Duquesne Sports Blog

Preview @ Charlotte

2012-02-28T20:52:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

The question on a lot of Duquesne fans minds right now is will the bleeding stop this season. The Dukes are mired in their familiar end of the season slump that seems impossible to break once it begins. So will this team fold like the rest or will they prove to be resilient as they have all season until recently.

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Comparing Young Guns to Old Favorites

2012-02-26T16:54:00.002-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

As we begin to transition into the off season, I think a lot of Duquesne fans are desperately searching for hope for next year. Most are clinging to Donovan Jack, but there are a few Dukes who compare favorably to similar players during the early stages of their careers.

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GW - 56 Duquesne - Blah

2012-02-25T16:46:00.001-05:00

Another tough loss to swallow. Most years the Dukes win at least one or two close games. This year, they haven't one once by fewer than two possessions. The Dukes are now 15-13 and their run of winning seasons is now in serious jeopardy as the games keep getting harder and harder.

Here is how I thought the players did.

Kadeem Pantophlet - 7 - The one bright spot offensively today. He got hot in the second half and Lonergan came up with an adjustment for him. Then crickets. Also allowed a offensive rebound off the Tony Taylor missed FT that really hurt the Dukes chances.

TJ McConnell - 5.5 - Didn't have much tonight. Had a ton of near steals but none happened. 4 assists to no TO's the bright spot for him.

BJ Montiero - 5.5 - Didn't play like a senior leader tonight fouling out of the game when his teammates needed him.

Jerry Jones - 5 - Nice defensive effort but completely invisible on the other side of the floor.

Mike Talley - 4.5 - Got off to a nice start but he can't have more turnovers than assists and expect high marks.

Sean Johnson - 4 - Caught fire late in the second to even give the Dukes a chance. Missed FT's hurt and so did an absolutely miserable first half.

Andre Marhold - 4 - Made a couple of tough baskets and played ok defense. Soft on the glass tonight for the most part.

Eric Evans - 2 - Hit an early 3 and I thought it would be his night. Bad on both sides of the floor. He looks like he's flat out given up.

Mamadou Datt - 2 - No rebounds, No D, 3 fouls. He and a weight trainer will being going full tilt by the end of March.

Preview @ GW

2012-02-25T11:19:00.002-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

The Dukes look to clinch their 5 straight winning season for the third consecutive game when they travel to George Washington for a Saturday afternoon match up. The Dukes look to have a serious up hill battle to get home court for the A-10 tournament and the NIT is a pipe dream. They would need to rattle off 5 or 6 straight for that to happen. Unless they somehow get an extreme dose of maturity, that's not going to happen.

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Preview: vs. Dayton

2012-02-22T00:58:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

The Dukes will play a big game tomorrow at the AJ Palumbo center with home court advantage in the A-10 tournament likely at stake. Win and the Dukes should get a home game. Lose and we could be heading back to either the UD Arena or Philly.
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Q & A with Don Donoher of the Blackburn Review

2012-02-21T23:18:00.000-05:00

** Disclaimer: Post contains vulgar language and coarse humor including jokes about presidential genitals and eating at Skyline Chili. If you want to read about the Dukes but are easily offended or get heartburn, I suggest you click on one of my other good, clean entries.
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A Moment to Gloat or Schadenfreude w/ a dash of wishful thinking

2012-02-20T00:11:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

I'm curious. Is this the worst year for Pitt's athletic department since their re - commitment to athletics and resurgence?

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The A-10's Dense Center

2012-02-16T00:47:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

Only a single game separates the 7 teams vying for the right to pass "Go" and head directly to Atlantic City. Seeds 3 and 4 are hanging very much in the balance during the final 5 games of the Atlantic 10 season. Here is a break down of what each team will be facing during the stretch run and what is at stake for them:

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Preview: vs. Fordham

2012-02-15T10:26:00.003-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

Don't get cocky, Duquesne fans. This is not the Fordham team we're used. Sure their record looks like it is, but this is a team with some talent.
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2011-2012: The year of the inconsistency

2012-02-13T01:22:00.002-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

I'm having a very difficult time putting a finger on who the real 2011-2012 Duquesne team is. Is it the one that has more wins over top 100 RPI schools than any other Ron Everhart coached team? Is it the team that takes control of games in the first half and keeps it up in the second? Is it the solid road team that beat Akron on a neutral court and Dayton and George Mason in their own buildings? Is it the team that was top 30 in 2 point scoring percentage at one point this season? Or is it the team that gets blown out on the road by good teams? Is it the team that loses big second half leads at home? Is it the team that looks lifeless at times against talented opponents? Is it the team that missing ten lay ups in a game?

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Preview: @ St Bonaventure

2012-02-11T11:04:00.000-05:00

The Dukes head north to play the 108th installment of their series with St Bonaventure. This may be the most meaningful encounter between these two teams in some time. Not only is seeding in the A10 tournament at stake, both teams chances for the NCAA sanctioned post season may hinge on the outcome of this afternoon's game.

St. Bonaventure (12-9, 5-4) is coming off a loss at UMass where the Bonnies took a 3 point lead to halftime only to lose by 9. Their current RPI is 93, but their strength of schedule is 103rd. The Bonnies still do not have a win against any teams currently in the top 7 of the A-10 and their best wins came against Dayton and @Buffalo. St. Bonaventure need to pad their resume. A loss today would likely send them out of the top 100 in RPI and put their backs against the wall. Duquesne (14-9, 5-4) is in slightly better shape, but stand a chance to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the middle of the A-10. At stake for the Dukes is the chance for another nice win away from the AJP center to go with Akron, George Mason and Dayton, and a decisive tie breaker with the Bonnies in the A-10 standing. The Dukes would take an advantage over not only the Bonnies if they tied them, but an edge should they and the Bonnies finish in a 3 way tie. The Dukes come into today RPI 79, but would substantially improve that with a win. In order to make the NIT without going to the A-10 finals, Duquesne will likely need to win at least one of three against St Bonaventure, Temple and St Louis while holding serve with the rest of the schedule where they should be favored. Today seems their best chance. While the dream won't be over for the Dukes if they lose, it will be significantly damaged.

St Bonaventure comes in with the same flaws they had last time around. They still do not have a true point guard and will likely have trouble with Duquesne's pressure. Andrew Nicholson has fouled out of 3 of the last 4 for the Bonnies including a home game against Richmond. Da'Quan Cook has also been getting into foul trouble. Duquesne will need to find a way to match up against Nicholson without fouling right back. The best way to do this might be to go right at he and Cook and put them on the bench with fouls. Andre Marhold performed admirable against Nicholson in the second half the first times these teams met at the AJP, but expecting a repeat performance would be asking a lot. If the Dukes are losing with 5 minutes left, the game is probably over as the Bonnies are one of the best FT shooting teams in the country. The Dukes will need to take control of the game in the second half as they did in Pittsburgh.

