Jeff Capel on Coach K: "At 16 years old, I believed him. At 44 now, I swear by him"

Pitt coach reflects on Duke, returning to Cameron and his relationship with Coach K

On January 28, 2020, Pitt will play an ACC road game at Duke. It will be the first time that Pitt head coach Jeff Capel has returned to Cameron Indoor Stadium since leaving Duke prior to last season.

Capel played on the Cameron floor for four years as a Blue Devil, hitting one of the iconic shots in the building’s history in an epic game with UNC. He also spent eight seasons on the Duke bench as an assistant and associate head coach to Mike Krzyzewski, filling in as an interim head coach there, when Coach K had back surgery in 2017.

This will be his first time there as a visitor, and he talked about it at ACC Operation Basketball.

“You know, it will be exciting,” he said. “It is one of the best places in all of college basketball to play. I'm excited to take my team. I don't think anyone that we have that's a player will have competed there, and so I know it will be exciting for them to have a chance to play there, to play Duke. And so I'm excited for it. I'm excited for the opportunity to go against one of the best.”

He also spoke about his relationship with Coach K.

“He’ll always be a mentor to me, because he’s been that to me since I was 16 years old,” he said. “The friendship part came after I graduated. … I tell people all the time, at 16-17 years old, I believed him. At 44 now, I swear by him.”