Duquesne freshman guard Primo Spears plans to transfer

Duquesne lost another guard Monday when Primo Spears, only the fifth freshman in school history to lead the team in scoring, entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Three other guards — Jackie Johnson III, Tyson Acuff and Toby Okani — previously announced plans to transfer.

Spears, who came to Duquesne from Mt. Zion (Md.) Prep, and Johnson are leaving Duquesne after only one season.

Spears combined size (6-foot-3) and scoring ability to average 12.7 points. He led the team in scoring, assists (3.0), starts (28) and minutes per game (32.2). He also was second in steals (1.3).

While scoring 381 points (seventh-most all-time by a Duquesne freshman), he reached double digits in 19 of 30 games, including consecutive 34- and 30-point efforts in Duquesne’s last two games against La Salle and Rhode Island. The latter game was the Dukes’ 79-77 loss in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Spears, Johnson, Acuff and Okani represent four of the Dukes’ top seven scorers during the 2021-2022 season.

Duquesne falls in line with most of the other schools in the Atlantic 10 that have lost multiple players this offseason. Every school in the conference has lost at least one transfer, led by La Salle (11), George Mason (seven), Rhode Island and Saint Louis (six each). Saint Louis is losing Yuri Collins, who led the nation in assists (7.9).

Meanwhile, coach Keith Dambrot has added three players to his roster: former VCU guard Tre Clark, Slovakian forward Matus Hronsky and prep school recruit Abdou Halil-Barre, who played at Scotland Campus in central Pennsylvania.