University of North Carolina Athletics
Jason Capel Brings Heart And Hustle To UNC Men's Hoops
January 18, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2000
By John Martin
Athletic Media Relations Student Assistant
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Despite being born and bred in a basketball family, a young Jason Capel did not dream of becoming the hardwood hero he is today.
"When I was little I didn't really like basketball because I was a short, fat kid, my brother was a star in Fayetteville and I wasn't good," says Capel, who dreamed of football or baseball stardom.
Lucky for Carolina, Capel hit a growth spurt and fell in love with the family game. Capel's father, Jeff Sr., the head coach at Old Dominion University, and brother, Jeff, who played at Duke from 1993-97 and is currently with the CBA's Grand Rapids Hoops, were eager to help the youngster hone his game.
According to Capel, the early influences of his family are seen in his style of play today.
"I play hard all the time, and I think that's a tribute to my dad, because he's a hard worker at everything he does," says the 6-8 sophomore. "I think I'm a smart player. I can see things happening out there before they actually happen. I know the game very well because I've been around it all my life. I think people who watch me play can tell I'm a coach's son, because of the little things I do -- diving for the ball -- those are things my dad stressed when I was a kid."
A natural small forward, Capel played out of position at shooting guard as a freshman and spent the first month of this season playing at power forward while classmate Kris Lang recovered from a viral infection and shin splints. Capel handles the ball well enough to bring it up the floor against pressure defenses, making him versatile enough to play any position on the floor except center for the Tar Heels.
Capel's father also emphasized the importance of rebounding. Despite being a perimeter-oriented player who is undersized when it comes to snagging boards, Capel led the Tar Heels with 6.5 rebounds per contest prior to Tuesday's game at Virginia.
"Rebounding is all about wanting the ball and positioning," Capel says. "I wasn't the biggest guy. I've just been able to find my way to the ball and get in position. When the ball is in the air, it's a matter of who wants it the most,
"I wasn't always a real good player, but my dad taught me if you want the ball, even if you have teammates that won't pass it, you can always go get it off the board and put it back in. That's the easiest way to get two points, so ever since I've been little I've had a knack for rebounding, and I try to bring that to the table now."
Capel's heart and hustle are evident to anyone who has ever watched him play. Diving for loose balls and clashing with bigger players for rebounds gave Capel the determination needed to overcome an injury-plagued freshman season and become a leader for the 1999-2000 campaign.
He played with back pain throughout the 1998-99 season, with the injury finally catching up with him when the team needed him most, ACC and NCAA Tournament time. He missed the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament opening-round win over Georgia Tech, played well against Maryland, scoring 13 points in the semifinals, and played limited minutes versus Duke in the final.
However, the ultimate disappointment for Capel was playing only four minutes in the Heels' NCAA Tournament First Round loss to Weber State in the NCAA Tournament.
"It was terrible because in my mind I felt like I could help the team, but physically I probably couldn't," says Capel, who also missed six games last year because of mononucleosis. "I probably could've knocked in a couple of shots, but I probably wouldn't have been able to guard anybody. It was hard to sit there and know you contributed to the team all year and watch us lose in the first round."
Despite his various ailments, Capel put together one of the finest all-around freshman seasons in Carolina history, averaging 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He also proved to be one of the Tar Heels' finest shooters, hitting 41.1 percent of his three-point attempts and finishing second in the ACC from the foul line, connecting on 85.4 percent of his free throws.
In March, Capel had back surgery to repair the two herniated disks that had hindered him for years, and this season marks the first time since the eighth grade that Capel, a Chesapeake, Va., native, is playing pain-free.
"I just thank God for blessing me and helping me through all this," he says. "I'd be fine most of the time on the court, but after the game I could barely walk - and now it's second nature, and I don't even think about it anymore."
"He's playing with a lot less pain," Tar Heel head coach Bill Guthridge said of Capel earlier this season. "Last year, there were a lot of times he couldn't practice. He has made all the workouts this year. His improved health has certainly helped us."
Driven by the games he missed last year, Capel is anxious to visit the hostile home courts of certain ACC rivals for the first time, including his brother's alma mater Duke. Capel knows that Cameron's notorious fans will have something special planned for him this season, just as they did last year.
"They were on me last year, and I wasn't even playing," he laughs. "I was sitting there in a suit. But I expect that. I love that. That's probably one of the reasons I chose Carolina, so I could go over there and play against Duke. My brother went there and I used to laugh at how they acted with players and now they're acting like that with me. It just gets me more pumped up to play."
Now pumped to be playing without pain, Capel is putting together another fine all-around season. In addition to leading Carolina in rebounds, he was averaging 12.2 points per game, good for third on the team prior to the Virginia game. He also ranked third on the team in assists and second in steals.
He was shooting 45 percent from the field and nearly 40 percent from behind the arc. His mark of 77.8 percent from the foul line ranked him fifth in the ACC.
Throughout this season, Capel has also put up some impressive single games, including a fantasy basketball player's dream line of 20 points, a career-high 14 boards, five assists and two steals in the Orange Bowl Classic win over Miami, a performance that earned him the event's MVP honors. Capel notched his career-high of 23 points in a win over UNLV in Charlotte on Dec. 4, 1999. He also celebrated his twentieth birthday in style on Jan. 15, scoring 21 points on 7-12 shooting in the 71-68 loss to No. 25 UCLA in the Smith Center.
Despite the strong starts of Capel and several other Tar Heels, Carolina has struggled at times this season against an extremely challenging schedule. But Capel believes the early season troubles will be beneficial to the team come tournament time.
"I think we've learned you have to play with the same intensity every night," Capel says. "We can't say, 'We're Carolina, we're gonna win.' We have to play, we have to play hard - Everybody is learning their roles, everyone is playing together. Right now we're just enjoying playing basketball."
And for Capel, winning and having fun are his top priorities, not the individual awards sure to come his way.
"My goals are always team oriented," he says. "I really want to win the ACC. I really want to beat all of the teams that smashed us last year. I'm just trying to do what I can to help this team win. That's the most important thing to me."
