Pitt coach Jeff Capel can relate to Louisville’s struggles
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Jeff Capel said he understands what Louisville coach Kenny Payne is enduring this season.
When Pitt and Louisville get together Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center, the Panthers (12-6, 5-2) will meet an opponent that has sunk as low as any team can go.
Last in the ACC, Louisville (2-16, 0-7) was 282nd in the KenPom rankings through Monday’s games. No team from a power conference is below the Cardinals. North Florida, a team Pitt defeated by 26 points, is 11 slots ahead.
Capel knows how Payne feels. Five years ago, he also took over a once-proud program that had hit hard times under a previous coach. Louisville won the national championship in 2013 and was ranked No. 1 in the nation as recently as December 2019.
But amidst NCAA recruiting violations and suggestions that he had lost the locker room, former coach Chris Mack was fired before the end of the 2021-22 season.
Pitt’s situation wasn’t nearly that bad.
The Panthers made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances in 15 seasons before Capel arrived. Then, before climbing the ladder to third place in the ACC this season, Capel dealt with a 13-game losing streak in 2019 and 5-13 and 6-14 slides to end 2020 and ‘22.
“There are some similarities,” Capel said this week. “You want to do well so bad. You work hard at it. You invest a lot of time, and when you don’t see the results, it can be very frustrating.
“But I admire Kenny and his staff because when you watch them, you see a team that is continuing to fight, continuing to play really hard.
“It seems like, from the outside, they have stayed positive. And when you watch their team … they play together. It looks like they like each other. And they’re continuing to fight, and that’s the sign that they’re making progress.”
Payne’s reconstruction project is different than that of most coaches because he was a part of some of the greatest teams in Louisville history. It’s personal to him.
“When you take over, especially a program that has a lot of tradition, a lot of history, it’s different because that’s his alma mater. He wore that jersey,” Capel said.
Payne was a freshman on the Cardinals’ 1986 NCAA championship team, participated in three Sweet 16s and helped win three Metro Conference tournament titles. While playing for Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum, he scored 1,083 points.
“There are lot of things about winning basketball that they didn’t know,” Payne said of his current players. “I’m trying to tell them and give it to them.
“You have to embrace the grind, the work ethic, the toughness of a practice in order to be prepared for great teams, good teams, very good teams you’re going to face on the schedule and, more importantly, in the ACC.
“It’s been difficult, of course. It’s been a challenge just trying to get these guys to understand we don’t have wiggle room.
“It’s very hard. It’s emotional because it’s easy for people who are critics and don’t understand I have an emotional tie here. I came from this place. My foundation was started here. I feel an obligation to make sure I do everything in my power to make sure this program is where it needs to be.”
As an example of his frustrations, he noted his team was down only 29-26 with two minutes left in the first half Saturday against North Carolina. The Cardinals ended the half in an 11-point deficit and eventually lost 80-59, their seventh consecutive defeat.
“We’re doing good things. I don’t know why they let go,” Payne said. “I don’t know why they don’t understand at moments how important it is to trust each other, to fight through possessions, to do it together, to mentally be strong enough to withstand a run of another team.
“It’s frustrating at times. It’s disappointing at times, but at the end of the day, we have to figure that out.”
Meanwhile, Pitt can’t afford to feel sorry for the Cardinals. A victory doesn’t necessarily help Pitt’s resume for NCAA Tournament consideration, but a loss would damage it. By beating Louisville, Pitt would match its ACC victory total from each of the past three seasons.
Numerous coaches, including Payne, have noted how Pitt plays with confidence. But the Panthers have lost all 10 of their games at the Yum! Center.
“We have to approach that game as Pitt has to get better,” point guard Nelly Cummings said. “We’re not going to take any opportunity lightly. We’re going to make sure we bring our ‘A’ game every time.”