Duquesne category, Page 10
Post-Keith Dambrot era could feature familiar face on sideline for Duquesne
The Keith Dambrot era is a wrap. Duquesne’s outgoing basketball coach already had cast his vote for a successor before his last game Saturday night, but the decision ultimately will come from athletic director Dave Harper. Or will it? “Dave’s the boss,” Dambrot said last week during a news conference...
Tim Benz: Illinois’ ‘blitz’ ends Duquesne’s season but doesn’t dent accomplishments
OMAHA, Neb. — Duquesne’s second-round NCAA Tournament game against Illinois was set up to be a contrast in styles. It was the 11th-seeded Dukes’ unrelenting, tenacious defense, which routinely holds opponent point totals in the low 60s, versus the high-powered offensive assault from third-seeded Illinois that led the Big Ten...
Illini too much as Duquesne’s magical postseason run comes to an end
Lightning-fast layups. NBA-range 3s. Illinois’ calling card this season has been a relentless approach, and it continued with a vengeance Saturday night against Cinderella hopeful Duquesne. The Dukes were run out of the gym. Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 30 points and No. 3 seed Illinois opened the throttle to its...
Members of ’09 Dukes who let NCAA bid slip away enjoying ride with current team
Pittsburgh’s namesake school is usually the big man on campus during March Madness, but this year, the Duquesne Dukes are stealing the show, appearing in their first NCAA Tournament in nearly a half-century. While it hasn’t happened often, it might have 15 years ago had the Dukes gotten the right...
Duquesne not ready for ride to end as it preps for Illinois in NCAA Tournament 2nd round
For a team facing the longest odds among eight underdogs in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament games, Duquesne doesn’t appear bothered. It’s been the Dukes’ calling card all season. “It’s all about staying the course, keeping steady, don’t let anything get you out of whack,” said the Dukes’ David Dixon. “If we...
Tim Benz: For Duquesne basketball, ‘Put up your Dukes’ is more than a catchphrase
OMAHA, Neb. — For supporters of the Duquesne Dukes basketball team, “Put up your Dukes” is a catchy slogan. A fun hashtag on social media. A long-used motto within the fan base. For the players themselves, it’s become a rallying cry for how the team plays. The Dukes won the...
Duquesne online searches soar after March Madness win
Call it a wave of social madness. While Duquesne Dukes basketball fans have been riding the high of an NCAA Tournament first round win against Brigham Young University, Duquesne itself also has been riding a high — in terms of online reach. Web activity has “skyrocketed” in the wake of...
Mark Madden: Duquesne surpasses Pitt, steals the show for college basketball in Pittsburgh
The City Game between the Pitt and Duquesne men’s basketball teams is a tradition that dates to 1932. The Panthers and Dukes have played each other 87 times but not since 2018. The rivalry ceased because Pitt refuses to play Duquesne. Pitt feels Duquesne is a lesser foe, that playing...
‘Class canceled’: Duquesne professor swept up in March Madness cuts students a break
Here’s a note you won’t likely receive from your college professor — that is, unless his and your campus suddenly is in a history-making hunt for college basketball glory. Title: “Class Canceled due to March Madness.” Description: “Go celebrate. I’ll figure it out.” The note posted to social media platform...
Tim Benz: Dukes changing perception of the Duquesne jersey and the players in them
OMAHA, Neb. — Duquesne basketball twins Fousseyni and Hassan Drame prefer to put a different twist on an old sports cliche. “As my brother always says: ‘It’s not about the name on the front of the jersey. It is about who is actually on the team,’ ” Fousseyni Drame said...
LeBron James becomes No. 1 fan of Duquesne basketball
As the Duquesne men’s basketball team began celebrating a 71-67 win over No. 6 BYU at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Neb., and students and alumni reveled in ending a 55-year stretch without an NCAA Tournament victory, the Dukes’ No. 1 fan took to X to congratulate his...
‘We get the spotlight’: Duquesne fans revel in long-awaited March Madness victory
It’s a good thing for Duquesne University’s basketball team that alum Ed Wirth wore his class ring Thursday at Mike’s Beer Bar on Pittsburgh’s North Side — as did the rest of his table. And that they ordered pork nachos, like they’d done while watching Duquesne muscle its way through...
