Dru Joyce III eager to help spark a turnaround of Duquesne men's hoops

Dru Joyce III is the kind of guy who might challenge his players to a push-up contest after practice at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

In May, the 37-year-old Joyce was named associate head coach at Duquesne, reuniting him with Keith Dambrot, who coached Joyce in high school at St. Vincent-St. Mary and collegiately at the University of Akron.

As a player-coach duo, Joyce and Dambrot experienced many successes.

For starters, Joyce was an integral part of the Dambrot-led St. Vincent-St. Mary teams that won back-to-back Ohio High School Athletic Association state titles in 2000 and 2001.

Joyce’s Fighting Irish teammate — another Akron native who turned into a young basketball pupil of Dambrot’s — was none other than LeBron James.

Joyce and James were close childhood friends who dreamed of playing basketball together, which they realized at St. Vincent-St. Mary.

“Dru has always been a leader,” James said through his publicist. “Even when we were younger, he was always super detailed and laser-focused on the game and getting better. One thing about him as a player, he had this mean streak about him — this fiery drive about him.

“…We all gravitated towards that and he would bring it every day. He didn’t ever waste a day not trying to get better and I’ve always respected that.”

After high school, James and Joyce parted ways, with the former going first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft to Cleveland and Joyce playing college hoops at Akron under Dambrot, who was named coach of the Zips in 2004.

By the time Joyce wrapped up his collegiate career in 2007, he had earned two All-MAC selections and set the Akron program record for assists with 503.

In 2019, Joyce was inducted into the Akron Zips Athletics Hall of Fame in a class that included Dambrot, who posted a 305-139 record in 13 seasons with three MAC championships at the helm there.

After college, Joyce embarked on a successful 12-year playing career overseas, which took him to Germany, Poland, Russia and France.

With the majority of 10 seasons having been played in Germany, he retired in 2019 as the all-time assists leader in the history of the Basketball Bundesliga.

Immediately following his playing days, Joyce transitioned smoothly into the coaching ranks, serving as an assistant at Cleveland State from 2019-22.

With Joyce on staff, Dennis Gates’ CSU Vikings captured back-to-back Horizon League titles in 2021-22.

In getting to work with Duquesne’s guards, Joyce already has built a strong rapport with those he coaches.

“He’s tough. He’s hard-nosed and like me, he wants to win,” freshman guard Kareem Rozier said. “A lot of kids, we love that. We embrace the fact that he cares and he’s honest (and that) he’s pushing us the whole practice. He’s right there, loud and making sure we’ve got energy. That’s what makes him a little different: his energy level every day.”

Furthermore, Joyce brings to Duquesne a coach who has played high-level basketball in high school, college and professionally.

Joyce’s coaching style, young age and success as a student-athlete and pro create an endearing multitude of qualities to which Duquesne’s players have responded.

“When you have seen and experienced playing at different levels, players do gravitate to that,” Joyce said. “…They want to understand and know what it takes to play at the highest level, if that’s what their goal is. I can be a direct resource with that, whether I’m helping them in the end or whether I’m just sharing with them information or experiences that I’ve actually gone through.”

The Dukes’ 2021-22 campaign, Year Five under Dambrot, was one to forget.

Duquesne battled through a midseason covid-19 outbreak within the locker room, but even more brutal adversity hit Dambrot’s squad as forwards Tre Williams, R.J. Gunn and Austin Rotroff all suffered season-ending injuries.

The battered Dukes limped to a 6-24 record, which included a 1-16 mark in Atlantic 10 play as well as a 17-game losing streak to end the year.

This year, it would be an understatement to say the Dukes have a new-look roster.

Dambrot brought in a total of 10 new players (five freshmen and five transfers) over the offseason, with Williams, Gunn, Rotroff and Kevin Easley Jr. returning from last year’s team.

Joyce joins a program flush with new faces, with intentions to rebound considerably from the low ebb of the Dambrot era.

Through three games, the Dukes have shown some promise.

Their recent 77-52 beatdown at the hands of No. 4 Kentucky notwithstanding, the Dukes posted a solid season-opening win over Montana — a team projected to compete for a Big Sky title this season — in which they shot 64.4% (38 of 59) from the floor, the highest single-game make rate any Duquesne team has posted under Dambrot.

On Monday, led by transfer guard Dae Dae Grant again, Duquesne rolled past South Carolina State, 96-71.

This Friday, the Dukes will aim to collect their third win of the season with a neutral-site game vs. Colgate in Akron.

Dambrot and Joyce will be returning to familiar ground as the game is set to tipoff on St. Vincent-St. Mary’s court, now called LeBron James Arena.

“The core is built around the chemistry of the guys,” Joyce said. “That’s something we aimed to really chase after. We’ve got to be a united group and protect our culture. Everyone wants to build culture, but it’s on the coaches and players to be accountable for it. That’s been a key thing here.”

Joyce reached an adult height of 6-foot but was something of a late bloomer as far as his physical frame is concerned.

When he arrived at St. Vincent-St. Mary as a freshman, he was nearly a foot shorter.

During the Fighting Irish’s first state title run under Dambrot, when the freshman Joyce checked in during the championship game, the play-by-play broadcaster announced his entrance:

“He is generously listed at 5-foot-2, but I think everyone’s under the general consensus that he’s maybe about 4-foot-11.”

Then, in an appropriate metaphor for how he would continue to prove doubters wrong throughout his playing career, Joyce went on to sink seven consecutive 3-pointers.

“He played until he was 35,” Dambrot said. “He’s the all-time leading assists guy in Germany. He overachieved his whole career, and he gives us freshness, toughness, high standards, so it was good and it fit our model of hiring former players.

“…You talk about intangibles, this guy has them. He’s one of the toughest guys I ever coached. One of the toughest, most competitive, hard-nosed, winning. I knew he would really help us.”

Along with Dambrot, Joyce will have his hands full this season trying to turn Duquesne around.

At the preseason A10 Media Day, the Dukes unsurprisingly were selected to finish dead last in the league once again.

How Duquesne fares this year remains to be seen, but the energy and attitude Joyce brings to the table could be just what the doctor ordered.

“He’s going to hold guys accountable, be super detailed and fiery of course because he wants to win — that’s what it’s all about,” James said. “But he’s always going to be compassionate and someone you can always talk to and relate to.

“I’m so excited and super happy for Dru being the associate head coach at Duquesne, and I think it’s amazing to have it all come back full circle. ‘Coach D’ was our first coach when we stepped foot on our first high school journey at St. V in ’99, and now (Joyce is) right beside him once again. It’s pretty cool.”