Before head coach Jeff Capel arrived at OU, he was mostly known for one long-range shot at Duke. What Capel will be remembered for after he leaves OU could be decided very soon.

Athletic director Joe Castiglione has shown a tendency to strike gold with his coaching hires. Bob Stoops, though a fairly well-known defensive coordinator at Florida, had never been a college head coach before resurrecting OU football.

Women’s basketball head coach Sherri Coale was a high school coach before she came to OU and quickly made the sport relevant. And when Kelvin Sampson left OU for Indiana amid recruiting violation rumors, Castiglione turned to another relatively unknown: Capel.

At first, the hire looked great. After the recruiting issues Sampson left behind, Capel seemed like the anti-Sampson. Capel is serious, smart and a man of integrity. With the program close to falling into oblivion, Capel was the figure of strength OU basketball needed. And it didn’t hurt that on-court success quickly followed.

After a first-season struggle, Capel led the Sooners to a six seed in the 2008 NCAA tournament and an Elite Eight appearance in 2009. Sooner fans seemed pleased, as was Castiglione, who gave Capel a raise and contract extension after the 2008 season.

Soon, though, OU fans will find out what kind of coach Capel really is.

As successful as the Sooner turnaround has been, a lot of the credit belongs to Blake Griffin. Capel’s first McDonald’s All-American recruit was a special talent as well as a unique person.

Since Griffin’s arrival, Capel has recruited three more McDonald’s All-Americans, none of whom have yet enjoyed the same success as Griffin. As Griffin moved on to the NBA, OU fans are realizing what kind of rarity he was. Not only was he a phenomenal talent, but he cared about his teammates, the university and winning.

Not everyone is like that.

While I want to avoid sweeping generalizations, there are definitely players on this OU team who seem to lack those qualities.

In the Sooners’ regular-season finale Saturday, they displayed a wide variety of displeasing trends. Some players played lazily. Some played carelessly. And in general, there was a great lack of fundamentals on both sides of the court on a semi-regular basis.

Now is Capel’s opportunity to show what kind of coach he really is.

After an extremely disappointing 13-17 season, OU will return next year with a wealth of talent. The problem is the Sooners had plenty of talent this season, too.

Now that this roster is loaded with players who seem like they do not easily take coaching, Capel has a chance next season to prove he is worth his money. He has done more than enough to prove he’s a great recruiter, but now is the time to prove he’s a great coach.

With certain players, there’s only so much you can do. I doubt Capel encourages his players to consistently provide weak or no help defense or to jog down the court as the opponent gets out on the break. However, Capel is the man who brought these players to OU. Now he has to deal with them.

Next season will be telling as Capel has an entire off-season to rethink his strategy with this group of players.

While I like what Capel has done so far, people may have been slightly over-anxious with their praise. With Griffin gone, Capel is facing a challenge he has yet to face at OU.

All year an excuse for this Sooner basketball team was that they were young. Keep in mind though, Capel is young too and in a difficult situation. But fans are impatient; if next season resembles this one, there could be problems. If Capel wants to be great, he better show what he can do soon.