All in all, I like the Dukes chances better than a lot of people might, but I expect them to come up short. I predicted an easy sweep for the Bonnies coming into the season so I'm happy with a split. This game means more to the Bonnies than it does the Dukes though it's meaningful for both. I'll go Bonnies by 3.

Other Notes: Eric Evan needs 9 points to get to 1000 on his career.

Duquense's Rival: And the winner is...

2012-02-10T21:13:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

This is the final installment of a four part series on who Duquesne's biggest rival is. If you haven't read them, here are part 1, part 2 and part 3

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Duquesne's Rival: Importance and Staying Power

2012-02-08T10:00:00.001-05:00

This is the third part of a four part series on who Duquesne's biggest rival is. In this portion I will be looking at importance and staying power. If you haven't read them, here are part 1 and part 2
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Duquesne Rival: Mutual ID and Location

2012-02-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

This is the second part of a four part series on who Duquesne's biggest rival is. In this portion I will be looking at mutual identification of rivalry and proximity. If you haven't read it, here is part 1.

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Recruits Weekend Round Up 2/3 - 2/5

2012-02-06T00:38:00.001-05:00

Shaheed Davis - Scored 20 points for WGH's 79-70 win over Canton Timkin.

Willie Moore - Scored 11 points in Friday's 50 -45 win over Hughes and 14 points 60-59 loss to Winthrow on Saturday.

Can't find anything on Donovan Jack. I'll update when I do.

Duquesne Rival?: Dissecting a Rivalry

2012-02-05T23:59:00.000-05:00

By Steven DiMiceli

This is the first part of a four part series I'll be doing this week where I attempt cast potential suitors for the role of "our rival."
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Dukes 81 Spiders 72

2012-02-05T00:28:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

The win tonight at the AJ Palumbo center was big for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it finally got the Dukes on the positive side of the ledger in A-10 play against Richmond. Second, it was a win with a big crowd on hand at the AJP for a run of the mill conference game. Yes this one was televised, and yes, Richmond was a Sweet-16 team last year, but that doesn't change what they are this year. Finally, the Dukes won an important game and made a pretty good team look pretty ineffective.

The Dukes did what good teams do to win tonight; they imposed their will on their opponents. They made a responsible team turn the ball over and foul. They dribble penetrated at will in the second half even if they could not finish at times. They passed the ball effectively even if it did not translate into assists. Finally, they controlled the game for the entire 40 minutes from the first basket until the final whistle. The Spiders came back at times but never took the lead. When they punched, the Dukes counter punched. The Dukes put them on the ropes midway through the second. Some showboating and poor free throw shooting prevented the coaches from clearing the benches for the last minute or two. The Dayton game was closer than the score line indicates, this game was more one sided.

Player Evaluations -

Eric Evans 9 - May have played his best game in two years. He lost his assignment a couple of times in the first half that leading to open 3's for the Spiders and the missed FT's kept him from a higher score. He took over the game for a stretch at the beginning of the second half when the Dukes needed it.

TJ McConnell 9 - Efficient as always. Another great shooting performance but his steals were a thing of beauty tonight.

Jerry Jones 8.5 - Very good shooting from three and good defense as far as I could tell. Finished badly on two occasions, but a dunk towards the end of the game said to me, "I learned my lesson, I'll finish stronger." Really hope the Jerry chant sticks some people in the row behind me were even getting in on the action.

Sean Johnson 8 - He needs to stop taking stupid fouls. Took some difficult shots that just didn't fall but he showed his teammates that they could penetrate. In spite of the misses, he was an efficient 4-8 from the field and helped put the game away from the stripe.

PJ Torres 7.5 - A very solid 6 minutes of action that should earn him more time. He is a good rebounder and passer. He defended poorly against Kendall Anthony, but never should have been on him to begin with.

BJ Montiero 7 - Finishing is just not there since the hand injury and he missed a couple of point blank lay ups. Rebounded well and defended well enough. He is playing smarter and knows when and when not to foul.

Mike Talley 7 - It was fun watching he and Anthony do battle. Overall, I thought his game was stronger than the numbers indicate. Not sure why he can't hit FT's.

Andre Marhold 7 - Not sure why he played as little as he did. I thought the team was better with him in the game. Ron Everhart was really committed to making the pick and roll work with him in the game.

Kadeem Pantophlet 7 - You know this program has gone to a new level when a guy like him is only getting 3 minutes a game. He may have been the best healthy player on the team the year before Ron took over* and would have been a solid rotation player as recently as '09-'10. One strong rebound is enough to get high marks in that short a period of time.

Mamadou Datt 3 - Foul happy and had little impact on the game otherwise.

The Dukes allowed only one team offensive rebound until the final 1:30 of the game. Up to that point, no Richmond player was credited with one.

Dukes are now 5-3 in the conference and 14-9 overall. They sit in 8th place behind St Joe's due to a head to head tie break. Their RPI increased 1 place from the beginning of the day to 81.

* Edit: I thought Bryant McAllister graduated the previous season. Clearly, he would be better and I overlooked him. I would put him number two on that team.

Preview: vs. Richmond

2012-02-04T11:26:00.002-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

Duquesne will once again attempt to do something it has never done before when it takes on Richmond at the AJ Palumbo Center at the 3rd annual Chuck Cooper Classic. The Dukes come in the with an 0-14 record against the Spiders since they joined the league in 2001. Interestingly enough, the Dukes never lost to Richmond prior to them entering the A-10. When we talk about the Richmond - Duquesne series over the last few years, the first discussion point mentioned aside from the Dukes losing streak is generally the teams divergent styles of play. If we were to cast the two schools in a children's story, Duquesne would be the hare and Richmond, the winner. This season, neither team plays at the same pace they are accustomed with the Dukes slowing it down and Richmond speeding it up losing or gaining two possessions per game respectively. Richmond even managed to score over 100 against Fordham. Both teams are bad at rebounding, but neither turns it over often. The Spiders are very responsible with the ball and only 14% of their possessions end in turnovers ranking them 13th in the nation. On the other hand Duquesne forces, their opponent to turn it over 21% of the time 12th in division I.

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How the rest of the A-10 schedule sets up

2012-02-03T00:47:00.002-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

Last season, the Dukes were sitting at 8-0 halfway through the A-10 season. Problem is worst was yet to come for that team. They played 5 at home and met 6 of the bottom 7 teams in the league in RPI during that winning streak. On the horizon were trips to the UD Arena, the Reilly Center, the Robins Center and home showdown with X looming. Even if I was blinded by arrogance, the schedule set up where the second half was far more difficult than the first and it should not have been surprising that Duquesne struggled a little though 2-6 was extreme.

While the swing is not as severe this season, the second half of Dukes season set ups to considerably easier
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Mid Week Prospect Report, 2/2

2012-02-02T21:19:00.000-05:00

Shaheed Davis - Scored 10 points and two other teammates scored in double figures in a 72-56 win.

