DATE: Saturday, March 22, 1997              TAG: 9703220453

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   79 lines

ODU'S CAPEL HEADS FOR SECOND RUTGERS INTERVIEW

Old Dominion basketball coach Jeff Capel is expected to visit Rutgers this weekend for an on-campus interview, his second face-to-face contact with officials from the Big East school.

Capel first met with Rutgers athletic director Fred Gruninger about the school's coaching vacancy at an undisclosed location Wednesday. Rutgers interviewed Drexel's Bill Herrion on campus Friday, according to sources.

Capel remains tight-lipped. When a reporter attempted to question him Friday, Capel waved his hands and said he couldn't talk about it, walked into his private office and closed the door.

Rutgers athletic director Fred Gruninger also is quiet about the search.

``If you talk to the coach and he'll say that, I'll confirm it,'' Gruninger said when asked if he was meeting Capel this weekend. ``But I'm not going to confirm it until the coach does.''

Rutgers apparently has narrowed its field to three: Capel, Herrion and Xavier's Skip Prosser. Texas' Tom Penders and Boston College's Jim O'Brien have been mentioned in New Jersey media reports, but not as prominently.

Rutgers fired Bob Wenzel March 6 after five consecutive losing records. Wenzel's nine-year record at the New Brunswick, N.J., school was 128-135.

Capel is 61-36 in three seasons at ODU, which he led to the NCAA tournament in 1995 and this season. He also took North Carolina A&T to the 1994 NCAA tournament. He's 10-1 in conference tournaments the past four years.

Capel's success makes him marketable, and son Jason only enhances his appeal. Jason, who attends St. John's at Prospect Hall in Frederick, Md., is regarded as one of the nation's top high school juniors. Capel has repeatedly said he wants to coach Jason in college.

Several coaches contacted in the last few days believe even if Capel doesn't get the Rutgers job, it's a foregone conclusion he will step up to a higher-level league very soon.

``He's got a trump card in Jason and he's got somebody to make a power call for him, too - Mike Krzyzewski,'' said one Division I head coach who asked not to be identified.

Capel is good friends with Krzyzewski, one of the nation's most respected coaches, and his oldest son, Jeff Capel III, just completed his playing career at Duke.

The climate is right for a move as well. Several openings are available in major conferences, and more are bound to open up as the coaching carousel continues to spin. Capel's name has also been floated for the vacant Memphis job. His name has also been mentioned in connection with Wake Forest and Florida State, should coaches at those schools move on.

``Certainly what happened in our league would shake anybody up and make you want to look,'' said UNC Wilmington coach Jerry Wainwright, referring to coaching turnovers at four Colonial Athletic Association schools so far this month. Wainwright and Capel worked together as assistants at Wake Forest.

``The only way you keep real good mid-major coaches is to offer them the type of thing new coaches are getting at places like Seton Hall,'' Wainwright said. ``Why shouldn't Jeff Capel get six years?''

Tommy Amaker, a Krzyzewski assistant, was hired by Seton Hall earlier this week. Amaker, 31, has no head-coaching experience, but was given a six-year contract with a total package reportedly worth $500,000 per year.

Capel's contract at ODU runs through the 1999-2000 season and his total package is worth an estimated $150,000, which he could roughly triple if he gets the Rutgers job.

Wainwright said he'd be surprised to see Capel return to ODU.

``I think Jeff's marketability right now - in a market that's a buyer's market - is at an all-time high,'' Wainwright said. ``Like all of us, he wants to be playing in the Final Four. At this level, it's hard to do that.

``I think this is the year of a multitude of opportunities for good coaches like Jeff Capel.''

A couple of ODU players contacted Friday seemed unconcerned about the prospect of losing their coach.

``I don't really pay much attention to it until I hear it from the boss man himself,'' sophomore forward Cal Bowdler said. ``I really like coach Capel, but he's got a family to take care of.

``I'd like him to stay, but I'd understand if he leaves.''

``We're hoping for him to be back, but if something else better comes up, we'd understand,'' added Brion Dunlap. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

Jeff Capel's contract at ODU is worth an estimated $150,000, which

he could roughly triple if he gets the Rutgers job.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu