The two head coaches in tomorrow night’s Duke Vs. Pitt game are very familiar with each other.
Pitt head coach Jeff Capel and Duke head coach Jon Scheyer shared the bench as Duke assistant coaches under Mike Krzyzewski, as Capel spent 2011-2018 with the Blue Devils and Scheyer spent 2014-2022 as an assistant before taking over for Krzyzewski as head coach.
“I have a lot of memories coaching with Jeff,” Scheyer said on Monday. “One, he’s a good friend before a coach, that’s the first thing. I was lucky at a time getting into this profession, I was fortunate to see a lot of, one Steve Wojciechowski, Jeff Capel, Chris Collins for a long time, obviously, Coach K. Just to see different ways to do things. Jeff and I, through the years, talk about a lot of different stuff. I think back to some of the memories. I think back to going to do a home visit with Jayson Tatum. It was me, Jeff, and Coach K. It was probably the most memorable home visit we ever had, first one to see a kid commit on the visit which is pretty special.”
Tatum was a top-three prospect in the class of 2016 coming out of Chaminade High School in Saint Louis. He played one season for the Blue Devils, averaging more than 16 points and seven rebounds per game and starring for Duke. The Boston Celtics then picked Tatum with the third overall selection in the NBA Draft, and he has spent the past seven seasons as one of the true superstars in the NBA for Boston.
“Then a lot of wins we were a part of,” Scheyer continued. “We were a part of a lot of great teams together here. My first year here as an assistant coach was the 2015 National Championship team, and that was a pretty special run. Just a lot of moments that year. But he’s done a great job at Pitt. You wish you didn’t have to play each other, that’s part of it, that’s how it goes. Just thankful for those years at Duke together. Hopefully he says it made him better, and I know it made me better for sure.”
Both Capel and Scheyer spent their collegiate careers playing for Krzyzewski at Duke. Capel finished his Duke career (1993-97) with 1,600+ points and 400+ assists in four years. Scheyer (2006-10) scored over 2,000 points and grabbed over 500 rebounds in his Duke career. He capped off his historic Blue Devil career with a national championship victory in 2010 before making a run at a professional basketball career and then getting into coaching.
Since taking over at Pitt in 2018, Capel has gone 85-86 overall and has made one NCAA Tournament (Round of 32 – last year).
Capel and Scheyer will square off on Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center at 9 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN. Scheyer’s Blue Devils enter the game with an 11-3 record (2-1 ACC), while Capel’s Panthers sit at 10-5 (1-3 ACC).
Probably a real confidence builder- “If this dummy can be a Head Coach, then I can excel” lol
did your parents have any kids that lived?
Haha. So I take it you disagree? Triggered?