THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 20, 1994 TAG: 9408200350
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PARIS LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
The meal had long since ended, but Old Dominion's basketball players were still enjoying a feast.
The Monarchs were devouring every word their coach uttered. Jeff Capel was reminiscing about his days in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, regaling his players with the Army's humor and horrors - like what raced through his mind when his unit was put on alert to go to war, or how a buddy shattered both legs by landing wrong on a parachute jump. In short, he related some of the lifetime's worth of lessons the Army taught him.
ODU's players were captivated. This was not an X-and-O session, it was not a coach spewing cliches they had heard a thousand times. It was a man sharing a part of himself, and players responding warmly to what they were hearing and seeing.
That night around the dinner table was a microcosm of Old Dominion's trip to France. Capel has readily, naturally opened up to his players, and they have taken to him. Scott Johnson, who has now worked with three coaches as Old Dominion's trainer, already told the assistants it's apparent the Monarchs will be closer to this coaching staff than they were to the last two.
The players describe the difference between Capel and Oliver Purnell - who recruited all of them except seniors David Harvey and Petey Sessoms, signed by Tom Young - as going from a coach who dealt with them as if he were the head of a corporation to one who deals with them as if he were the head of a household.
``We've only been with them about a month, but it seems like we've been with them about a year because we really know them,'' rising junior Derrick Parker said. Parker, who in the past has been painfully shy, has opened up under the new staff - and his play on this trip has improved dramatically over his first two seasons.
``It seems like (Capel) really likes talking to the guys a lot,'' Parker said. ``He's down to earth. It seems like he not only wants to be your coach, but he wants to be your friend.''
Capel told his players shortly after getting the job in April that when it's time for business, he expects them to be businesslike. But off the court, Capel's persona around the players is more T-shirt and flip-flops than coat and tie.
``I think it's important that we care for each other,'' Capel said. ``One thing I try to instill - and I guess it's from my military background - is an esprit de corps. When you're to go into battle with someone, you want to have ultimate confidence in that person, and to have that, a bond has to develop.''
It has developed steadily over the last 10 days. ODU plays the last of five games on its tour today against Gravelines, located near the English Channel. Though the Monarchs have not won, they have played well against some of the best teams in France, each of which has had at least one former NBA player. Other than a shaky first game, Capel has been pleased with ODU's performance.
More important than what's taken place on the court is what's taken place off it. Parker and Mario Mullen spent over an hour talking in the hotel hallway one day with assistant Mark Cline. Capel sat around and told war stories. The players have experienced France together.
``We're going to be so much further ahead Oct. 15 than we would have been without this opportunity,'' Capel said. ``I knew there were a lot of different personalities, but now I have some specific ideas what they are like personally. I know what their fears are, what their backgrounds are and what their families are like.''
And he can tell the players like him.
``They don't have to say anything; I've just picked up on things,'' Capel said. ``It's been good from the beginning for both of us. Some guys who have not been very open before are starting to communicate. They are opening up and talking - something good is happening.''
The only time something bad almost happened in terms of player-coach relations was the day after ODU's first game. The players stayed out virtually all night, four were late for the bus the next morning and Capel was steamed. But Capel managed to convey that he doesn't put up with irresponsible behavior - twice he stopped the bus and made the groggy group walk around a parking lot - without putting a damper on the day.
That night, the Monarchs had a long, intense practice that several players described as the best they had ever had at ODU. The evening ended with Capel's soldier stories.
``That whole day was a great thing for our team,'' assistant Jim Corrigan said. ``Not only did he not turn them off, but by the end of the day, it was a much closer team. He turned it into a positive.''
Capel is an admitted disciplinarian, but assistant Cline said it's not in the negative sense in which the label is often construed.
``He doesn't have 55 rules,'' said Cline, who has worked for Capel for five seasons. ``We have three or four rules, but we follow those rules, and they apply from the best player to the worst player.
``He ain't Bobby Knight or John Chaney. Those are the people who have been associated with the word discipline. Jeff's not a cusser, he's not a hollerer - he's an educator.''
Capel refers to his discipline style as ``tough love.'' ODU's first education in how tough came during summer school, when players who missed class were treated to the ``5 at 5 breakfast club,'' a 5-mile run at 5 a.m.
Capel's short list of rules: be on time, in attendance and attentive when you are supposed to be somewhere; always represent yourself, your family and your university in a first-class manner; play hard; don't ever quit.
A disciplinarian sounds like someone who doesn't know how to have fun. Capel does. He's a wonderful raconteur and he's fun to be around, whether he's doing card tricks on the team bus, busting somebody's chops or his own.
Capel to center Odell Hodge - who isn't noted for his leaping ability - during a lunch of rabbit sandwiches that Hodge wouldn't touch: ``Odell, you need to eat that rabbit to get yourself some hops.''
Capel to Corey Robinson, who asked after the first course of a meal if that was all they were getting: ``They're skinning the dog out back right now.''
Capel on Capel, after a call home to his wife: ``I called her up and said, `Au revoir.' My wife laughed at me and said, `That's goodbye.' ''
For the Monarchs, this trip has been ``bon jour'' to their new coach. It has been a warm, heartfelt hello.
``Overall, the guy is real,'' Hodge said. ``He tells you like it is. You can't ask for nothing better than that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color file photo
Capel
Color map
KEYWORDS: OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL TEAM by CNB