BOONE, N.C.— Appalachian State University will not renew the contract of men's basketball head coach Jason Capel, director of athletics
Charlie Cobb announced on Monday.
"As we enter the Sun Belt Conference next season, we have decided to do so with new leadership for our men's basketball program," Cobb said. "I sincerely thank Coach Capel for his effort and dedication to Appalachian State over the last five years. He is a first-class person and has a bright professional future ahead of him. I wish him and his family nothing but the best."
Capel is in the final year of a four-year contract that expires on March 31. Appalachian State posted an overall record of 53-70 in Capel's four seasons as head coach, including a 32-38 mark in Southern Conference play. Prior to being named the 15th head coach in program history on April 21, 2010, Capel served as an assistant coach at Appalachian for one season.
At the time of his hire, Capel was the nation's youngest NCAA Division I head coach at 30 years, three months and six days old. He posted a 16-15 record (10-8 SoCon) in his first season as head coach in 2010-11. He is one of only four first-year head coaches to ever post a winning record at Appalachian State and the only one to ever win double-digit SoCon games.
Capel went on to lead the Mountaineers to records of 13-18, 15-16 and 9-21 over his final three seasons. Appalachian won at least one postseason game in each of his first three seasons at the helm and took heavily favored Davidson to the brink in the 2013 SoCon Tournament semifinals before a would-be game-tying three-pointer came up just short at the buzzer in a nailbiting 65-62 defeat to the eventual NCAA Tournament participant.
Capel coached three all-conference performers in his four seasons as Appalachian State's head coach, including the program's all-time leading scorer (Donald Sims) and the 2012-13 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year (Nathan Healy). Under Capel's tutelage, Healy also became the first Academic All-American in program history.
In his only season as an assistant coach at Appalachian, Capel helped lead the Mountaineers to the second-most victories in school history (24), their first SoCon Tournament title-game appearance since 2000 and a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT), only the fourth postseason appearance since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1973.
A search for the 16th head coach in Appalachian State men's basketball history will begin immediately.
JASON CAPEL AS APPALACHIAN STATE HEAD COACH
Year Overall SoCon
2010-11 16-15 10-8 (3rd - North)
2011-12 13-18 7-11 (5th - North)
2012-13 15-16 10-8 (2nd - North)
2013-14 9-21 5-11 (9th)
Totals 53-70 32-38
