Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot, staff, players recovering from covid

When he pushes his team through practice, Keith Dambrot likes to get close to the players while they run up and down the court.

He wants them to know when he is irritated and when he is pleased, and that can’t happen from a chair on the sideline.

It’s the only style the Duquesne coach has known through 24 seasons, 746 games and 483 victories.

But the covid-19 scourge changes lifestyles. Over the past few weeks, Dambrot, his entire coaching staff and all but three players fell victim to the new variants of the virus.

Duquesne’s first three scheduled Atlantic 10 games were postponed, and a nonconference game was canceled.

“I probably sat down during five possessions of practice, which I probably haven’t done ever in my whole life,” said Dambrot, 63. “But I felt like I had to. It’s not easy. I wouldn’t wish that on most of my enemies.”

During a conference call Thursday with reporters, Dambrot said he is feeling better, and his team, which hasn’t played since Dec. 19, is set to resume its season Saturday in an A-10 game at UMass. Those players who were previously sick have been cleared to play.

While quarantined, Dambrot worked from home when he wasn’t sleeping.

“First couple days, I was in trouble, pretty sick. Still don’t have energy, but I’m better than I was,” he said.

“I felt like every time I worked an hour, I had to sleep two hours. It was one of the toughest things I had to get through in the past 20 years, really. I still can’t stop coughing.

“You have to be careful when you’re our age. You can’t minimize it. You have to take care of yourself, or bad things can happen.”

Covid started to spread throughout his team just as the Dukes (5-7) were starting to get accustomed to each other. They had won two in a row with a group that included only one returning starter — guard Toby Okani — and nine new faces.

“I rebooted the group with the idea that we could get back to championship quality within a couple years,” Dambrot said. “I feel like we’ve made progress in that direction. We’re not that far away from being a good team.

“We played our best game of the year (a 76-54 victory against UC Irvine) and then we got shut down.”

Practices have been mostly normal, perhaps a little shorter out of respect for the players’ health.

“The biggest thing for me is the balancing act of it all,” said Dambrot, who’s in his fifth season at Duquesne. “It’s making sure they’re enthusiastic and having fun versus the drudgery of just practicing every day and not playing games. We practiced enough that we can handle what most people give us.”

Through 12 games, the Dukes have four players averaging in double digits, led by transfers Leon Ayers III and Kevin Easley Jr. (12.9 and 12.8 points per game). Freshman Primo Spears and transfer Tre Williams are averaging 10.9. The break helped Williams heal a minor injury, and he is not expected to miss any games.

In addition, three Dukes have found a comfort zone beyond the 3-point arc. Tyson Acuff, a returnee from last season, leads the A-10 in 3-point field goal percentage (53.3%, 16 of 30) while Easley is seventh (45.9%, 17 of 37) and Jackie Johnson III ninth (44.1%, 15 of 34).

Duquesne’s 1-4 start included losses to Weber State (10-5) by four points and Colorado (9-3) by eight in overtime.

“We showed we can be a good team,” Dambrot said. “We just haven’t been consistently consistent. We could easily be 9-3. We’re 5-7. We have to run uphill a little bit.”

What pleases Dambrot more than anything is how this year’s team practices.

“We practice consistently harder every single day,” he said when asked about a comparison to last year’s 9-9 team.

“We’re new, so we probably get along a little bit better. Sometimes, when you’re in a marriage a long time, it’s hard to get along. When you have 20 family members, it’s never going to be utopia.

“Overall, I like our guys. I do. That’s not to say I didn’t like our guys we’ve had in the past. We just have less issues this year than we’ve ever had. That’s fine and dandy, but nobody really cares that you have no problems. All they care about is if you win or lose.

“Overall, we have enough character that if we stay at it over time, our program will be in good shape over the next couple years.”

He said the team’s grade point average (3.38) is the best of any team he has coached.

“I never saw more A’s in my life,” he said. “I hope there’s not an inverse relationship between wins and losses and GPA.”