UIL to honor E-E's Capello on Thursday in Austin

EDCOUCH — Legendary Rio Grande Valley boys basketball coach Robert Capello is scheduled to be honored by the UIL for his impressive resume in the sport and his contributions to his profession.

The longtime Edcouch-Elsa coach will be honored sometime Thursday evening in between Class 4A state semifinals boys basketball games, which will be played at Frank Erwin Center in Austin. The commemoration is part of the UIL Centennial Celebration of 100 years of existence honoring high school basketball’s all-century team.

“I’m deeply honored,” Capello said. “It’s an honor that has to be shared with all my teams from the past starting with Mission, to the parents, principals that hired me to the school board that kept giving me a contract every year.”

Some of Capello’s involvements range from being an assistant regional director, director of the Texas High School Coaches Association, coaching in all-star games, promoting basketball in South Texas and he has also been a member of the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) since it began in 1975.

Above all, Capello, 69, is best known for his many years of coaching high school basketball, starting in 1965 at Mission High School. He has an impressive 966 victories in 45 years of coaching under his belt, which is most by a Hispanic according to the 2009 National High School Sports record books. The book also has Capello third overall in the nation among active coaches and he is ranked ninth all time.

Along with Mission, Capello also has had stints with Barbers Hill, Donna, Lyford, Port Arthur Thomas Jefferson, and Uvalde before coming back home to Edcouch-Elsa in 1980 where he’s been ever since. Fans may be familiar with Capello’s run and gun style of play where state records were set in three-point shooting and team scoring.

“I always felt you have to leave the Valley and then come back so that you can have fresh ideas,” Capello said.

Growing up idolizing former UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden, Capello followed the wizards Pyramid of Triangle philosophy on and off the court where he preached teamwork, conditioning and fundamentals as his main objectives. Capello said he and Wooden had similar backgrounds with a modest family upbringing to working in the fields.

His passion for sports began when he listened to the World Series during the 1950s wanting to grow up to be a professional baseball player. That passion lasted into high school where he was a member of the 1959 Edcouch-Elsa football regular season unbeaten squad coached by Elbert “Lum” Wright.

“If it weren’t for athletics, I wouldn’t have graduated from high school,” Capello said.

Although he wasn’t quite the athlete to play in the MLB, Capello’s enthusiasm turned to coaching where he landed his first job at Mission as both the junior varsity football and basketball coach. His first varsity basketball job was at Barbers Hill in 1967.

The rest, as they say, is history.

“All my kids are the best,” Capello said. “I could only imagine how many in 45 years.”

As long as he remains healthy, Capello intends to stick around long enough to reach the elusive 1,000-win plateau. He noted about a strong middle school class that may be just in time for him to reach that milestone.

“I’ve had some arthritis, but the passion is still there. Capello said. “I believe I can achieve the milestone of 1,000 (wins) if I could maintain my health. Then I’ll retire.”