prospects. The former Duke guard spearheaded the Blue Devils’ pursuit of Jabari Parker, Rodney Hood, Justise Winslow, Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum, among others.
The way in which Capel wooed Okafor and Jones was especially impressive because their pact to attend college together made for a very unusual recruitment. He communicated with them via conference calls and group texts and invited them to visit campus together yet he also made a point of pursuing them as individuals too.
With Jones, Capel pointed out Duke hadn’t offered a scholarship to any other class of 2014 point guards and emphasized that he was a top priority whether Okafor came too or not. With Okafor, Capel was proactive in addressing Duke’s reputation for running a guard-oriented offense that seldom prioritized playing through the low post.
“One of the scare tactics other programs use against us for bigs is they’ll tell them, ‘All you’re going to do is screen and rebound,'” Capel told Yahoo Sports in 2015. “We knew Jah was hearing that, so we tried to combat it early. We told him, ‘This is what you’re going to hear. When we’ve had guys like you, we threw the ball to Mason Plumlee when he was a senior. When Elton Brand was here, he got the ball. The offense ran through him.’ I think we got through to him.”
Helping Duke make a smooth transition to the one-and-done era has elevated Capel into contention to someday succeed Krzyzewski. Succeeding during this month-long audition could make him a clear favorite.
The timing of Capel’s temporary promotion comes at a pivotal moment in a surprisingly turbulent Duke season.
The Blue Devils entered this season as a nearly unanimous No. 1, but injuries to their three most heralded freshmen compromised their preseason preparation. Then just as Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden returned last month, preseason All-American Grayson Allen’s penchant for tripping opposing players resurfaced, resulting in an indefinite suspension.
At 12-2 and eighth in the latest AP poll, Duke certainly is not in crisis, yet last Saturday’s 89-75 loss at Virginia Tech suggests the Blue Devils are a long way from realizing their potential too.
On offense, their lack of a true point guard capable of getting others easy shots made them too reliant on 1-on-1 isolation plays. On defense, they did a very poor job containing dribble penetration or getting back in transition, problems exacerbated by the frontcourt’s lack of a rim protector.
How Duke evolves over the next month will be an important barometer for Capel’s chances of someday succeeding Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils’ January schedule includes road games at Florida State, Louisville, Wake Forest and Notre Dame.
The past two offseasons, Capel has taken a calculated risk turning down overtures from Arizona State and Georgia Tech to remain at Duke instead. Success as the head coach at another school might have atoned for his spotty Oklahoma tenure, however, other potential heirs to Krzyzewski have torpedoed their candidacies that way.
Johnny Dawkins was once Krzyzewski’s most trusted assistant before leaving for Stanford in 2008; Only reaching the NCAA tournament once in eight seasons cost him his job with the Cardinal and greatly damaged his chances of one day taking over at Duke.
Tommy Amaker’s failures at Michigan and Seton Hall were probably equally harmful. He has since elevated Harvard to prominence, but it’s unlikely that would be enough for Duke to take a chance on him.
Neither Chris Collins nor Steve Wojciechowski has distinguished themselves in their new gigs, but there’s still time for both to change that. Collins is hoping to take Northwestern to the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history, while Wojciechowski is trying to snap a three-year NCAA tournament drought at Marquette.
This month-long audition is Capel’s answer to that, his chance to prove he can thrive as the head coach at Duke.
If Capel can help this talent-laden Duke team jell and play to its potential, it will go a long way toward demonstrating he’s the right choice as Krzyzewski’s heir apparent.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