No. 11 Duquesne upsets No. 6 BYU, earns 1st NCAA Tournament win since 1969
Duquesne’s players weren’t ready for their coach to retire just yet, and Thursday, playing in the school’s first NCAA Tournament in 47 years, they showed him why. Now, Keith Dambrot is stuck coaching them again. “If we keep winning games, they’re going to make me an old man,” said the...
Tim Benz: No team in NCAA Tournament has more sources of motivation than Duquesne
OMAHA, Neb. — You could see the wheels turning in Spencer Johnson’s head the moment he was asked about Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot. The Brigham Young senior was asked whether the fact Dambrot is retiring at the end of the season was going to provide extra inspiration for Duquesne, and,...
Coach Keith Dambrot, Duquesne going for historic win over BYU in NCAA Tournament
This is it for Keith Dambrot. This is the cherry on top for the diminutive Duquesne basketball coach, who is standing tall in his seventh and final season at Duquesne, where he’ll cap an impressive 22-year run as a Division I head coach. He has won 440 games in Division...
Duquesne in the NCAAs: Dukes vs. BYU scouting report
OMAHA, Neb. — One thing that always tends to get me in trouble when I fill out my NCAA brackets is that I fall in love with a team early in the season and I proclaim them as my March Madness dark horse in November. Then they inevitably flame out...
Intangibles make DiMichele irreplaceable part of Duquesne’s watershed season
By now, you’ve probably caught wind of it a million times, the story of Jake DiMichele, the Duquesne basketball walk-on whose inspired play has helped lead the Dukes back to the NCAA Tournament after years of futility. What’s one more take on this feel-good vibe? It’s universally understood that DiMichele,...
Duquesne fans send Dukes off for 1st round of March Madness
Cheering fans lined Uptown streets Tuesday to support players from Duquesne men’s basketball team en route to March Madness. “They’re … still dancing,” student Zach Rothrock said. “I mean, what’s not to love?” Rothrock, 19, is a freshman majoring in business at Duquesne. He and his friends joined a crowd...
Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot praises Pitt’s Jeff Capel, rebukes Panthers’ NCAA snub
Duquesne basketball coach Keith Dambrot is sticking up for the intra-city rival Pitt Panthers in the wake of their NCAA Tournament snub. Amid the lingering celebration of Duquesne’s first conference championship in 47 years and less than an hour removed from his own retirement announcement, Dambrot made an appearance on...
‘I felt like a kid myself’: Duquesne president Gormley revels in Dukes’ tournament appearance
There are moments in an institution’s life so epic that even a university president becomes just another face in the crowd. Not that Ken Gormley of Duquesne University is complaining. In the 36 hours since its men’s basketball team achieved something it hadn’t in 46 previous years, the Catholic university...
Duquesne finally reaches NCAA Tournament, but there’s plenty of work to do at home, too
For years, Duquesne athletic director Dave Harper expressed to anyone willing to listen how desperately he wanted to see his men’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament. “I said, ‘I’m not going to rest until our name is on a (bracket) line on Sunday on that selection show,’ ” he...
Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot to retire after 7 seasons of sharing AD Dave Harper’s vision for programVideo
In March 2017, Dave Harper set out on a solo journey, seeking to hire a coach for the struggling men’s basketball program at Duquesne. “A man on an island,” he said. “I was trying to sell a job where the perception was coaches go to die.” Yet, after 17 months...
Belle Vernon grad Hannah Seitzinger hopes new workout regimen leads to healthy outdoor track season at Duquesne
“Load management” is a term that has become part of the sports lexicon in recent years. It refers to coaches holding healthy players out of practices and games with the idea of preserving them for the latter part of the season and/or the playoffs. The practice mostly is looked upon...
Duquesne women’s basketball headed to WNIT
The Duquesne women’s basketball team has accepted an at-large selection to the WNIT. The 48-team field includes 11 automatic qualifiers and 37 at-large bids. Matchups, sites and times will be released Monday. Duquesne is in the WNIT for the 10th time. The Dukes lost to Richmond in the Atlantic 10...
Duquesne stars from yesteryear celebrate Dukes’ return to NCAA Tournament
The voice on the other end of the line was faint, and there was a dinging sound in the background. “Oh, wait, I need to buckle up my seat belt.” It was Penn Hills resident Moe Barr, the Duquesne basketball star from yesteryear, multi-tasking while talking on his cell phone....
