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The next candidate in our series is none other than Oklahoma Sooners head coach Jeff Capel.
Capel has impressed many around the country. The Sooners took a bit of a risk when they hired Capel after Kelvin Sampson jumped ship for his infamous stint at Indiana.
Capel had brought success to VCU, gaining them an NCAA tournament bid in 2004 before losing in the final minute to Wake Forest in the first round.
Of course, little did we know at the time, Capel had brought Eric Maynor into the fold before he left and that budding freshman would go on to be the greatest VCU player ever.
Well, Capel has done it again by bringing in the behemoth Blake Griffin and giving the Oklahoma Sooners a 2-seed in the NCAA tournament.
Obviously, Capel has a lot to offer a team like Virginia and that has made him a rumored candidate.
Capel has proven his ability to win in a power conference. So will he be doing that in an orange and blue tie?
WHY CAPEL WILL COME TO VIRGINIA
Capel is, to the core, an ACC guy.
Capel was born and raised in the region and went on to play at Duke University where he is best remembered for hitting a dramatic half-court shot in overtime against the North Carolina Tar Heels to extend the instant classic.
His wife is from Virginia as is his brother and former Tar Heel Jason. A homecoming would make sense for Capel, especially if he wants to bank in on his recent success.
Despite leading Oklahoma to its best season in recent memory he is currently doing it on a contract of around $1.2 million dollars a year.
Sure, Oklahoma would probably be willing to bump it up but how much?
Even if they doubled his annual salary, it is still less than the numbers Virginia seems to be willing to offer to fellow candidate Tubby Smith.
Money does talk in sports, just ask Bob Huggins. If Oklahoma has to bust the bank to keep Bob Stoops around, do they have enough to keep both hot commodities?
If Capel wanted to leave Oklahoma, this might actually be the perfect time to do it.
Blake Griffin will be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft (if he has any sense and declares early) and his brother is graduating. If ever he wanted to bank in on his new found genius status, this would be the moment.
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