Tim Benz: No team in NCAA Tournament has more sources of motivation than Duquesne
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OMAHA, Neb. — You could see the wheels turning in Spencer Johnson’s head the moment he was asked about Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot.
The Brigham Young senior was asked whether the fact Dambrot is retiring at the end of the season was going to provide extra inspiration for Duquesne, and, if so, how that could be a factor on the court.
Johnson is 26 years old, the second-oldest player in college basketball. The BYU guard is married, recently became a father for the first time, has served a mission for the Church of Latter-day Saints and already has a private real estate license.
Answering questions at the podium in advance of Thursday’s game against the Dukes here in Omaha, Johnson looked and sounded more like a coach than a player. BYU is his third college basketball stop. He’s been around long enough to identify a red flag that hadn’t previously been part of the calculus for a game.
“I’m glad you pointed that out. I didn’t know that,” Johnson said before a brief pause. “I guess that could be motivating.”
The subtext that could be read in Johnson’s eyes as he went on to give a longer response about his own team was essentially, “We better be ready for that.”
And they should. Because whatever comfort BYU may be taking in this matchup against Duquesne could be offset by the possibility that of the 64 teams remaining in this tournament, none has as much pure motivation as Duquesne.
Sure, BYU is a six seed, and Duquesne is an 11 seed. The Cougars are 9½-point favorites out of the powerhouse Big 12. The national perception of Duquesne appears to be that the Dukes are a decent team that got hot at the right time and stole a tournament spot by winning what otherwise would’ve been a one-bid league.
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But the Dukes aren’t just playing for themselves. They are playing for a student body that never thought an NCAA Tournament berth was going to be possible during their time at the school. Much of the alumni never has seen such a moment, and the rest of it barely can remember the last time it happened (1977).
They are playing for Dambrot, who is retiring after this season, and his wife (Donna), who is battling breast cancer. They are also playing for a coaching staff, in particular associate head coach Dru Joyce II, that wants to make its case to stay together and lead the team next year.
“It’s been kind of a whirlwind of emotions the last couple of days, but it has worked for us,” freshman guard Jake DiMichele said. “It increases our brotherhood and bonds us closer together. In terms of Coach D retiring, I think it gives us another incentive to win this game. We want to send him out the right way because he has never won an NCAA Division I tournament game. So we want to get that for him.”
Not only that, but the Duquesne basketball team suddenly has gone from sixth or seventh on Pittsburgh’s sports pecking order to everybody’s favorite story.
“Being a part of this winning culture, doing something that we’ve never done, especially with (Dambrot), it’s good — especially on this level, being able to win,” guard Jimmy Clark said.
One could argue the Dukes may not be ready for such pressure after decades of winning or losing in relative anonymity. Suddenly there is a responsibility to play for a whole campus, a whole city, a starving alumni base, a retiring coach, an aspiring successor and someone close to them battling illness.
But sophomore point guard Kareem Rozier doesn’t see it that way. He isn’t worried about erasing 47 seasons of missing the tournament or 55 years without an NCAA Tournament win.
“This is my second year. And I’m going (to the tournament) in my second year. That’s how I’m looking at it,” Rozier said. “There’s no pressure on us. We are just going out there to play and have fun and do what we do.”
In fact, Rozier says Duquesne is feeling no pressure at all.
“We have nothing to lose. We are playing with our hair down,” Rozier said. “I think we can win this thing. We’ve got just as much talent as everyone else does.”
Perhaps. Or maybe whatever talent they have has been augmented by the team’s collective inspiration, cohesion and chemistry that bubbled to the surface over the last few weeks en route to eight straight wins.
It’ll take six more to get the team to where Rozier is talking about going. But it might just take one more over a favorite like BYU to make the rest of the country take notice.
Listen: Tim Benz and the Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy discuss Duquesne vs. BYU, and they give an entire bracket breakdown.