OU's Capel: Elite 8 to unemployed in 2 years

Oklahoma fired coach Jeff Capel yesterday after he followed a trip to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight with the program's first back-to-back losing seasons since 1967.

Capel was 96-69 in five seasons with the Sooners, but just 27-36 over the past two after Blake Griffin entered the NBA draft early and became the No. 1 overall pick.

"This isn't about our current team or the record of this past season. This is, again, looking at the entire program and our ability to be successful going forward," athletic director Joe Castiglione said.

Castiglione said his decision was based not on one factor but on the "totality" of the program, which landed under NCAA investigation again just as its probation was about to end, encountered a severe attendance drop and frequently lost players to early departures.

Capel had 5 years left on the contract that was extended after he made it within a win of the 2009 Final Four, with Griffin leading the way. He was making $1.5 million per year, and had annual raises and stay bonuses built into the contract. His buyout will be in excess of $2 million.

Despite having three McDonald's All-Americans on the roster, the Sooners finished the 2009-10 season with nine straight losses - the second-longest losing streak in school history - to plummet out of the Top 25 and end up with a 13-18 record.

Five underclassmen left the program, including McDonald's All-Americans Willie Warren, Tommy Mason-Griffin and Keith "Tiny" Gallon. Capel restocked with largely unheralded players and Oklahoma went 14-18 this season.

Capel inherited a program saddled with restrictions after major NCAA rules violations involving hundreds of impermissible recruiting phone calls by predecessor Kelvin Sampson. Just as that probation was running out last year, the NCAA started investigating the Sooners again because of a loan Gallon has said he took from Florida financial adviser Jeffrey Hausinger to pay for transcripts that allowed him to get into Oklahoma.A joint investigation by Oklahoma and the NCAA began a year ago, but has not yet yielded any charges.

In related news:

* Loyola of Chicago fired coach Jim Whitesell after seven seasons. Whitesell led the Ramblers to a 109-107 record, including 16-15 this season.

* Lamar fired coach Steve Roccaforte after a 13-17 season and a 76-78 five-season tenure at the school in Beaumont, Texas.

* John Pelphrey, fired Sunday as Arkansas' coach, said he wasn't given enough time to complete a turnaround at the school.

"I do not agree with the decision . . . to make a change," Pelphrey said. "I do not. I absolutely do not. Obviously, I would have liked more time. It takes time to build stability in a program. Every situation is different. This situation was different. I know we were really close to reaping some of the rewards of all our hard work."

Pelphrey finished 69-59 in four seasons at Arkansas, 18-13 this season.

* Ohio State, Kansas and Duke were the only teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press' college basketball poll this season, and they were among nine teams in the Top 25 from start to finish.

Ohio State (32-2), the overall No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, led the poll for the third straight week and eighth overall. Kansas (32-2) was No. 1 for 1 week this season. The Jayhawks were second for the third straight week. Duke (30-4) spent 10 weeks at No. 1, and finished third. The rest of the Top 10 was Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, San Diego State, North Carolina, Texas, Connecticut and BYU. Temple fell out of the Top 25.