Former Duquesne guard Maceo Austin says he will transfer to Slippery Rock
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Maceo Austin had a specific goal in mind when he stepped away from the Duquesne basketball team after the 2020-21 season.
“I really wanted to finish and graduate from Duquesne,” he said.
That will occur in May when he leaves Duquesne with a degree in integrated marketing communications. At Slippery Rock, he will study toward at master’s degree.
Then, it will be time for the next chapter in his life. Austin, 22, said Monday he will enroll at Slippery Rock and join the basketball team as a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining.
“Aw, man, it’s feels amazing,” he said. “I’ve been counting down the days.”
Austin, a four-time state champion at Kennedy Catholic who has sat out the past two seasons at Duquesne, enrolled at Duquesne in 2019 and became an immediate starter. He was one of Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot’s top recruiting prizes during his first two years on the job.
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After scoring 1,971 career points and earning all-state honors in Kennedy Catholic, Austin started 29 of 30 games at guard during the 2019-20 season, averaging seven points and four rebounds for the Dukes. He helped Duquesne to 21 victories, its most in six seasons under Dambrot and its best total overall since 2009.
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The following season, he started the first four games before stepping away from the team in January for personal reasons. He returned a little more than a month later, but he missed nine of Duquesne’s 18 games during the covid-shortened season. His last game at Duquesne was March 5, 2021, in an Atlantic 10 Tournament game against St. Bonaventure.
Since then, he’s been working out at home in Sharon, with an eye toward graduating and eventually recharging his basketball career.
“The past couple years have just been about getting my mind and body right, honestly,” he said.
Austin (6-foot-5, 185 pounds) said he never considered returning to the Dukes’ basketball team after graduation.
“Coach D had his team, and I didn’t want to intrude on them to take away all the hard work all the players (did) to get there,” he said.
He said the support he received from Dambrot and the university played into his decision to look elsewhere.
“I appreciate them for that. That’s part of the reason I didn’t want to go back there,” he said. “I didn’t want to take two years off and then go back. I’m definitely thankful for all they’ve done for me.”