News Every Day | 06 January 2025, 17:00

Next Up - Jeff Capel’s Pitt

Jan 4, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg (2) and Southern Methodist Mustangs forward Yohan Traore (21) battle for position during the second half at Moody Coliseum. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

A homecoming followed by an intense basketball game

Next up for Duke is a trip home for former Duke guard and assistant Jeff Capel, who is doing a great job with his Pitt Panthers so far.

Pitt is 12-2 and is playing pretty well. The losses came at the hands of Wisconsin and Mississippi State, neither embarrassing. The better wins are over West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl 86-62, LSU 74-63 and Ohio State 91-90 in overtime (Duke transfer Sean Stewart had seven points and five rebounds in that one).

One of the most impressive things about Pitt’s season so far is that they have accomplished a lot despite not having Damian Dunn since November 24th against Wisconsin (he has a hand injury).

Dunn, a native of Kinston who played at Temple for four years and got one at Houston, has been a team leader for Capel, so missing him hasn’t helped.

It may be coincidence, but both losses came with Dunn out.

Capel has been running an eight man rotation which has naturally been a bit thinner without Dunn. Jaland Lowe (6-3 sophomore) is getting the most minutes with 34 per game. Lowe is averaging 17.4 points, 4.7 boards and 6.1 assists.

Close behind is Ishmael Leggett, who had a minor injury of his own, having rolled his ankle in practice recently. But he was back for Stanford and did fine. Leggett is averaging 33.5 minutes, 17.8 ppg, 6.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

Cam Corhen is arguably doing better than he was at Florida State. Now a junior, he’s getting 10.9 ppg, 5.7 boards, about an assist and less than a block.

Zach Austin, a 6-7 senior who transferred from High Point, has done well. He’s putting up 9.9 ppg, 3.9 boards, and is an undersized shot blocker, getting 1.5 per game.

Guillermo Diaz Graham, the bulkier of the Diaz Graham twins at 7-0 and 225, is putting up 7.1 ppg, 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and just shy of a block.

Dunn, a 6-5 senior, is next up in minutes played, but he’s only been in seven games due to his injury. Dunn’s getting 11.1 ppg, 2.1 rebounds an 1.9 assists.

Brandin Cummings has really improved. The 6-3 freshman racked up 30 against Eastern Kentucky, 10 against Sam Houston State and 15 against Cal. Needless to say, Capel's pretty pleased.

Finally, freshman Amsal Delalic, a 6-8 freshman from Bosnia & Herzegovina, is getting 15.2 mpg. His stats aren’t overwhelming but he’s got potential. He comes from a basketball family and he can shoot. And by the way, he’s a 21-year-old freshman who has played professionally back home.

Delalic hurt his hand in the preseason and was out for several weeks but he appears to be okay now.

So what should we expect out of Pitt this time?

Last year, remember, Pitt came into Cameron and, behind an incredibly hot hand from Blake Hinson, upset the Blue Devils, 80-76. Hinson shot 8-10 and 7-7 for his threes. It was an amazing game. A lot of people will remember that he he jumped on press row to taunt the Crazies after that. They probably remember it well.

So what to expect from Pitt?

Capel ran a 3-2 against Duke the first time they played last season and that didn't work out too well, but it underscores a point: though he played for Mike Krzyzewski, Capel isn’t necessarily bound to K principles.

In fact, he began learning the game at a young age from his father, the late Jeff Capel. Jr., who was a lifelong coach. Duke was more of a finishing school for Capel than for most players. That’s probably true for Chris Collins as well, as his father was also a coach.

When Capel looks at this team, defensively, he has to focus on Cooper Flagg, Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel as Duke’s most significant scoring threats. If you can cut off Sion James, as Al McGuire said of UNC’s Phil Ford the head of the snake, the body dies.

After those guys, Caleb Foster has been coming on fast lately and working hard on penetration. Isaiah Evans has been just killing it from three point range. Not every game, but often enough that it’s clear that you don’t want that guy getting cocky because he could rip off 12-15 points in no time.

Capel no doubt has looked at the video from Duke’s trip to SMU, where the Blue Devil offensive performance gave Andy Enfield heartburn.

And then there’s Mason Gillis, who had a big role at SMU. You may have noticed that when Duke has a rough patch, Gillis, along with Proctor and Maliq Brown, are on the court.

And that brings us to Brown and Khaman Maluach.

Maluach had a bit of a breakthrough at SMU. It didn't show in his offensive stats, but the guy was a problem on both ends. He was aggressively hunting shots and by the second half, he was getting much more comfortable on offense. If that trend continues, Duke is going to be much, much tougher.

As for Brown, he had a tough draw against SMU’s 7-2 Samet Yigitoglu, but Pitt doesn't really have anyone quite like that and he’s played against Diaz Graham and Corhen before.

Last season, he had 15 points and eight rebounds in Diaz Graham in the first game but in the second, just 20 points and five boards.

In those games, Diaz Graham had 14 points and two boards and then two points and five boards.

As for Corhen, he had 10 points and five boards against Brown while Brown had eight pons and 12 rebounds.

The main thing is that he knows these guys, has had success against them and they’re not five inches taller than he is.

The bottom line here is that if Duke plays as well against Pitt as it did against SMU, the Devils should have a good night. And if they have to rely more on their defense than is ideal?

That’s not a game the Blue Devils will mind either.

These teams have had some really good games over the last few seasons and that’s what we expect again Tuesday.

We’ll be adding more links.