Let me start by saying that nothing is official yet.

If indeed Jeff Capel is the next coach it will take me a day or two to get over some initial disappointment. I've advocated for Gonzaga's Mark Few and also heard he was the leading candidate. Capel on the other hand has come out of nowhere. I am genetically programmed to generally hate all things OU. So it will take me a bit to set that to the side. I'm sure Capel's a nice guy, but this is gonna take some time.

A few words about Few... I won't be conceding anything until an official announcement is made. I prefer Few but he may be a lifer at Gonzaga. The major advantage on paper with Few, to my mind, is his tie to the West. Over the next couple seasons Arizona is going to have to shop Filene's Basement to find under-recruited guys with upside, like Kyle Fogg. There may be more guys like that "back East" or in the Midwest but Arizona's had the majority of its success finding under-the-radar guys in AZ, CA, OR, WA, and TX.

Some quick initial thoughts on Capel... If he does indeed become the next head coach there's little not to like, really. My big question is whether he can land the big recruit when going head-to-head with the heavyweights in the Pac10. That may sound like a weird thing to say about the coach of the consensus player of the year. However, as a practical matter Blake Griffin was coming to OU no matter who coached the team. Willie Warren and Tony Crocker are solid finds for Capel.

Given Livengood's dictum that he wants a coach that "wins the press conference" Capel may  be well-equipped to do that. The story surrounding Capel at Oklahoma is that he blew people out of the water at his interview. Perhaps he's done the same with Livengood.

As a game strategist Capel doesn't have any glaring weaknesses. He seems to be the type that isn't dogmatic. I like that. He works around the players that he has.