PITTSBURGH — The job Jeff Capel was hired to do felt impossible at the time: resurrecting Pitt men's basketball from the dead and restoring relevance to a program that had fallen on some seriously hard times, the nadir an 0-18 mark in ACC play in 2017-18.

What Capel has done over the past six seasons obviously hasn't been perfect, but it absolutely warranted the three-year extension that was announced on Wednesday, keeping Capel in charge of the program through 2029-30.

Capel has proven over the past two seasons that he can put a winning product on the floor. He's also shown an ability to help talented players reach the NBA.

There were certainly some detractors who pointed to one NCAA Tournament appearance in Capel's half-dozen seasons in Oakland, but using that as a barometer for whether or not Pitt should keep the 49-year-old Fayetteville, N.C., native around makes little sense to me.

Pitt was a hot mess when Capel started.

Now?

Four of Pitt's starters return for the 2024-25 season, while Capel has shown an ability to acquire talent a number of ways.

Brandin Cummings, a four-star recruit according to ESPN, will follow in his older brother Nelly's footsteps and join the Panthers after both eclipsed the 2,000-point mark in high school. In the transfer portal, Capel snagged some important experience with Damian Dunn (Houston) and Cameron Corhen (Florida State).

Both things, of course, serve to replace NBA-bound ex-Panthers in Bub Carrington and Blake Hinson. The former (14th, Trail Blazers) represents Pitt's highest draft pick since Steven Adams (12th, Thunder) in 2013. The latter was an indispensable part of the Panthers' past two teams — which won a combined 46 games.

Don't know about you, but I sure don't want to go back.

Capel has gone 97-92 here, earning 2023 ACC Coach of the Year honors, as the Panthers set school records for 3-point field goals (325), 3-point attempts (903), free-throw percentage (.759) and ACC wins (14).

The same as we've seen with the Pirates and manager Derek Shelton, the first couple years were tough or a waste of time to evaluate. Talent lacked. Capel had to construct Pitt's program to look the way he wanted.

That process has obviously been bumpy or imperfect at times. It would've been foolish to think anything else. As much as the modern era of college sports might rob us of continuity, where everything always seems to be changing, it's tough to build something sustainable overnight.

But when Capel can counter the loss of impact players such as Carrington and Hinson with Ishmael Leggett, Jaland Lowe and several new and promising faces ... isn't that how this is supposed to work?

Getting talented players to come to Pitt has helped Capel flip things in the opposite direction, and the results the past two seasons have been darn impressive given what he inherited.

Two years ago, Pitt reached the tourney for the first time since 2015-16 and advanced beyond the first round for the first time since 2013-14. In 2023-24, Capel's team went 23-11. This past season, Pitt won 22 games, finally made it to the ACC semifinals and got screwed out of another tourney bid.

"Jeff fully embraced the challenge from the outset and never wavered from his lofty vision for our players and program," Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke said in a statement. "Brick-by-brick, he built a rock-solid foundation that has Pitt basketball poised for a championship future."

If Pitt football can bounce back from its 3-9 campaign in 2023, Lyke finds herself in excellent position when it comes to the two most high-profile coaches at the university, Narduzzi and Capel now extended through 2030.

Continuity in the spots should only help, as there's no shortage of other levels to monitor in college athletics — NIL money, the transfer portal and the ongoing saga of conference realignments.

Capel has been around and isn't fazed by any of it. Not only that, the former Oklahoma and VCU coach has shown himself to be a genuine, likable dude while embracing our city and its fans.

Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon proved how exciting things around here could become if Pitt consistently won games. I'm still not sure Dixon gets enough credit for his ability as a coach or the sustained success he experienced, the Panthers finishing in the final AP top-20 in seven of eight seasons between 2005-13.

There were frustrations then, sure. Show me a program in the college or professional ranks that doesn't have them.

But as we contemplate Pitt men's basketball, Capel's future and what he's done to earn that extension, it's a no-brainer.

The Panthers are much closer to those prime Dixon years than the mess they were when Capel arrived.

Who wants to go back?

(c)2024 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.