In 1995, a Duke Blue Devil launched a half-court shot at the buzzer against bitter rival North Carolina. The miracle shot went in and sent the game to double-overtime. Duke would go on to lose the game to the mighty Tar Heels, but the legend of that shot lived on.

On Tuesday, Jeff Capel, the man who made the historic heave, was introduced as the new head coach of the OU men's basketball team in a press conference behind Oklahoma Memorial Union.

It is a five-year deal worth $200,000 per year, with additional and outside income from unrestricted funds of $450,000 annually and incentives up to an additional $200,000 per year.

Capel, 31, comes from Virginia Commonwealth University where he was the head coach for four years and an assistant coach for one. At 27, he was promoted from assistant coach to head coach and was the youngest coach in Division I men's basketball at that time. Capel is a graduate of Duke and was a four-year starter under legendary Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski from 1993-97.

OU President David L. Boren said the 13-day search was very meticulous and that Joe Castiglione, OU athletic director, was very thorough.

"I know something about the process he has gone through in this search," Boren said. "This has to be the most comprehensive search ever conducted with over 40 names, in depth, looked at in the course of it and we looked the country over. It is, of course, typical of him and we look back on those he has brought into the program; we know that he has found the best."

Castiglione joked about his two-week search.

"It's nice to have finally emerged from the witness protection program," he said.

Despite various media speculation, Castiglione was able to stay below the radar with Capel. Several media outlets speculated on many coaches, including Villanova's Jay Wright, Memphis' John Calipari and George Washington's Karl Hobbs.

Jeff Capel career in brief

Old Dominion

o Assistant coach, 2000-2001

o Served under his father

o ODU located in Norfolk, Va.

o ODU member of Colonial Athletic Association

o Monarchs were 13-18 overall and 7-9 in conference that year.

o ODU best-known for women's hoops

Virginia Commonwealth

o Assistant coach, 2001-2002

o Head coach, 2002-2006

o In three years as head coach, led Rams to 60-31 record.

o Led Rams to NCAA tourney in 2003-2004 season and the NIT tourney in 2004-2005 season.

OU

o Named head coach Tuesday o Third youngest coach in Division 1 men's basketballo Bought out -- part of the penalty for leaving after signing six-year extension with VCUo Clause in contract requires OU to play home-and-home series with VCU

Capel becomes the 12th men's basketball head coach at OU. He compiled a 79-41 record at VCU over the last four years and led his team to the NCAA tournament in the 2003-04 season and to the NIT in the 2004-05 season.

"I'm extremely excited for the opportunity to be the head coach of one of the best programs in all of college basketball," Capel said. "I'm honored that Joe Castiglione and President Boren have entrusted me to be the leader of the OU men's basketball program, and I'm eager to start working with our student athletes."

For next year, the men's team loses senior forwards Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout and guard Terrell Everett, but keeps Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Michael Neal, a senior guard. Also returning are senior swingman Nate Carter, senior guard Chris Walker, junior guard David Godbold, sophomore guard Austin Johnson and forward Taylor Griffin. Walk-on junior guards Michael Ott and Kellen Sampson also return.

Couple the returnees with the recruiting class hailed as OU's finest ever, which includes McDonald's All-American Scotty Reynolds and Parade All-American Damion James, and Capel will have a solid foundation to start with in the Big 12.

Capel said he was excited when the phone call came about the open position at OU.

"It's funny how things happen," he said. "Just last week, I was thinking about going on the road and what we were going to do at VCU and working my team out and things like that. And all of the sudden, I get a call to ask me if I would be interested in interviewing to become the head coach at the University of Oklahoma. It didn't take long for me to answer that question. Before he could finish saying 'Oklahoma,' I was saying 'Yes' and 'When can I come?' and 'What do I have to do?'"

Capel said he feels Oklahoma can contend for the national championship.

"I really feel like this is a place, the University of Oklahoma, where you can win the whole thing," he said. "And I'm not talking about Big 12 championships."

Castiglione said he and Boren feel they have found the right man for the job.

"We feel like we have found the best possible person to take, accept and carry the successful legacy of Oklahoma basketball to its new level in a new era," he said. "I am absolutely sure, as you get to know this person, you will find and experience and feel the same qualities that we found in him in this search. We know he's going to be the next great coach of Oklahoma basketball."

Boren also said he looks forward to Capel winning big games.

"We're all going to be around to see coach Jeff hang that national championship banner," he said.

Capel replaces former head coach Kelvin Sampson, who was hired at Indiana University on March 29. Sampson left the program as the winningest coach in Big 12 history. His .719 winning percentage ranks first in the men's basketball program. The Associated Press named him the Coach of the Year in 1995, as did the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 2002.

Kellen Sampson, Kelvin Sampson's son, plans to stay at OU and play for the new head coach. Kellen Sampson said it is good for the search to be finally over.

"The first thing that came across with coach Capel is how genuine and honest he is, and we needed that because we've been told so many things," Kellen Sampson said. "For the past two weeks, we haven't had a head with our body. It's nice to have a head."

Griffin said the last two weeks have gone by very slowly for him, but he is looking forward to the new coaching style Capel brings to the table.

"I'm ready to get in the gym, start working," Griffin said. "I talked to him a little bit earlier. The thing that excited me the most is that he likes to run. He likes to get easy baskets. He stressed a lot about defense, but that's something that's not new to us. A lot of the things that he said were really similar to coach Sampson."

Capel said he is going to give the Lloyd Noble Center crowd something to cheer about.

"I like to run," he said. "I like scoring and I like putting points on the board."

The players also agreed that having a head coach who played for Krzyzewski gives him instant credibility.

Capel said he looks forward to getting to know the players, the campus and the program. He also assured the fans that he would keep their Red River foes at bay.

"We're going to beat Texas," he said. "You heard that, you heard that."

Meanwhile, OU will await an NCAA hearing on April 21 in Salt Lake City, in which the NCAA will make a decision on the punishment for the men's basketball program. The program is under investigation after it made more than 550 illegal phone calls to recruits over the past four years.
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