Who is Duke’s Jeff Capel?

Jeff Capel will take over Duke’s head coaching duties as Mike Krzyzewskifrom back surgery. He is expected to be out for up to four weeks.

A former Duke guard, Capel, 41, joined Duke’s coaching staff in 2011 and is the staff’s main recruiter. He has helped land 12 McDonald’s All-Americans, and six in the past two seasons.

Last season, Capel coached against Georgia Tech when Krzyzewski was ill, winning 80-71.

Prior to that, he was the head coach at Oklahoma from 2006-2011, where he led the Sooners to two NCAA appearances and a 96-69 overall record.

His first head coaching job was at Virginia Commonwealth (2002-06). When he was hired, he was 27, the youngest head coach in Division I men’s basketball. During his second season, he coached the Rams to its first NCAA tournament berth in nearly a decade. While at VCU, he accumulated a 79-41 record.

Capel played high school basketball at South View in Fayetteville before being a four-year starter for at Duke from 1993-1997. He helped lead the Blue Devils to the 1994 NCAA title game as a freshman, losing to Arkansas. In 1995, he hit a 40-foot buzzer beater to send a game against North Carolina into overtime.

Capel finished his career at Duke with 1,601 points, 433 assists and 220 three-point field goals.

Jonathan M. Alexander

This story was originally published January 2, 2017 at 7:36 PM with the headline "Who is Duke’s Jeff Capel?."