Jeff Capel said losing Au’Diese Toney and Xavier Johnson hurts Pitt in terms of depth and experience for the remnants of this season.
Still, he is optimistic that his players and coaches can recover in the long run and build on the program.
“In the long run, I see no effects, to be honest with you,” he said Thursday night during a Jeff Capel Show on 93.7 FM. “It says nothing to reduce them.”
His point: it’s time to get back to work with those who want to stay in the fight.
“We have to recruit. We need to get guys. We must continue to develop the young men who are in our program, ”he said. “This is what we plan to do. I’m looking at it because it gives us two more scholarships to go out to guys who really want to be here, to take part in what we do, along with the guys we have. ”
Capel did not specifically talk about why two of his best players left the team with only three games left in the regular season.
While noting that Toney would have missed Sunday’s game at NC State and perhaps the rest of the season with concussion, he asked outsiders not to judge his former players.
“We wish the two well,” he said. “They are both good children. It has been an incredibly difficult year with everything going on with the pandemic, with mental health, the pressure (on young people), the things they feel.
‘I hope people do not judge these children inside and outside the court for decisions they make. There are many factors that include these decisions. ”
He did not elaborate on these factors. Earlier, he said in a statement that the players’ departure took place under a mutual agreement.
“For us, we try to focus on the guys we have and finish our season as strongly as we can,” Capel said.
He said the message to his players waiting to play the rest of the season is this: sometimes adversity occurs. He hopes the team can come out on the other side better for the experience.
‘Two of the greatest feelings one can have are no. 1, a return, ‘he said.
“A lot of people go through hard times. You find out who you are. You find out who’s in your corner. You find out what you are made of. We talked about fighting. ”
He also referred to the return of Tiger Woods which led to his most recent Masters Championship.
“People love a great comeback story,” Capel said.
‘The second biggest achievement is when you complete something. We have the chance to finish the season strong. This is an opportunity for other guys. We have to chase to the finish line, and we have to chase after it. This is an opportunity for other guys to perform. ”
He cites senior Nike Sibande and freshmen Femi Odukale, William Jeffress and Noah Collier as players who might get more playing time.
“I feel we still have good players,” Capel said.
Jerry DiPaola is a writer on the staff of Tribune-Review. You can contact Jerry by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
Categories:
Pitt | Sport