Getting to Know Jeff Capel - Part One - University of Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. - New OU men's basketball head coach Jeff Capel has been one of the busiest men in Oklahoma since his hiring on April 11. The 31-year-old has seen his last two weeks occupied by getting to know and working out his OU players, recruiting and granting local and national media interview requests. House-hunting and getting acquainted with Norman have also found their way onto a small section of his to-do list.

Fourteen days after he was named Oklahoma's 12th men's basketball coach, Capel sat down with SoonerSports.com for a lengthy question-and-answer session that touched on a wide variety of topics. This marks the first of three installments of the Q and A, with the other two slated for Wednesday and Thursday.

Capel Hiring

Q: Had you ever been to Oklahoma prior to the day you were announced as head coach?
A: "No, I had never stepped foot in the great state of Oklahoma."

Q: What are your early impressions of the state, the people and the university?
A: "The people are incredibly friendly, and it's genuine. In that regard, it reminds me of my home state of North Carolina. I think the campus is gorgeous. Virginia Commonwealth has a beautiful campus, but it's an urban campus. When I was an assistant with my dad at Old Dominion, it was a downtown campus. So this is the first time since I graduated from college that I've been on kind of a traditional campus. It's beautiful.

"I still haven't seen that much of Norman. I just found another place to go and eat. The only place I knew how to get to for the first week was Sonic. So I was eating Sonic every night right around the corner. But I'm starting to find my way around a little bit and find some nice areas. I've been very impressed with Oklahoma."

Q: What is your first basketball memory?
A: "I remember going with my dad to K-Mart to get my first basketball goal. I can't remember my exact age, but I remember it was raining. We got the goal and on the way home got into a car accident. Someone had to come get us. We got the goal out of the back and, even though it was still raining, my dad put the goal up in our driveway and I went out there to shoot. It was at that moment that I just fell in love with the game."

Q: What is your fondest basketball memory?
A: "I've had so many great memories with the game. I'd say there are three that really stand out. My freshman year at Duke when we played for the national championship is one and winning the state championship my senior year in high school is another. The other would be my second year at VCU when we won the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament and made it to the NCAA Tournament. That really stands out because it was something that no one really thought we could do. I was 29 years old at the time and really proud of what that team was able to accomplish - everyone really deserved it."

Q: What was running through your head as you stood on the court waiting for the jump ball in the 1994 national title game against Arkansas?
A: "It was amazing. It was sort of surreal. The game was in the Charlotte Coliseum, so for me it was home. Charlotte is two hours away from where I grew up. The arena was sold out, but it was quiet. There was a sense of calm and everything was in slow motion. It was amazing just to be out there and just to realize that you're one of two teams left playing in college basketball. Knowing that the whole world was watching, it was incredible."

Q: What players did you look up to or emulate as a kid?
A: "My favorite player growing up was Magic Johnson. I loved him. I just loved the passion he played with, how hard he played, that he was a leader and that he seemed like he was having a great time. Obviously, I love Michael Jordan with him also growing up in North Carolina and with what he was able to accomplish. And another is Dr. J. I remember his last game - the 76ers got beat in the playoffs by the Milwaukee Bucks and I cried. Those are the three guys I loved the most when I was growing up.

"I love the game and I'm kind of an historian. So I watch a lot of classic sports and have a lot of games on tape. A guy who I've grown to love is Walt Frazier. He was cool, was really good, played hard. And his teams won.

"But Magic Johnson was my guy. I wore No. 32 in high school because he was my favorite. When I got to Duke, No. 32 was retired because of Christian Laettner. So I went with three plus two. That's how I came up with No. 5."

Q: What's your second favorite sport?
A: "Either football or boxing. I'm a huge fan of both. I love sports in general. Some guys like college football and not pro, or pro football and not college. I love both. I'm a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I never really had a favorite college football team growing up. Oklahoma's my favorite team now.

"I don't know why I love boxing, but I do. It was obviously better back in the '80s or early '90s. I remember my parents having fight parties. I remember the first Thomas Hearns/Sugar Ray Leonard fight. It's been cool because HBO has a show where they highlight great fights with behind-the-scenes stuff. That's been really neat to see the things leading up to those fights."

Q: What would you say is your favorite food?
A: "A really good steak."

Q: Do you have a favorite restaurant?
A: "Back on the east coast, I really liked The Cheesecake Factory. I also like Italian food, good pasta. There's a Maggiano's in Richmond I enjoyed, too."

Q: If you could invite any three people to dinner, who would you choose?
A: "That's a tough one. Hmmm. I'm going to say Martin Luther King and Malcolm X would be two of them. The other one, I'd want someone funny. I'll say Richard Pryor. I like to laugh and have a good time."

Q: When you get a free night, how do you like to spend it?
A: "I like to spend it with my wife. I love movies and I love going to the movies. I love hanging out with my wife and just being around my family. One of my favorite things is when we all get together - my family, my in-laws, everyone - just cooking out and sitting around visiting.

"I love to bowl, even though I don't get a chance to do that a lot. Back at VCU, our team used to get together and bowl. We'd divide into teams and it was a ball.

"But I just like to relax, hang out with my wife and do whatever she wants to do, because she's on my schedule a lot."

Q: What's your high score in bowling?
A: "Oh, man. A little bit over 200, but I think I've only done that once."

Q: How did you meet your wife, Kanika?
A: "It's funny. We were in school together for three years - I was a year older. During our three years together at Duke, we probably never had a conversation. We knew each other, we'd speak to each other, but I don't recall ever having a conversation with her besides, 'Hey, how are you doing?' That's literally it.

"After college, I played for a year in Grand Rapids, Mich., in the CBA. When the season was over I went back to Duke to hang out with a couple of former teammates. One of those guys had a crush on her. We wound up hanging out with some friends one night at their place and Kanika lived in the house with them. It was just like instant. We saw each other and there was just some sort of vibe there.

"Our groups ended up hanging out again the next night and I could just feel the vibe again. The next morning I got up to go to church and I told my former teammate who I was staying with, 'Listen man, I just want to let you know that I like Kanika.' He said, 'Yeah, I can tell. She likes you too.'

"I still remember the number to Duke Information. That's how I got her phone number. I called and we talked for like six straight hours. We talked until the sun came up. The conversation was amazing because we found out we had so much in common. One of my great uncle's daughters used to baby sit her. My grandfather and her dad were both in politics, and my grandfather helped him get into that. We realized our families knew each other and stuff like that.

"Now if you let her tell the story, it's completely different. She says we met in high school and I was too big-time to recognize her. That's not true, though. I don't remember that at all, and I have a good memory."

Q: So how long until we see a Jeff Capel IV running around?
A: "Not long, hopefully not long. Starting a family is something that we definitely want to do."

...to be continued Wednesday...

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Getting to Know Jeff Capel - Part One

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors