Inside The Panthers

Pitt HC Jeff Capel Named Naismith Coach of the Year Semifinalist

Pitt Panthers head coach Jeff Capel is up for another major award.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt HC Jeff Capel Named Naismith Coach of the Year Semifinalist
Pitt HC Jeff Capel Named Naismith Coach of the Year Semifinalist /
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GREENSBORO -- He's already been named the coach of the year in the ACC and Pitt Panthers head coach Jeff Capel is in line for yet more hardware after he was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award. 

Capel guided Pitt to a 10-win improvement from a year ago, which is tied for the fourth best in program history, while the eight-win improvement in conference play is the best in school history. After retooling his roster primarily through the transfer portal, Capel guided his team to a 21-win regular season and tied the program's highest finish in the final ACC standings. 

Northwestern's Chris Collins, UCLA's Mick Cronin, Florida Atlantic's Dusty May, Purdue's Matt Painter, Houston's Kelvin Sampson, Kansas' Bill Self, Marquette's Shaka Smart, Kansas State's Jerome Tang and Texas' Rodney Terry make up the rest of the semifinalists. A group of four finalists will be revealed in 10 days and the winner will be announced nine days after that. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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