Willie Moore - Flirted with a triple double again. Scored 25 points, grabbed 10 boards and 8 assists.

Donovan Jack - scored 21 of his teams 37 points in a surprise 41-37 to York Catholic

Duquesne A-10 first half recap

2012-02-02T13:06:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

The first half of A-10 play is clouded by both disappointment and luck for the Dukes. It's disappointing in the sense that they allowed two home games where they were in a position to win slip away. It's lucky in the sense that even though they didn't close out a couple of wins, they're still right where I hoped they'd be. I said before league play, that I'd be happy with 8-8 and I stick by it. As far as the rest of the league goes, no one has really taken control either, so in spite of a couple of disappointing results the Dukes are still lucky to be right in it, even for a bye.

Duquesne 83 - Dayton 73

2012-02-01T22:25:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

You wouldn't know unless you looked closely but Duquesne played a half of 10/40 today without the platoon. They used it to amass a nine point lead on ten first half three pointers and needed everyone of them to hold off a Dayton onslaught early in the second half. Duquesne's three point shooting was outstanding and was lead by some unexpected players. BJ Montiero and Mike Talley have both struggled from distance this year but combined for 6-11 behind the arc. TJ McConnell didn't quite get the 10 assists I expected it would take for a Dukes win but he did have 7 to go along with 9 points, 2 steals and 5 boards.
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Preview @ Dayton

2012-02-01T12:26:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

Dukes dropped two in a row for the first time this season and will have a very difficult challenge ahead of them tonight to avoid a true losing streak in Dayton. Dukes haven't won at the UD Arena in 4 years but I would say that Dayton really deserved to win two out of the last three. Who can forget Jason Duty missing 3 FT's in a row to send the '08 - 09 meeting into overtime or the Dukes dropping a 9 point lead with about 10 minutes to go while failing to score in the last 5 minutes of the game?

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S.O.S. in Duquesne loss

2012-01-29T21:10:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

By S.O.S. I'm not suggesting the that Dukes are in danger. I'm not suggesting their ship is sinking or their season is in any danger of collapsing. I'm also not refering to strength of schedule. In this case, I'm referring to a completely different acronym.

Same

Old

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Recruits Weekend Round Up 1/27-1/29

2012-01-29T18:47:00.001-05:00

Willie Moore - Dropped 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 71-52 Aiken win while only playing three quarters. Also had 5 assists.

Donovan Jack - Scored 13 points while shooting 5 of 12 from the field ending his 42 shot scoring streak. He fought through a triple team and ended up fouling out. Got 18 rebounds.

Shaheed Davis - Scored 7 points in each of two games this weekend.

Preview vs. Lasalle

2012-01-28T00:18:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

From time to time, I'm wrong. Last year, I predicted there was no way the Dukes would lose in Olean. Wrong. I thought Tony Taylor was going to contend for A-10 Player of the year this season. Wrong. And I also expected Lasalle having lost Frenchy and Aaric Murray to finish last in the A-10 this year.

Wrong.

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Preview @ St Louis

2012-01-21T13:34:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

If you came here expecting an optimistic endorsement of how I think Duquesne has a good chance of gutting out a win against a well regarded foe, you might as well not click on the rest of the article. If you realize that the Dukes will need to play a nearly flawless game to bring home a win from St Louis, you'll probably really enjoy the read.

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The Flawed Means of Evaluating Basketball Prospects

2012-01-20T17:20:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

In a recent entry, I wrote how the incoming recruiting class might be different from previous recruiting classes at Duquesne. Today, I follow up with why I think the way I evaluated the class is better than many other means of evaluating players.

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Dukes 80 Umass 69

2012-01-18T23:45:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

I couldn't decide on how I wanted to open this blog entry so I'll present my audience with the three I like and let you pick the best one.
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Duquesne vs. Temple Women's Preview

2012-01-18T01:35:00.001-05:00

by Rogabee

NOTE: GAMETIME is 4PM for a doubleheader.

Duquesne: 13-4, #54 in the RPI (2-3 vs. RPI top 100), 3-4 on the road
Temple: 8-8, #62 RPI (1-7 vs. RPI top 50, 4-7 vs. RPI top 100)

The Dukes will have a week off to prepare for a Temple team that could give the Dukes a quality W they'll desperately need come March. Temple will present a tough challenge for the Dukes, however. Temple for a while earlier this year started three transfers - Shey Peddy (leading scorer at 15 PPG) from Wright State, Brittany Lewis of Virginia Tech, and Joelle Connelly, a center out of Hofstra. However, Connelly has been replaced in the starting lineup by 6-4 Victoria Macaulay and hasn't played in 2 of the last 4 games.

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UMass Preview

2012-01-18T00:53:00.002-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

If you want to bring a friend who likes basketball, but doesn't know a ton about the tactical side of the game to the AJP, this might be the one to do as the two highest scoring teams in the Atlantic 10 face each other tomorrow. It's not often that I've gotten to say this over the past couple of years but Duquesne will need to slow UMass down to play at a pace the Dukes are accustomed. The Minutemen come to Pittsburgh with a bloated
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The A-10 Cuddle Puddle

2012-01-17T12:32:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

For a stretch of a few seasons, I called the Big East the Pizza the Hut conference named of course after the Jabba the Hut spoof from Space Balls who meets a very tragic self inflicted death. Every time one of their schools would make a run at the top five nationally, some mediocre mid table team would knock off the front runner. This label manifested itself most clearly when a mediocre Pitt basketball team defeated a very good WVU team in the Back Yard Brawl to keep the Mountaineers out of the BCS championship game. The conference literally eats itself to death.

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Recruits Weekend Round up 1/13-1/15

2012-01-16T20:15:00.002-05:00

Willie Moore - Played two games This weekend. On Friday he flirted with a triple double with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. On Saturday, he struggled shooting and ended up with 12 in an Aiken loss.

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Comparing the A-10 to the New Big East

2012-01-15T18:00:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

The sweeping winds of conference realignment have blown in and blown out without any real damage done to the Atlantic 10. The Big East basketball/football split did not happen and seems unlikely to happen in the near future. Temple and UMass appear to be staying right where they are getting both MAC football while keeping higher quality and revenue A-10 basketball. Likewise, the Big East didn't park their car on Broad St, hold a boom box blasting Peter Gabriel over their head to try to convince the Owls to take them back.

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Duquesne at URI Preview

2012-01-14T02:19:00.005-05:00

by Rogabee

Rhode Island enters the game at 3-14 overall, 0-2 in the conference with losses to G-Dub and Richmond.
The Dukes are 10-7, 1-2 in A10 play.

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Recruiting: A reflection

2012-01-14T00:50:00.005-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

I remember reading on one of the message boards that it would take seven to ten years for Ron Everhart to completely turn the program around. I kind of scoffed at this. After all, teams only play 5 guys at a time and generally have enough depth with 3 or 4 bench players. How long should it take to recruit 8 quality guys?

