Here’s what Saint Louis University basketball coach Travis Ford said about Duquesne forward Marcus Weathers before the two teams tipped off Jan. 2.

“I think Weathers has developed into one of the best players in the Atlantic 10,” Ford said. “He’s turned into an elite player. He gives you a chance to win every game. He is one of the most active players in our league in terms of offensive rebounding, cutting without the ball, a great one-on-one player, and is a leader for his team. He is on a tear right now. By the end of the year he will be one of the best players in our league.”

If that was true then, imagine what Ford thought a day later after Weathers hit eight of 10 shots for 26 points and grabbed five rebounds in a 73-59 win for the Dukes over his Billikens.

That’s become the norm for the junior forward this year, something that wasn’t the case a season ago.

In 2018-19, Weathers was a solid contributor as coach Keith Dambrot’s team took strides toward its highest win total (19) since 2011. He averaged 10 points and 6.4 rebounds in his sophomore season.

Eric Williams led the team in both those categories (14.0/7.6) a season ago. But Williams transferred to Oregon. And Weathers is one of the many to step up and fill the void.

Now it’s Weathers who is the squad’s top scorer (14.4 points) and rebounder (7.9 boards). He’s making 60.6% of his shots. He made 48.9% last season.

And-1 for Marcus Weathers ???#GoDukes | #A10MBB pic.twitter.com/18FHgnHEr8

— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) January 5, 2020

Weathers has led the Dukes in scoring six of the last seven games, averaging 19.5 points during that time and setting a career high with 25 against Marshall on Dec. 29.

He exceeded that four days later against Saint Louis when he scored 26.

“He’s a matchup problem in the sense that he gets guys in foul trouble,” Ford said. “He’s great at getting to the rim. He’s great at angles. He’s great at finishing. You know what he is going to do, and it is still hard to stop him.”

Weathers cashes in off ➡️ from TDM#GoDukes | #A10MBB pic.twitter.com/i5CHZ7Q3IE

— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) January 9, 2020

Dambrot credited Weathers’ improvement largely to conditioning and rust disappearing after his transfer. Not that the 6-foot-5, 215 pounder was ever out of shape. But after a year away from the court because of his transfer from Miami (Ohio), Weathers didn’t feel as explosive as he should’ve been over 40-minute games.

“That’s a fair statement,” Weathers said. “I can wholeheartedly admit that. I was a little bit rusty coming off sitting out a full year. A little bit out of shape. Not great basketball shape. Coming in from the summer this year, I did a lot of work very hard.”

That conditioning is manifesting in Weathers’ play around the rim. He’s attacking the goal and finishing at the tin with much more regularity than a year ago. And he is settling for three-point shots less often than he did as a sophomore.

Or even at the start of this year.

“He missed his first 12 three-point shots,” Dambrot said. “I told him that, ‘I’m going to let you continue shooting those threes, so long as you offensive rebound and do all the junkyard dog things that make you great.’ So we cut ourselves a little deal there. And I think that opened up things for him where he felt more relaxed. And we did a good job getting him in spots where he could be successful. But he has also done a good job getting his own on the offensive glass.”

Along with his expertise at creating those angles at the rim that Ford referenced, Weathers has developed an effective spin move to the hoop that he used readily in wins against Saint Louis, Davidson and Saint Joseph’s to help Duquesne start the A-10 season at 3-0.

A win over George Washington (4 p.m. Saturday) would push to Duquesne to 4-0 in the conference for just the second time in school history.

Duquesne, at 13-2, is off to its best start since 1971-72.

And Weathers has been a huge part of that.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---