Matt Capell was named the eighth men's basketball head coach in program history on May 12, 2022, and brings over twenty years of coaching experience to the position, which includes having served as the associate head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas College from 2013 until his promotion.  Entering his fourth season at the helm, Capell has amassed an overall record of 76-21 (0.784), winning East Coast Conference regular season and tournament championships in 2023 and 2024.  His teams have made the NCAA Division II East Region tournament all three seasons, advancing to the 2025 NCAA Division II Sweet 16.

For his efforts, he has twice been named the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Division II Coach of the Year and ECC Coach of the Year once.  Capell has developed nine All-ECC selections, including 2024 ECC Player of the Year & 2024 NABC All-America selection James Patterson, and 2025 Defensive Player of the Year Shaun Arnold.  The program has been ranked as high as 7th in the nation, and has also produced two All-East Region selections.

Capell and his coaching staff have continued to build upon the winning culture that the men’s basketball program has enjoyed since 2013.  During that span, the program had a 209-62 (0.771) overall record with five ECC regular season titles, six ECC tournament championships, seven straight bids to the NCAA Division II tournament, an NCAA East Regional title in 2017, and a trip to the 2017 NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

Along with great success on the hardwood, Capell served as the head men's and women’s tennis coach, leading both programs to their first-ever NCAA East Region tournament appearances.  The men’s program won the college’s first-ever ECC tournament championship in 2022, while the women’s program received an at-large bid the same year.  Both have become a mainstay in national rankings while boasting multiple ECC All-Conference selections under Capell's leadership.  He has been awarded multiple ECC Coach of the Year awards, the 2022 Wilson/ITA East Region Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year, and is the winningest coach in college history for both programs.

Outside of his duties at the college, Capell has spent time at the scholastic level as a golf coach at Ethical Culture Fieldston School, winning back-to-back New York state championships.

Prior to arriving in Sparkill, Capell served as an assistant coach at Mercyhurst University (NCAA Division II) for seven years, with additional seasons spent on the staffs at Hamilton College (NCAA Division III), Clarkson University (NCAA Division III) and Alfred State College (NJCAA Division II).

In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Capell will retain his title as Assistant Athletic Director for Community Engagement.

A Gasport, N.Y., native, Capell graduated cum laude from Alfred University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He lettered in football, basketball and track & field, and completed his master’s degree in organizational leadership at Mercyhurst University in 2020.

Capell Year-By-Year