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Shaheed Davis commits

2012-01-12T00:18:00.001-05:00

By Steve Dimiceli

The Dukes received their third verbal commitment for 2012 and second from the state of Ohio when Warren Harding power forward Shaheed Davis verbally committed to Duquesne. Davis is reported as anywhere from 6'7'' -6'9,'' but he has been listed as 6'9'' more often than anything as senior. Triple Double Hoops ranks him as the 4th best PF in the state behind players committed to West Virginia, Michigan St. and Wichita St. He had offers from Southern Illinois, Akron, Kent St, Tenn-Chattanooga, Toledo, and Cleveland St and interest from Cincinnati before deciding on Duquesne. He visited the bluff at the same time as Willie Moore in the fall.

Duquesne falls to Xavier 78-50

2012-01-11T22:18:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

I said in my preview that if X wakes up tonight, I'd feel sorry for the Dukes. Well they did and I do. There was not much they could do tonight and they essentially fell apart down the stretch in the first with TJ in foul trouble. The defense sagged as X simply poured it on. With TJ in, this game was much more competitive.

While I didn't see the beginning of the game, the Dukes did a few things I disagree with in the early going. First, they settled for too many three's. Second, they got sloppy with the ball. I know this is not their choice, but they had 7 turnover IIRC before X even went on their run. When I did get to a TV, the Dukes did a lot of standing around tonight off the ball. Not enough movement gave the Dukes very few opportunities to create with the pass.

I need to give Xavier credit. They are the superior team and played like the top 10 team they are for the first time since the brawl. This is the first legit top 15 team the Dukes have faced this year even though they already played two teams ranked there. Arizona is mediocre and I think the Dukes could beat them on a neutral court We all know what is happening to Pitt. They have a super star in the making in Dez Wells and are just solid overall. They may not lose again till March.

The Dukes played for pride in the second half and looked a lot more respectable. The best news about tonight is that no matter how many points you lose by, it only counts as one loss in the standings. The A-10 is completely bunched up at this point and no one is undefeated. This loss was not indicative of what the Dukes can do and I look for them to bounce back strong Saturday.

Preview: @ Xavier

2012-01-10T21:30:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

So I don't have high hopes for tomorrow. In fact, I expect a loss vs. the Xavier Musketeers. However, something happened to Xavier since the "sucker punch heard round the world." I figured their first game loss to the O-Bobs because of all the suspensions, Tu Holloway's in particular. No big deal. Then, they lost to Long Beach. Nothing I haven't seen before this season but it got me thinking that maybe Mark Lyons means more to this team than I originally thought. It didn't stop though. Since the fight, they're 2 and 5 also losing to Hawaii, Lasalle and Gonzaga at the Cintas Center. We've been told a number of times that this is a team with final 4 talent, but there are some problems for this team right now.

If there was a door standing between Duquesne and a win at the Cintas Center at the beginning of the season, it was two feet thick, made of steel and required a retinal scan to enter. On the other side of the door was a raging pack of pit bulls who would tear the Dukes to shreds if they managed to get through. Now, the door is open slightly because Jimmy the security guard forgot to close it all the way behind him when he let the dogs out to pee. Jimmy's not going to make it back in time for tomorrow either because Yancy Gates punched him in the head while he wasn't looking and the dogs were distracted (no I'm not calling the X players dogs, but I am calling Yancy Gates a coward).

Xavier has been flat and it's been a while since I remember them being this cold. What intrigues me most about this game tomorrow is that LaSalle beat X going away and they have a similar lineup to the Dukes. They run 4 guards and essentially, the Dukes do the same thing. This will make it difficult for X to create mismatches for their guards on offense. I could be wrong but I just can't the Musketeers lobbing it inside to Frease every trip down the court. They didn't against LaSalle in spite of a similar mismatch. The Dukes strengths play favorably against Xavier's weaknesses. X is known to turn the ball over and their interior D is no where near as strong as St Joe's was. If BJ Montiero only misses two games, it could be a huge lift for the Dukes as they could use his ability to create shots inside. Teams that pass the ball well against Xavier have been successful against them. In their losses, the Musketeers defense yielded assists a game in their 5 losses, 3 more than they normally allow. They are 0-4 when teams have 16 or more assists against them and 8-1 when teams have fewer than 15. By the way, the Dukes average 16 a game. Duquesne needs to be aware that X statistically plays great perimeter defense and that they should be thinking pass first instead of forcing three's.

I'm not saying this one is in the bag. Again, this will be a very, very difficult road win. Dukes will need to keep the rebounding margin close as always, and execute when they have open looks. I fully expect X to play great transition defense and if the Dukes are going to win, they will need to do it in the half court offense. At the beginning of the year, it would have been more likely for Jim Carey's character to score with Mary Swanson in Dumb and Dumber. Now, I'm telling you there is a chance and a pretty fair one at that. Of course, if this is the game where X decides to wake up, I feel sorry for our boys. I predict an 8 point X win, but I think it will be close at the half and for most of the second.

St Bona Recap

2012-01-08T02:16:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

Sorry to take so long with this. Busy day for me.

This was a weird game. It begins fairly evenly matched for a few minutes. Then Andrew Nicholson picks up two fouls and heads to the bench. Then Da'Quan Cook picks up his second. Then Demitrius Conger. I would think with that equation the Dukes would tear it up in the first half. They didn't. They allowed the foul laden Bonnies to stay in the game ending only up 6 at the half. Of course, the Dukes were lucky to even have that kind of a lead. I thought they came out looking like a team that just had their conference opener stolen from them and were having trouble getting up for the next game. I did not like their effort and I thought they were flat out careless in the first half. TJ McConnell looked like he was one more dropped pass away from beating a teammate to death with his shoe. They could not find any space to work with and to St Bonaventure's credit, they came out with a great game plan for the Dukes. They played a very tight man with help defense almost every time someone tried to drive the lane. Even with all the bigs on the bench, the Bonnies completely denied the paint for the first 15 minutes of the game. The Dukes three point shooting was flat. The bad guys stayed in the game and inserted a fresh Nicholson back into the lineup following the break. After he had his way with our defense and Datt headed to the bench with his fourth foul, I thought the Dukes were finished.

Then something magical happened. Andre Marhold entered the game and shut down Nicholson. Andre blocked his shots, he dribble penetrated past him. He held him to one field goal the rest of the game, IIRC and even dunked on him twice. Nicholson played like he had 4 fouls throughout much of the second half. I think he is completely snake bitten by his recent foul trouble and looked timid defensively. Once the Dukes shut Nicholson down and realized he couldn't shut them down, the flood gates opened and this game looked a lot more out of hand than it should have after the Dukes dominated the final 12 minutes.

