Oklahoma's collapse: Is Capel to blame?

It wasn't that long ago that Jeff Capel was considered one of, if not the best, up and coming young coach in the business.

While that still may be true, he is going to have his work cut out for him trying to prove it.

The 2008-09 season saw Capel, with the help of a guy by the name of Blake Griffin, lead Oklahoma to a 30-6 season and a trip to the Elite 8. After getting a stroke of luck with Willie Warren's decision to return for his sophomore season and landing a recruiting class that featured, among others, two McDonald's all-americans in Tommy Mason-Griffin and Tiny Gallon, the future looked bright in Norman.

My, that seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?

Jeff Capel certainly didn't have the season he was hoping for.
(photo credit: Zimbio)

This year was nothing short of a disaster for the Sooners. Warren was in and out of the line-up as he battled leadership issues, a bum ankle, and a bout of mono. Gallon never really lived up to his hype coming out of high school. Mason-Griffin seemed to thrive only when the other two players were out of the line-up and he was allowed free reign to shoot as much as he liked.

Oklahoma ended the year a disappointing 13-18. No one was predicting a national title for the Sooners this year, but a trip to the tournament -- and a winning record -- were expected.

Things only got worse after the season ended.

Mason-Griffin, Gallon, and Warren have all entered their names into the draft and have, or will shortly, signed with an agent. Gallon is being investigated for a TMZ Sports report that he may have received $3,000 from a financial adviser in Florida. Assistant coach and lead recruiter Oronde Taliaferro has resigned over speculation that he may have been involved in funneling money to Gallon. Orlando Allen and Ray Willis have both decided to transfer out of Oklahoma.

Combine that with the graduation of Ryan Wright and Tony Crocker, and Capel is left with just four scholarship players.

And while his recruiting class would be solid most years -- 6'6" small forward Cameron Clark headlines a trio that also includes top 100 point guard TJ Taylor and the recently signed Tyler Neal -- it only leaves Capel with seven players. And with Gallon gone, there isn't much size left to speak of.

To his credit, Capel is in seemingly good spirits.

"In order to get better, sometimes you have to cleanse," Capel said in a news conference last week. "Sometimes you have to lose some things. Sometimes things have to fall apart in order for them to fall back together. With some of guys that we've had that have left, I'm not really surprised. It's something that's going on around the country, not just here in our program."

The question I find myself asking is whether or not Capel is at fault for the collapse of the Oklahoma program.

My answer: maybe?

The last four years, he has brought in quite a bit of talent. Griffin, Warren, Mason-Griffin, Gallon, and Clark were all highly-touted recruits. Put out a starting line-up of those five players, and on paper you have yourself a team that can compete for a national title.

The problem is that three of those five kids turned out to be much more of a headache off the court than an asset on it. Reading through some recent quotes from Capel, and it is not difficult to infer that Warren, Mason-Griffin, and Gallon never really wanted to be in school this year, especially once the Sooners started losing.

Is that Capel's fault?

Yes and no. Yes, he brought in these talented kids. That is what coaches are supposed to do. No, he wasn't able to get them to buy into his system, something else coaches are supposed to do.

And while he was not able to build up any kind of team chemistry, can you blame him for trying? Don't you want your coach to believe that he can get a kid -- any kid, regardless of attitude or personality -- to buy into his system?

Capel took on a chance on a couple of youngsters, and it blew up in his face. But I guarantee there isn't one Sooner fan out there complaining the next time he signs a McDonald's all-american.

But like any coach worth his million dollar contract salt, Capel was able to spin it in a good light.

"For a lot of people, it may look doom and gloom," Capel said. "But for me, it's exciting. It's certainly a challenge, but it's something I think we're all up for."

I hope you're up for it, Jeff. Like you said, it will certainly be a challenge.