Blake Griffin defends coach Jeff Capel

While Capel said in a statement he considers OU a "first class institution and an excellent place to coach," former Sooners standout Blake Griffin thought Capel's firing was more like a slap to the face.

The former Oklahoma star who is now playing for the Los Angeles Clippers said the university's decision to fire his coach was "unfair" and that the school was "piling it on."

"What bothers me the most is that everyone is saying he did all of this when Blake Griffin was there," Griffin said. "Well to me, you say he deserves no credit when a certain player is there and then, when things go bad, throw all the blame on him. To me, they're piling it on. He took over the program after Kelvin Sampson and all of those sanctions and he put his faith in everyone. This is what he gets? Within two years we're in the tournament and now two years later he's fired? It's completely unfair."

Griffin, who said he received a text from Capel shortly after the university's decision, felt so strongly about Oklahoma's decision that he reached out to ESPN.com on Tuesday afternoon.

The No. 1 draft pick two years ago and the top rated player coming out of high school, Griffin's decision to attend Oklahoma was something of a stunner. It helped that his older brother, Taylor, already was there and that the Griffins are Oklahoma natives.

"As soon as he got the job he started recruiting me and we were in it together," Griffin said. "When I committed to Oklahoma, it wasn't a popular thing to do at the time but I went because of Coach Capel. We all take pride in what we did there and what we built and for them to turn their backs on him so quickly, it really disappoints me."