March 9, 2001

Chris Boyer
TheACC.com

ATLANTA - Sometimes, when North Carolina's Jason Capel nails a three pointer, he flashes his fraternity sign to the crowd, the cameras, the opposition, and whoever else might be watching. After Capel's six for six three point barrage against Clemson in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament, the conference may want to ask the fraternity to become a paid advertiser.

Coincidentally, when giving the fraternal sign, the hand shows three fingers extended. It was a perfect display for a perfect 3-point display.

In fact, the six three pointers by Capel were an ACC Tournament record for the Tar Heels. The record was previously held by Capel's current coach, Matt Doherty.

"Why didn't I know that before the game?" asked Doherty jokingly upset. He eventually conceded the record and congratulated his star. Capel responded with a sympathetic pat on his coach's shoulder.

Capel couldn't even think of a night in his college career when he's been hotter from long range, explaining why he could even be seen shaken his own head after making some of his shots.

"I guess I couldn't believe how good every shot felt, or that they were leaving me so open sometimes even after I was hitting them. In college, I haven't had a game where I have shot threes so well. I think it made a big difference that we got to come in here yesterday and put some shots up, and I usually don't come out before warm ups to shoot, but today I made an effort to get out here to get some more. My teammates did a great job putting me in position to get good shots."

In addition to a perfect three point shooting night, and breaking his coach's record, Capel also picked up a technical foul in what has become a heated rivalry between these two ACC schools.

"I remember watching when Clemson's old coach had words with Coach Smith. But any time a team beat us, we want to win that much more. Clemson's a team that usually plays hard and sometimes they get a little dirty. They play physical and they make us play physical. Tempers flared a little bit, but we kept it under control. I guess we were the tougher team because we got the win."

Capel's performance was witnessed in person by his mother and father. The elder Capel just resigned as head coach of Old Dominion. Jason had "no comment" on his father's coaching situation.

The Tar Heels will face the winner of the Georgia Tech in tomorrow's semifinals. Capel expects to be just as involved in the offense on Saturday.

"I shot the ball with a lot of confidence today. I am hoping that the results carry over to tomorrow."