CHAPEL HILL - Two years after watching his brother hit one of the most memorable shots in the history of the Duke-Carolina rivalry, Jason Capel did the unimaginable.
He disappointed Blue Devil fans when in the fall of his senior year in high school, the younger Capel signed on to become a Tar Heel. It was the ultimate symbol of the rivalry's Civil War mentality, brother fighting against brother.
Well, not exactly.
"We don't really talk about it. I think the media makes more of it than my family does," said Jason, now a sophomore. "If [Jeff] was at Duke, then maybe yeah, but he's not there, he's not playing, so it's really not that big of a factor." The older Capel graduated from Duke in 1997.
"He supports me, I support him. If we win, he'll be the biggest cheerleader. He's not going to be mad because Carolina beat Duke."
The younger Capel is hardly a traitor; Duke wasn't even one of his final college choices. While attending games in Cameron Indoor Stadium as a high schooler, he definitely felt some pressure to attend Duke, but he narrowed his options to UNC and Old Dominion, where his father Jeff is the head coach.
After much deliberation, Capel pursued his dream of playing for North Carolina. He had always been a Tar Heel fan, and had just momentarily abandoned his loyalties to cheer for his brother.
As UNC prepared for tonight's game in the Dean Smith Center on Tuesday, many players insisted it was just another ACC game. Capel wasn't buying it. Through his brother, he's seen the rivalry up close for a long time-from both perspectives.
"It's special to me because of the rivalry," Capel said. "Even if my brother had not gone there, Carolina-Duke is always going to be the biggest rivalry, so I'm just happy and excited to be a part of it.
"I think you want to say it's just another game, but it's hard to say that because... we see them all the time, and just the tradition of the rivalry. As a little kid, everybody watches Duke-Carolina when they play, staying up late, watching the game. It's not just another game; it's a very intense game, probably one of the most intense games of the year. It's like an NCAA tournament game, right now."
But at the rate Capel and the Heels are going, tonight could be the closest they come to an NCAA game. Perched at 13-8, UNC has heard all the speculation that its run of 25-straight NCAA tournament appearances is in jeopardy.
Capel sees tonight as the perfect stage to send a message to the world.
"I'm just really excited about [tonight's game] because of the kind of year we're having," he said. "People are really doubting us and if we go out there and win, we'll be right back, getting as much talk as they do."
For years, the Capel brothers did battle in their driveway and on the playgrounds. Jeff was five years Jason's senior, but the games were still pretty intense. Last year, their sibling rivalry was supposed to advance another step as Jason entered the rivalry.
But Capel missed the first Duke-UNC game with mononucleosis, and in his final two meetings with the Blue Devils, Capel was hindered by recurring back problems. Tonight, he finally gets his chance.
"I think it's even more special for me this year because in the back of my mind, I know I really haven't gotten the chance to play against them," he said. "The times I did play last year I was hurt."
The Duke-Carolina matchup means a lot of things to a lot of people, but when trying to get the perfect Duke-Carolina story, the media turns to Capel, the man who allegedly tried to split up a family with his choice of college.
"I get very tired of it," he said. "I know it makes a great story, brother and brother, Carolina and Duke, but the fact is my brother's not there any more. There's no ragging about it. We're brothers, we love each other, there is no criticism or anything like that."
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