THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 21, 1994 TAG: 9410190168
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bill Leffler
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
The good often comes with the bad.
On a Monday visit to the Portsmouth Sports Club, Old Dominion University basketball coach Jeff Capel laughingly recalled some of the horrors of his Monarchs' recent trip to France for exhibition games.
ODU lost all five of its games. But that was expected. The opposing teams had professionals, some of the best of European players.
There was a bomb scare, a game in a bullring, a night Capel found no bed in his hotel room and slept on the floor.
``Humbling to say the least,'' said Capel.
But Capel was getting an early look at the team he had signed on to coach just a few months earlier.
Official practice started on Saturday morning. Capel already is well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of his players because of the tour.
``I know it would have been very difficult to really know our needs without the trip to France,'' he said. ``Watching the players in game situations definitely helped.''
Capel says he is ``very excited'' about his team. He believes the Colonial Athletic Association could be strong enough this year to merit two teams getting invitations to the NCAA Tournament. And he has no qualms with pre-season ratings showing his Monarchs as one of the CAA's best teams.
``We have a schedule full of big challenges,'' he said. ``But I believe in that. I believe when you pay good money to see a team play, you deserve to watch them against a quality opponent.
``I didn't like it when I was a player and we played against a team that was not a good team. My players don't like that either.
``If you want to be the best, you have to play the best.''
The decision on the size of the new fieldhouse in the planning stages at Old Dominion probably won't be made for three or four months, Capel said.
He hinted that he personally favored a 10,000-seat on-campus arena instead of a 20,000-seat facility that would be shared by the city.
``Oh, 20,000 seats would be nice to have, but it wouldn't be our building,'' he said. ``I think 10,000 seats on campus would take us to the next level. Our students could walk right to the games.'' by CNB