Player reports:

TJ McConnell 8 -- Not his best scoring night but Schmidt prepared his team for the long three's. Great from the line and on the boards. Some bad turnovers hold him back from more.

Sean Johnson 8 -- His first half funk carried over from the St Joe's game, but he was sensational in the second.

Eric Evans 3.5 -- No assists and 3 TO's. Not sure I liked his shot selection tonight either. Played nice D though. Not good from the line either.

Jerry Jones 6 -- I liked Jerry on the glass and at the line. He also created for himself off the dribble today which I haven't seen him do before.

Mamadou Datt 2 -- Picked up fouls so quickly he couldn't even get into the rhythm tonight. Let his team down with senseless fouls.

Andre Marhold 9 -- Didn't look like it on paper but easily his best game as a Duke. His second half defensive effort was as strong as Damian's last year in Olean. He played well offensively too. May have earned his starting spot back.

Mike Talley 8 -- Deserved more than 14 minutes tonight. Strong with the ball and drew a ton of fouls.

Kadeem Pantophlet 8 -- Great effort from 6-8 off the bench today. Pantophlet looks stronger with each game. Rebounded with fire and once again created open looks for himself.

Derrick Martin 5 -- Nothing to praise but nothing to complain about. If he can eat 4 mistake free minutes a game to spell the other bigs, he adds value to this team.

PJ Torres 3 -- I got the impression that PJ was being given an opportunity tonight to take on a bigger role. He got some muck up time at the end of the first half and ended up conceding a really bad foul. Did not make the most of his opportunity.

Danny Herrera N/R -- Not enough time for Herrera tonight. Basically got to watch as the Dukes dribbled off time.

Matchup - DU vs. Saint Bonaventure

2012-01-06T18:30:00.002-05:00

by Rogabee

Many on both Duquesne message boards have been quick to point out how St. Bona is a terrible matchup for the Dukes. And inside they're correct. Nicholson is likely to dominate whoever the Dukes put at the center position between Marhold, Datt, and Martin. And it well may be enough to lead the Bonnies to a victory. However, there's another matchup I'd like to look at as a Dukes fan. I'd like to look at a quite favorable matchup the other way, the Dukes backcourt of Evans/Talley/McConnell vs. Saint Bonaventure's backcourt of Mosely/Davenport/Kloof/Wright.

Perhaps it's just the games I've seen of St. Bona against Cornell (which I'll ignore for this post, especially because it was St. Bona's first game), Cleveland State, Virginia Tech, and Illinois (unfortunately I missed the NC State game), but the Bonnies backcourt has struggled under pressure from what I've seen. And in a guard-oriented game like Everhart's Dukes are capable of making it, this matchup could be the one that changes the game the other direction.

Cleveland State:
Granted Nicholson fouling out with just under 4 to go in the Cleveland State game turned the entire game around, but the Bonnies backcourt really struggled the whole game but particularly late IMO (SBU scored only 3 points in the last 4 minutes IIRC), as St. Bona's backcourt finished with 14 turnovers to 4 assists for the game.

Illinois:
In Champaign, the Illini rallied from 9 down with just over 5 to go to defeat the Bonnies. They did it by upping the defensive pressure, pressing full court, and applying constant ball pressure to finish on something like a 14-4 run IIRC. 11 2nd half turnovers helped to do the Bonnies in.

Virginia Tech:
The first half was just brutal to watch at times. It seemed like there were as many turnovers as buckets, though I'm hopeful that wasn't actually the case. Virginia Tech took control early in the second half and I don't recall the Bonnies ever fully getting back in the game.

Obviously the Dukes aren't as good as Cleveland State, Illinois, or Virginia Tech. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the backcourt of DU could cause similar trouble that was presented in those games. Yes, Nicholson (especially now that he's back 100%) is truly elite and can take a game over, especially against a respectively weaker inside game like that of the Dukes, but I don't think this is as bad of a matchup for the Dukes as others do. I think it's close to a coin-flip game (and actually expect the Dukes to be the Vegas favorites when the lines come out), and still a series the Dukes can split.

Discuss on Yuku

St Joe's 84 Duquesne 82 OT

2012-01-04T22:49:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

A lot of my fans (I don't have fans) ask me what the most difficult part about writing a hit blog (the blog is mildly successful) like Yukudukes? I tell them writing summaries after tough losses, every time (I've never been asked this question).

If I have to rank this loss in terms among the losses in Ron Everhart's tenure that made me feel like absoulue dog crap, I would put it behind Pitt '09 and at Bona last year for sure. After that, I don't know. It's probably on par with Richmond in '07-08. It's slightly ahead of last year's WVU and URI game and the loss at Dayton where Jason Duty missed the FT's at the end of regulation. He's already got two brutal losses this year and we've just reached the half way point.

I bring Ron up tonight because he clearly deserves a huge chunk of the blame for the loss. If he had only followed my game plan. The team hit 62% from three and 37% from inside the arc yet he continued to allow Sean Johnson to pound it inside and have his shot altered by CJ. Aiken. In the second half the Dukes hit 4-6 from 3 and only attempted 1 in the overtime. When you're team is on fire like that you have to put it up more often. Of course Ron could've called a timeout to tell his team to put up more 3's at any point from 12 minutes into the second when the Hawks really started to chip away at the lead. He could have also told them to go back to the pressure D that destroyed them in the first half. They were also getting beat in the second half when help D would rotate over to Langston Galloway, the one guy they were wasting their time pressuring Don't even get me started on the coaching in the last two minutes in regulation and :30 seconds in over time. Ron left his team hanging at least 3 or 4 times where a TO would've made sense. Instead, he pocketed 3 (THREE) timeouts to end regulation and what until :01 second left in OT to draw up a glory shot.

Player rundown:

TJ McConnell 9 -- Deserved a standing ovation after coming out of the game with a minute left not a loss tonight. Showing he can be a dominant player.

Jerry Jones 4 -- First start left something lacking. Fouled out but did give the Dukes a nice first half defensive effort. Sloppy rebounding though.

Mamadou Datt 4 -- Highlight of the game was him absolutely owning Aiken, dunking over him immediately after being rejected. Played good D but let his team down with fouls. Careless on a few rebounds

Sean Johnson 2 -- Never made the adjustment to Aiken and just kept driving and forcing shots. Missed two costly FT's down the stretch that would have helped seal the game in regulation.

Eric Evans 3 -- Nearly invisible. He at least learned his lesson about driving. Not a senior performance.

Kadeem Pantophlet 8 -- Easily his best game as a Duke at both ends. Made those open looks that he needs to make.

Mike Talley 6 -- Nice first half. Passed the ball as well as anyone for the Dukes.

Andre Marhold 4.5 -- Matched up well against Aiken but lapsed at times.

Derrick Martin 5 -- Quiet two minutes, but again he was mistake free.

