Pitt coach Jason Capel rants after UNC basketball disrespect

Jason Capel, Pitt’s assistant coach and a former North Carolina ahead, informed the Information & Observer that he did not need his actions to distract from the Panthers’ 65-64 win on the Dean E. Smith Heart on Wednesday.

The Panthers swept the Tar Heels and have crushed them in 5 of their final six conferences. However the post-game rapidly overshadowed the end result of the sport on social media, as reporters captured him returning to the locker room along with his uncooked feelings on full show.

“It should not be a narrative. It should not be a narrative. Pitt’s win needs to be the story,” Capel mentioned in a textual content message with N&O.

Earlier than kickoff, the general public announcer on the Smith Heart acknowledged Jason Capel as a former Tar Heel participant earlier than introducing Pitt head coach Jeff Capel.

As a result of his older brother, Jeff, performed at Duke, his title was greeted with a refrain of boos. However there did not appear to be any noticeable animosity directed at Jason.

That apparently modified instantly after the sport.

Jason Capel mentioned he went to speak to legendary UNC guard Phil Ford, who was an assistant coach throughout his first two seasons at Carolina. Ford’s seat is basically perpendicular to the Heels’ bench. Capel mentioned in a textual content message that was when expletives had been directed at him:

I will be higher. However yelling (expletive) YOU repeatedly at a grown man, a number of folks, when all he was doing was speaking to MY COACH: Phil Ford, it is not cool. Repeatedly. To all of us.”

Jason Capel reiterated in his textual content messages that he had no drawback with the present Carolina gamers and UNC coach Hubert Davis: “I’ve nothing however love and respect for Hubert, his employees and people gamers.”

Jeff Capel mentioned the slights started with UNC basketball’s “Gameday” put up on social media. The picture displaying the 7 pm kick-off was one in all Creighton Lebo, tongue wagging as he runs down the court docket. Because it occurs, Lebo wears the quantity 25, which is the quantity Jason Capel wore between 1998 and 2002 in Chapel Hill.

“He wore that jersey with a number of delight and since he left right here there’s been a number of disrespect for him,” Jeff Capel mentioned. “And a factor occurred (Wednesday), and I do not suppose it got here from the basketball present, and I do not know who controls their social media, however there was a tweet and I hoped I did not see it. that.”

Jeff Capel mentioned he isn’t on social media, however an aide confirmed him Lebo’s photograph. He believed the tweet was made to troll Jason Capel.

A UNC spokesperson mentioned that each participant on the roster seems in no less than one sport and that Lebo’s selection was not directed at Jason Capel.

“It is a sophisticated relationship with him and North Carolina,” Jeff Capel mentioned in his postgame information convention. “He loves him. However I feel generally he does not really feel that again.”

Jeff Capel pointed to the 2009 Elite Eight sport because the second when issues began to vary. He was Oklahoma’s head coach on the time and Jason Capel wore an OU jersey because the Sooners battled the Tar Heels for a spot within the Closing 4. Jeff Capel mentioned that some UNC followers had been “good (expletive) on him, excuse my language, however fairly, fairly nasty”, as a result of he wore the jersey.

Jason Capel’s phrases about Pitt’s victory final season on the Smith Heart might need added to Wednesday’s acrimony. Smith Heart cheerleader B-Daht tweeted after that sport that Capel mentioned, “They’re cute in right here now,” implying that UNC performed gentle.

Jeff Capel hinted that the whole episode may in all probability have been prevented.

“This is likely one of the most storied packages within the historical past of faculty athletics, not simply school basketball,” mentioned Jeff Capel. “And you discover out in regards to the Carolina household. And it amazes me that individuals on their social media would try this. I do not suppose it is humor.”

This story was initially printed February 2, 2023 10:15 a.m.