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Jeff Capel agrees to contract extension then gets win at North Carolina

By Kevin Connelly

SOUTH BEND, IN - JANUARY 30: Interim coach Jeff Capel III of the Duke Blue Devils confers with an official during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion on January 30, 2017 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - JANUARY 30: Interim coach Jeff Capel III of the Duke Blue Devils confers with an official during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion on January 30, 2017 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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The former Duke Basketball player and Associate Head Coach had a great Wednesday as it resulted in a contract extension and a win over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

There aren’t many people in the world who had a better Wednesday than Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel.

On Wednesday morning, Capel and the school agreed to a two-year contract extension that would keep the former Duke assistant at the school through the 2026-27 season.

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Jeff Capel took over at Pittsburgh in 2018 after being at Duke as an assistant head coach and an associate head coach since 2011. Capel also played in Durham from 1993-1997.

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Capel finished his first year as the Panthers head coach at 14-19 and 3-15 in the ACC, but in his second season, Pittsburgh is 11-4 and 2-2 in conference play.

The latest win the Panthers picked up was on Wednesday night when Pittsburgh went into the Dean Dome and defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels, 73-65.

The major victory was the first road conference win the Panthers have had under Jeff Capel, as the program had not won on the road in the ACC since February 8, 2017 when Pittsburgh took down Boston College.

Capel was previously the head coach of the VCU Rams and Oklahoma Sooners from 2002-11 before returning to Duke to be an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski.

Pittsburgh dropped North Carolina to a lowly 8-7 this season while the Tar Heels have won just one game in the ACC while dropping the last three conference games, and the team has lost seven of its last ten games.

The Panthers will remain on the road to face the Miami Hurricanes on Sunday, January 12 at 6:00pm EST. Jeff Capel will make his return to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time since taking the Pittsburgh job later in the month on Tuesday, January 28 when Duke hosts Pittsburgh at 9:00pm EST.

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