The Pitt Panthers basketball team has finally ended its long journey to hire a new head basketball coach and start a new quest to form a team that can compete in the ACC.

The Panthers went in the direction of long-time Duke assistant Jeff Capel. The Panthers missed out on their first target for coach, Danny Hurley, who went to be the head coach of UConn.

Capel has been Duke’s top recruiter in recent years and has led the charge for the Blue Devils as their recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the nation four out of the last five years.

Recruiting is one of the more important aspects that Pitt has struggled with since joining the ACC. If Capel continues to recruit the way he did at Duke, the Panthers will be a force in the ACC when Capel gets his players in the program.

Capel has a long road ahead of him as he takes the helm of probably the worst Pitt basketball team ever and one of the worst power five teams ever.

Capel does have head coaching experience, as he coached five years at Oklahoma, including an Elite Eight run in 2009, and four years at Virginia Commonwealth.

Eight players from Pitt’s 2017-2018 team requested and were granted releases so that they could transfer. Whether Capel will be able to keep those players — or if he wants them — remains to be seen, but with his recruiting past he may be able to convince some players to stay.

Capel becomes the head coach during one of the hardest times Pitt basketball has ever seen, and he will need to complete an absolutely huge rebuild to bring Pitt back to the national power that it once was. With Capel’s great recruiting and NCAA tournament experience, the Panthers and Panther fans finally have some reason for hope.