Capel could restore U.Va.'s luster, but would he want to?

If he's willing to take the plunge, Jeff Capel can be the next Virginia basketball coach.

That's the educated guess offered by most pundits. It's based on Capel's success at Oklahoma - the No. 2-seeded Sooners have reached the Sweet 16 of this year's tournament - as well as the ties he created in the state during his four years as Virginia Commonwealth's head coach.

Capel played at Duke, so a soft spot for the ACC and an affinity for this part of the country - his family is from North Carolina, his wife is a Virginian - could play a role in what happens next.

Another factor to consider is that no matter how much he wins at Oklahoma, Capel's teams will always play in the long shadow of the football program. That wouldn't happen in the ACC.

Still, homecomings aside, wouldn't a restless young coach of unlimited potential hope to aim higher than U.Va.?

Going back years and years - not counting the odd outstanding season or the Ralph Sampson era - U.Va. has been a middling program, at best.

Sure, fans would settle for average in the wake of Dave Leitao's 4-12 ACC record. They'd celebrate any coach who flirted with a plus-.500 record because, truth be known, U.Va. boosters are easily pleased.

But looking at U.Va. from the outside, is a successful coach from a big conference likely to see a sleeping giant?

Or, with history as his guide, will he realize that the Cavaliers are destined to be mere sleepers - good enough some years to make a little noise, but rarely a threat to North Carolina, Duke and the other big dogs?

Considering U.Va.'s recent history, something seems odd when the Internet scuttlebutt concerning the vacancy mentions several prominent coaches, among them Villanova's Jay Wright. Last time anybody checked, he was thriving in the Big East.

Then again, no one should underestimate the persuasive powers of money, something U.Va. is said to have in great supply. So if Capel balks, maybe Wright could be seduced for the right price. Or Michigan's John Beilein, Xavier's Sean Miller or Minnesota's Tubby Smith.

U.Va. would be wise to fill the opening with a sizable name and proven commodity. The program has fallen too far and fast to ask fans to wait patiently while the jury is out on some unknown hot-shot assistant.

What the next coach must be equipped to do is turn U.Va. into a basketball school again.

Once, basketball was U.Va.'s athletic identity. Even if it couldn't capture the conference or climb into the Top 10, there were always a few moments throughout the years - beginning with Terry Holland and occasionally under his successors - when the Cavaliers threw around enough weight that they could not be ignored.

That feels like a long time ago. It feels as if U.Va. basketball has not been this devoid of passion since the early '70s. Even Leitao's departure lacked drama. He proved to be such a minor presence that his exit created not a ripple of controversy.

Meanwhile, as the short-lived Leitao era slowly ebbed, the Cavaliers ceded ground to Virginia Tech. This should annoy the U.Va. faithful as much as anything. Tradition always held that U.Va., not Tech, was the state's basketball school. With the right coach, that can happen again fairly quickly.

Capel is a good candidate. He's ascended in a large, cutthroat conference.

But because he's only 34, Capel's options are plentiful. There's every reason for him to remain at Oklahoma and wait for other opportunities, possibly even biding his time while hoping to succeed Mike Krzyzewski.

Nobody has to wonder whether Duke is a basketball school.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373, bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com