___________________________________
I look for this match ups to be one of the more interesting ones in the A-10 over the next couple of years. St Joe's is young and getting better, but so are we. I suspect we'll face them at least 3 more times before TJ graduates and they will all be important games.

Also, proof reading is really the most difficult part of writing this blog.

St Joe's Preview

2012-01-03T21:01:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

As we enter the A-10 season, I think it's time to focus a little more on our opponents. First up is a very tough St Joe's team. I rated them 6th preseason and the Yuku staff rated them 8th overall. Right now, they are looking like a likely top 4 finisher, and a solid bet for the NIT if not better.

The Hawks have the 38th best RPI in the country. They're 10-4 and have played the 45th hardest schedule so far. They have quality wins against Creighton and Vilanova at home but they've struggled on the road including a loss at American. In their most recent game, they fell to Harvard after holding a 10 point lead the half. Phil Martelli has his young squad playing responsibly with a PG turning the ball over and fouling very infrequently, two of the trademarks of his successful early 2000's teams. Sophomore Langston Galloway is averaging a stellar .8 turnovers per game.

This will be a difficult but winnable game for the Dukes who will be without senior leader BJ Montiero due to some South Side hooliganism. He's out the next two contests for sure with a cut on his chin and left hand and could be out for a total of two weeks. Montiero is coming off two of his finest games as a Duke, but his absence may actually help Duquesne match up better with St Joe's. One of the most surprising factoids about the 2011-2012 Dukes is that they are currently 6th in the nation in shooting inside the 3 point arc. That's right the Dukes with no true center and blow at least two to three make-able lay ups a game are among the best in the nation scoring around the hoop. Problem is, the St Joe's Hawks led by CJ Aiken have the 16th best interior defense in Division 1. If the A-10 ever allowed underclassmen to win conference awards, Aiken would win the next 3 D-POY's. Like any good yinzer, I understand that you take defense over offense every day so the Dukes are likely to have a hard time scoring inside. St Joe's three point defense on the other hand is mediocre. With BJ out of the lineup , the Dukes will lose a fine interior scorer who would likely struggle taking on Aiken one on one anyway with two players who are better 3 point shooters in Jerry Jones and Kadeem Pantophlet.

3 point shooting will be a key for the Dukes tomorrow if they hope to win. So will pressuring the right people. Galloway is the wrong bet to focus on to create turnovers. In the A-10 tournament last year, he had 6 assists and one turnover against us. If we sell out against him and miss, he will find someone and likely won't cough it up too much anyway. Carl Jones and Aiken on the other hand are fair game. They turned it over against us a combined 14 times in two games against us last year. They will need to compensate by taking care of the ball themselves and getting offensive boards. Neither should be all that difficult. The Hawks are 290 in turnovers forced and 306th in offensive boards allowed likely because Aiken tries to block everything. St Joe's is a great shooting team. The Dukes are going to need to defend, defend, defend.

I think the Dukes will leave this one knowing they had opportunities to win but will come up 3 points short. Really hope I'm wrong.

Houston Baptist Recap

2012-01-01T03:02:00.000-05:00

By Steve Dimiceli

New feature.

I'll be doing recaps of all the games I am able to watch and ranking players on a 1-10 scale 5 being roughly average.

Dukes dominated from 5 minutes into the game until the buzzer. All 14 eligible Dukes saw action tonight. Sloppy first half gave way to a much tighter second half something we also saw against BGSU

BJ Montiero 9.5 - Great game, but missed a few bunnies early to keep him just under 30 for the second game in a row. The reboudning effort and the passing were also excellent. If you're one of the fans that thinks we won't miss him next year, I disagree with you.

Jerry Jones 9,5 - Keeps impressing. He's emerging as one of the best shooters on the team. While he does not create much for himself of the dribble, he knows where to go to get the ball. I don't think you can ask for a much better effort from someone coming off the bench

Sean Johnson 8.5 - 24 points and nice rebounding effort. Did a lot of things right but was a little sloppy with the ball early.

Tj McConnell 7.5 - Forgot to shoot the ball tonight, but he had 9 assists and 6 boards.

Eric Evans 7 - Earned his starting job back, but he still makes bad decisions too often. Still he scored 10 and shared the ball and rebounded very well.

Mike Talley 6 - Shot well from the floor and took on defenders, but he turned the ball over 4 times and missed a few easy ones.

Kadeem Pathophlet 6.5 - I said on scout that he looks like a guy who will stick to the perimeter. He displayed a nice inside game to go with his stroke from beyond the arc.

Andre Marhold 5 - A good performance for having only played 12 minutes, but he was really bad from the FT line. Still, I expected more from him.

Mamadou Datt 6 - Very quiet before leaving due to injury. 4 rebounds in 9 minutes is impressive.

Derrick Martin 6 - The best performance I've seen from him Summer League, Scrimmage or otherwise. Still a little timid at times, but he showed a little more toughness and smarts than in previous appearances. Played against Houston Baptists regulars too. He earned some minutes especially if Datt is hurt.

Daniel Herrera 8.5 - Talk about making the most of an opportunity. 8 points 2 steals, and 2 boards. Did foul twice, but made a good decision not foul on a third play. He seemed remarkably better on both ends of the floor. Good news for the Dukes. He had a small group of supporters cheering him on.

PJ Torres 4 - Showed a pretty selfish game, driving the length of the court without passing his first two touches. Shared more after his first basket, but I still didn't like it.

Sam Bott 6 - Very active and he got to score a basket for his huge cheering section. He seems like yet another talented walk on for Ron.

Rich Pierkarski NR - Not enough time to make an impression.

The Time to Extend Suzie McConnell - Serio is now

2011-12-30T17:15:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

On the heals of the Dukes third straight women's City Game victory, I don't think it should be surprising that a call to extend coach Suzie McConnell - Serio would be made. While she has not turned the program around in the same dramatic fashion as her men's counterpart Ron Everhart, she has the Dukes poised to make their first NCAA tournament appearance and a run at the A-10 title. She's established Duquesne as the top program in the greater Pittsburgh area, but I believe she has the potential to make this team into a national power.

The Dukes are currently 42nd in terms of RPI after finishing 56th last season. A bad loss against North Dakota keeps them from being higher. Suzie seems to fair well in all aspects of coaching. Her players get better under her tutelage. By all reports, her in game coaching is strong. Her players come prepared to play almost every night and her practices are said to be hell. She uses her celebrity to bring in the best young talent and her recruiting base, once seemingly confined to Western PA, has expanded nation wide. She's long had a reputation as a great floor general as player. Now, she is proving to be a great Commander in Chief.

