Friday, January 28, 2000
Family keeps star at Heritage
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer contributor
Heritage Academy senior forward Bert Capel didn't care all that much about basketball until he moved from North Carolina to Kentucky eight years ago.
Since then, the 6-foot-4 senior has certainly made an impression on the court. He averages 23.9 points a game for the Eagles and could reach 2,000 career points (he has 1,985) Saturday against Restoration Christian.
Capel, a Burlington, N.C., native, is a pretty good baseball player, too: As a pitcher, he hit .320 last year and went 8-3 with a 1.43 ERA and 100 strikeouts.
So what sport does Capel prefer?
“A bunch of people ask me that,” he said. “My real favorite is football.”
Which makes Capel's decision to come to Heritage, an 82-student Assemblies of God school in Florence, all the more interesting. The school has no football team and Capel could have played at Lloyd.
Instead, Capel chose to stay with his family — his father, Bert Capel Sr., is Heritage's athletic director and baseball coach — though he admits it was tough to give up being a wide receiver.
“My dad got a job here, so we stayed here,” Capel said. “My mom eventually worked here. My brother Jackson goes here.”
Still, Capel occasionally hears that he wouldn't score so much if he played at a larger school.
“There are positives and negatives,” Capel said. “You get to try a lot more things. You're not constantly a role player.”
Capel's game developed in the gym that used to double as the school cafeteria. While Bert Sr. swept and mopped the floor, Bert Jr. learned the beauty of a 3-pointer from the corner.
“I'd stay here most of the night and shoot,” the younger Capel said. “It made me a better basketball player.”
Capel averages 7.7 rebounds and three steals a game. He doesn't shoot much from 3-point land, but he's 51.7 percent (15-of-29) when he does.
“My favorite (move) is driving to the basket,” Capel said. “You have the option of driving or getting fouled or dishing off when (defenders) come to you.”
Heritage coach Steve Offutt has a good dilemma — where to put Capel on the court.
“He's mainly our shooting guard,” Offutt said. “But on defense he plays underneath. We run off screens. He keeps moving.”
Capel said Miami University has talked to him about playing baseball and basketball. Northern Kentucky University and Thomas More College are also in the mix.
Capel, meanwhile, concentrates on leading Heritage (11-8) to its first 33rd District tournament win — the Eagles have lost to either Conner or Simon Kenton in the first round every year. As for college, he will seek a higher authority for guidance.
“No matter what I do, God's still there,” Capel said. “And he's still proud of me, no matter what.”
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