On Monday morning, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel chose to stay out of the drama regarding the recent comments made by Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, who claimed that Pitt “bought” its team.
“I have no comment,” Capel said on the weekly ACC Coaches Call. “I have no reaction to it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of what they think. So I have no comment on anyone else’s opinion.”
Boeheim’s initial quote, which came from an interview with ESPN’s Pete Thamel, read as follows:
“This is an awful place we’re in in college basketball,” Boeheim said, per Thamel’s story. “Pittsburgh bought a team. OK, fine. My (big donor) talks about it, but he doesn’t give anyone any money. Nothing. Not one guy. Our guys make like $20,000. Wake Forest bought a team. Miami bought a team…. It’s like, ‘Really, this is where we are?’ That’s really where we are, and it’s only going to get worse.”
Capel mentioned that he has spoken with Boeheim since the comments were made, and that he will keep that conversation private between him and Boeheim.
Capel and his staff brought in Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliott, and Blake Hinson from the transfer portal this past offseason. On Monday, he commented on the involvement of NIL in those additions to the team.
“I didn’t talk to them about NIL,” he said. “We never had a discussion about it. Last year, when we were recruiting, we were in a period here in Pennsylvania where we could have no involvement with it. So it never came up. I mean, you have a guy from Colgate, a guy who hadn’t played for two years in Blake Hinson, and a guy that had never really started at Marquette. Those are three guys you mentioned. So it never really was a conversation that we had during our time recruiting them.”
is there audio of the coaches call ? did this topic come up at all ?
If you are worried about a coaches call, then you deserve to be duped. Jim Boehiem is a liar who is a mediocre coach. He had nothing to say when his team had a better record than ours. His feelings for Pitt come from the Big East days. Beating him just brings total joy.
not sure of your point .. and why my comments were interpreted as being “worried” about a coaches call. i merely wanted to hear what was said by and to whom.
I think both coaches are entitled to privacy on their personal communications. I agree it’s a big thing what Jimmy B. said but I have confidence in Coach Capel hashing it out man to man. It’s fun to wonder about it though. Brandin Knight certainly didn’t hold back.
Perfectly stated.
All poor Jim is saying is he can only be successful when he buys blue chips while others do not. He’s just not a very good coach. Need proof? Its called the 2-3 zone.