McConnell - Serio could take this program to places few would have imagined. The problem is, she could take any program to the next level. The administration and athletic department have proven they will invest in facilities for the long term. Now, they need to invest in the personnel. I think McConnell - Serio can make the Dukes a perennial A-10 and NCAA contender with the potential to make deep runs. I also think she can make this into a program that draws between 1500-2500 fans to every game. Women's basketball has the potential to be a self - sustaining revenue sport, but they need to write the check. I'm not sure McConnell - Serio leaves Pittsburgh at this point in her career, but I could see an opening down Forbes Ave in the near future. If Greg Amodio doesn't pay her, I could see Steve Peterson splashing the cash.

The County Game a Big One

2011-12-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

Robert Morris looks good in this young season. Velton Jones and Coron Williams are averaging a combined 30 points per game and the rest of their players who I saw largely as role players over the summer are doing just that, playing their role. I've heard this Robert Morris team described as a physically tough team. I've them described as highly motivated. One thing I won't describe them as is an easy win.

Robert Morris has given substantial minutes to 9 players so far this year. Everyone who has played has contributed. Both of their top players stood out in the Pro - Am. Jones is a bulldog and Williams can score. However, no one else did and I apologize when I say that I don't know much about anybody else on this team. Overall, Robert Morris is not a big team. They run 3 forwards at 6'7'', 6'6'' and 6'5'' They can all get after it on the boards and in spite of their lack of size, the Colonials are 49th in rebounding margin. However, Robert Morris' size is worth noting because the Dukes could feel comfortable going small. Of course, they could also play Andre Marhold and Martins Abele at the same time and hold a nice size advantage that the Colonials would not be able to counter. I'll file this under pipe dreams since Ron Everhart has shown no desire to do anything of the sort.

All in all, this is not a game to take lightly. It's also not a game that the Dukes will roll over for either. Robert Morris are not always very responsible with the basketball and have been prone to turnovers the last couple of games. Velton Jones is also known to make some bad decisions. He'll force some shots. He'll draw some fouls (he'll give some too). He's an excellent FT shooter.I see Jones as Eric Evans with the green light to do whatever the hell he wants. Talent wise, I don't think there is a ton of difference but he is a year younger than E.

The Dukes best decision might be to get Robert Morris into foul trouble early to take advantage of them being overly aggressive. I know this sounds strange from our perspective but I think it will be important for the Dukes to weather the storm for the first 10 minutes and not be the aggressor. Robert Morris is really going to bring pressure and I think the Dukes might implode if they try to counter them by pressing with the ball. If the Dukes can limit the turnovers, it might really frustrate them. The Dukes are also going to have to finish their opportunities better when they have them something they have not been particularly good at of late.

I think the Dukes win his one after going to overtime.

How we ended up in this mess at center

2011-12-01T20:25:00.001-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

I'm not sure if anyone out there has noticed, but the Dukes have been without a prototypical center to take the role for the last 3 years. While I like Andre Marhold a lot more than most, I think it's pretty clear that he's not ready to log more than 10-15 minutes on most A-10 teams. The Dukes other two options Martins Abele and Mamadou Datt, are not ready to eat substantial amounts of minutes. Really, Ron Everhart has himself stuck between a rock and hard place, but he did not end up in this position overnight.

Ideally, you would like to be starting a junior or a senior at the center position. The Dukes have that right now, but Marhold certainly is not your normal center. He's not exceptionally tall though he does have a terrific wing span. He's not particularly stout either. I think you can be one or the other but a center should at least be one. Andre is unfortunately neither, but his wing span and jumping ability allows him to at least be passable like it did for Damian Saunders. However, he is an inexperienced junior and does not have even close to the skill set to match Saunders. Some say that Marhold is better suited for power forward. I tend to disagree with that as I don't think he brings enough to the table offensively to play the 4. In order for him to be effective there, he would need a offensively minded center to play off of and clearly we have not been able to find that. Either way there is a void.

So if your ideal center is a junior or a senior, they would've had to come from the recruiting class of 2006, 2007 or 2008. Damian Saunders graduated in the normal 4 years as was expected and David Theis was needed too much early in his career to have been a red shirt candidate. Rodrigo Peggau, Mike Williams, Oliver Lewinson, and Shawntez Patterson all arrived in the class of 2007 but each player really profiled as having a very low ceiling. Ron has been accused of being impatient with the last 3 I listed, but I think we've seen from what they've done in their careers after Duquesne that none were A-10 players. Williams is a marginal center in the Southern and Lewinson and Patterson are both playing outside of Division 1. So while turnover has not helped, it really is not the main problem, because none of those players would have been a much better option than what we already have. Class of 2008 produced Andre Marhold who was 6'6'' at the time.

I think the reason we don't have a center today is because Ron put a lot of stock in Peggau's knee healing. After all he was the only one in any of those classes with a moderate to high ceiling. He was the one with a list of other Division 1 offers who had Coach K lurking his junior year before he blew out his knee. Ultimately, the injury bug just bit him badly. Without a healthy knee properly, he wasn't quick enough to play defense nor was he explosive enough to be an effective rebounder or scorer in the post. At the same time his ceiling was high enough that Ron had to stick by him for 3 years. It stands to reason that you're not going to bring in another center in 2008 if you have a potential center in recovery and two others to provide some insurance. Ron took a gamble with Rodrigo and lost and I think that is the biggest reason we are without a center today.

Another reason is that Cheihk Fall, the 6'7'' JUCO defensive end that committed just after the signing period did not qualify. He would have been a very nice bridge to a possible 4 year option.

Over the years, Ron has recruited a number of centers but none of those who would be expected to contribute this year should have been considered the safe variety nor did many of them have much potential to be more than role players. The good news is that history will likely not repeat itself. Datt and Abele both have much higher ceilings than any of Lewinson, Williams and Patterson. As a freshman, Abele was already more productive than Williams in a similar league. Datt seems to have the potential to be a plus defender with some offensive skills. Both are also more likely to reach their ceiling than Peggau since both are healthy. Both will also get the benefit of early playing time that they normally would not have gotten had the void at center not been there. Of course Donovan Jack will join the club next season with high expectation. While there is no such thing as a safe recruit at center, he definitely seems like the safest Ron has brought in so far.

The City Game: Christmas Comes early for Duquesne

2011-11-30T11:22:00.000-05:00

By Steve DiMiceli

I'm not one to talk to as a very, very lax Catholic myself, but there will be a lot of Duquesne fans who don their blue and red only once this year as they do every year at the city game just like there will be a lot of people at Mass Christmas Day who will not step foot in a church for another 365 days (like myself). I'm not suggesting that these offenses are the same, I just see it as an interesting and sort of funny parallel. They'll show up 20 minutes late and leave when inevitably the fouling begins at the end of the game just like we'll still be trickling in after the first reading and leave after the communion. The only player they'll know is TJ McConnell and maybe BJ Montiero just like the only hymn we'll know is the first verse of Joy to the World and maybe, the Our Father. We'll sit quietly like they would during the rest of the mass and leave the participation to the handful that do it all the time. No passion, just presence.

