Berry Tramel: Sooner basketball can do better, deserves better

This isn't 1976. For the better part of the last 30 years, OU has run with the big boys of college hoops. This is not a program that should pretend bad basketball is acceptable.

So Castiglione did the right thing Monday and released Jeff Capel from his contract, which announced to the nation that the Sooners have no intention of surrendering their hoops status.

“There's every reason to believe we will be successful again,” the Sooner athletic director said.

OU is a top-25 program historically. Not top 10. Not top 15. But top 25. OU has 35 NCAA Tournament wins in its history; that's tied for 21st nationally. OU has played 61 NCAA Tournament games; that's tied for 23rd.

The Sooners won big under Bruce Drake and Billy Tubbs and Kelvin Sampson and even Capel himself. So back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1967, in a sport where power-conference schools have all the advantages, is not acceptable.

And the idea that OU should have held on to Capel because no one of substance would want the job, well, that's just silly. All kinds of quality coaches will be attracted to the position and the paycheck that goes with it.

Castiglione called the job “attractive. The University of Oklahoma is special ... great tradition, state-of-the-art facilities. It's a place where people can win.”