It is always going to feel a little different for Jeff Capel when he coaches against Duke. The Pitt head coach played for Mike Krzyzewski in the 1990’s and also spent seven seasons as an assistant under the hall of fame coach.
Pitt has played Duke in each of the past two seasons, and the mentor got the better of his student both times. The Blue Devils came into the Petersen Events Center with a star-studded team led by Zion Williamson two seasons ago and took care of Pitt. Last season, Duke got out to a big lead, but a spirited comeback had the Panthers within reach in Cameron Indoor Stadium before falling short.
Tonight’s game will have a different outlook.
Duke has fallen outside of the top-25 rankings for the first team since 2016, and enter this game with a 5-3 record. Mike Krzyzewski’s team is young and does not have the star power of some of the previous recruiting classes he has had.
Still, it’s Duke. The name, the uniforms, the coach - it’s a program that demands respect. Capel knows it better than anyone. He’s not worried about what the record says, he knows what his team is up against this evening.
“It resonates with everyone, it’s Duke. It’s the gold standard of college basketball and as long as he is on that sideline, it will be that. I don’t care what their record is or anything.”
The Panthers will have to account for a Blue Devils lineup that features the ACC’s leading scorer, Matthew Hurt. The 6’9” sophomore can stretch the floor and he hits three pointer’s at a 44% clip on the season.
Capel is also wary of what kind of challenges Duke can present defensively. The Panthers have only played two games since Christmas, both against the Syracuse 2-3 zone. Pitt will need to be ready for the pressure of Duke’s man defense.
“We’ve just played two games against zone and they’re a man to man team that’s going to pressure, that’s going to switch things, that’s going to do things differently and so that’s a different challenge us,” Capel said. "For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been trying to figure out how to attack the zone, so that’s different.”
Duke has talent and presents challenges, but of course the game has a deeper meaning for Capel. He has always spoken about Duke and Krzyzewski with a certain kind of reverence and that was no different leading up to tonight’s game.
“He has impacted me, just me as a man, besides my father, more than anyone,” Capel said of Coach K.
The third-year Pitt coach has taken a lot from his former coach, but one thing he has always tried to bring to his programs is the fight he learned from Krzyzewski.
Capel talked about how his former coach took over Duke during a time of success for rivals North Carolin and North Carolina State in the 1980’s. Krzyzewski always tried to fight to get his program to where it has now been for so long, and that’s one thing he’s brought with him to Pitt.
“So that’s the thing I’ve tried to take everywhere I’ve been is that you have to fight, you have to earn it, and you have to do it everyday,” Capel said.
Pitt has a chance to improve to 8-2 on the season and 4-1 in the ACC with a win tonight. The Panthers have lost five straight games to Duke, and only have one win in the series since joining the ACC.
