Berry Tramel

OU basketball: Capel firing a business decision

Posted March 14, 2011 by Berry Tramel Comment on this article Leave a comment

Jeff Capel’s firing from OU basketball was nothing personal. It was strictly a business decision.

Waning attendance. Lagging ticket sales that figured to get a lot worse. Not a lot of hope for much improvement next season.

OU head coach Jeff Capel gives instructions to his team in the second half of the men's college basketball game between the University of Colorado and the University of Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. OU won, 67-60. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
OU head coach Jeff Capel gives instructions to his team in the second half of the men's college basketball game between the University of Colorado and the University of Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. OU won, 67-60. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
That’s unacceptable in this age of million-dollar contracts for coaches. You want the big money? Meet big expectation. And Capel didn’t come close. He missed the post-season three times in five years. Two NCAA Tournaments, no NITs. The NIT is a failure at a program like Oklahoma; Capel three times failed to even reach the NIT.

OU will have to pay Capel close to $3 million as part of the buyout; the Sooners are not expected to get out of the contract due to NCAA problems. But the Sooners figure that’s a better financial deal than sitting through what could be a lameduck year next season.

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