They'll leave and we won't see them again for the rest of the year. Maybe they just like being a part of the big one. The energy at the city game just like the energy at Christmas Mass is not repeated the rest of the year even if it does come close on Palm Sunday which is like a Xavier game and giveaway night that we know ahead of time is going into triple OT . One key difference is that a lot of these Duquesne people will leave and become Pitt fans. At least most of we lax Catholics that leave won't become Lutherans.

All kidding aside, it would be nice to have some of these people stick around for the rest of the basketball season. It'll probably be easier to get the people who come tonight to return than to get people to come back to church. After all, a win against Pitt is a much better way to sell Duquesne basketball than the inevitable whiny somewhat passive aggressive sermon about how nice a full church every Sunday would be from the priest is to sell the Catholic church. It should happen soon and I think Duquesne will miss a great opportunity if they can't win one of the next two. This year, Pitt is very young inside. While they certainly are better inside, they do not have the veteran nor the height to completely dominate this year like they did last year. While Talib Zanna and Dante Taylor will give Andre Marhold hell, I think he'll will be able to match up with Khem Birch. Travon Woodall is prone to turnovers and Ashton Gibbs hasn't exactly exactly been lighting the world on fire. I think the Dukes match the Panthers back court for the 2011 installment, but both of those players will be gone for the 2012 game giving the Dukes a distinct advantage outside. They should also be able to even out the rebounding loss with turnover and FT shooting wins. Strangely enough, this one may be decided at the line and I think the Dukes have the advantage there this year.

To those who expect Abele to get significant minutes in this city game, don't count on it. That would be like Santa Clause making an appearance at Christmas Mass. Ron Everhart must not see him as ready and I'm not sure why. In the little I've seen of him, he is definitely a better rebounder than Marhold and Datt. He also seems to have a couple more post moves than either of those two. However, Everhart has almost conceded the inside game and prefers to create mismatches by going smaller. It's worked against teams like DC, but I don't know if it will work against Pitt. I think Pitt wins 74-70 this year, but Duquesne takes it next season.

IUP's band is a recruiting tool that DU lacks.

2011-10-23T12:17:00.005-04:00

by Face

Discuss this on Yuku

I was at a band competition yesterday - Tournament of Bands Chapter 13 Championships. In attendence were roughly seventeen bands from the Greater Alleghenny Mountains region of PA - from DuBois down to Johnstown, over towards Tyrone. These aren't the biggest schools, but there is most definitely a lot of talent in these areas.

Not only did IUP perform at the end of the show, they were the host for the entire affair. Students had the chance to walk around what has become a very nice campus, guided by members of the IUP marching band who were able to answer many questions and otherwise provide a personal connection with the students.

The real treat came when the IUP band lined up in the endzone and began to play a warm up. This is what can happen when an athletic department and a music school can combine to create something. The sound was full and vibrant and the looks on the faces of high schoolers in attendance were ones of awe.

I could describe the aesthetic excellence of the IUP marching band until you are sick of it; I won't do that. All that I will say is that if you are a high school musician in this part of the world, there is a rather excellent chance that you are in a marching band. To see IUPs band performing at such a high level - and for the message to be "Come here and you can be a part of THIS!" - is a message that Duquesne can not currently provide with any of their groups. It is a message that I, as a music teacher of some of these students, have a hard time overcoming. How do you argue with such a thing? How do I tell them that DU is going to be more worthwhile for them when they have visions of this band dancing through their minds?

Oh, and don't think that IUP limits themselves to regional performances. Three years ago, while on staff with a band that was to perfrom in USSBA championships in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, I had the opportunity to see that same IUP band. This was for a national-level championship competition that included enormous bands from a range of hundreds of miles away hosted in an NFL stadium. I wonder how much positive PR that created? Given the standing ovation they received, I'd say plenty.

Was Duquesne Band ready for that at the point when they were disbanded? Surely not. But could they have been within several more years? Most certainly.

The bottom line is that Duquesne needs to wake up and realize that if they aren't proactive with this, they will soon appear to be standing still. St. Francis (PA) is in the process of starting a brand new band program. Their athletic department has set aggressive goals for numbers and has given their director the time and budget to do it right through the recruiting of high schoolers and the like. SFU is already planning on hosting a similar show once they are established. They don't even have a music program.

There is no bigger organization for PR or for school spirit than a band program. Who were the ones cheering in the gym during the 3-24 year? I was there; I know it wasn't the fans. I know it wasn't the student section, for there was none. It was the band.

The athletic department and music school each need to get over themselves and recognize that even if this isn't wholly under the roof of either, while it isn't the most aesthetically charming musical ensemble, this is NECESSARY to get the talented students whom should want to get. Because I KNOW Duquesne's program. It is superlative, but no one is going to know that in a vacuum. They must do something.

Anything else is lazy.

April Robinson commits to the Dukes

2011-10-02T23:32:00.002-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
Discuss on Yuku

Per her twitter feed, April Robinson a 5'8'' PG from Virginia committed to Duquesne. She received an 87 rating on ESPN.com and they report her as being strong competitor and hard worker on the court. According to their scouting report, Robinson is "involved in every play at both ends of the court, frantically chasing down loose balls, fighting with bigs for rebounds, and deflecting any pass that remotely comes her way. In addition to her impressive energy, Robinson demonstrated notable ability to put up points. " She is regarded as a player that "can be counted on to make things happen." As a junior, she was named to the Washinton Post All Met 1st team and 2nd team in the state after leading her high school to the state Final Four for the second straight season

Willie Moore Verbals for the Dukes

2011-10-02T23:12:00.000-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli

Discuss at Yuku

Willie Moore became the second high school senior confirmed to accept a scholarship offer to Duquesne University in the past. The story was first reported by Chas Wolfe at High Major Scoop when he tweeted that the 6'3'' Cincinnati point guard committed to the Dukes during a weekend visit to the Bluff. Heard this Blog secured an interview with Moore regarding his commitment. Moore was rated as a 3 star recruit by Scout and as the 120th best PG in the class of 2012 by ESPN. According to ESPN, Moore "has an explosive first step with great vision and is a very creative passer," and that he is a "solid talent with a nice upside." However, their scouting report does have some concerns about his decision making at this time. Given that he shouldn't be counted on to start until his junior year unless he proves otherwise, he will have plenty of time to improve with experience.

It was recently reported that Moore's final five schools were Duquesne, Dayton, Wichita St, James Madison, and Cleveland St. It is unclear whether or not Dayton actually came through with an offer, but Moore had a very long list of mid and high major offers to go along with the rest of the finalists including Tulane, Kent St, Iona, Ohio University, Akron, and Miami (OH). He had interest from Xavier, Louisville, Cincinnati, Wisconsin, and Eastern Kentucky.

Moore joins Donovan Jack as the second confirmed verbal commitment for the class of 2012. The early signing period begins November 9th.

Donovan Jack commits

2011-09-28T21:26:00.002-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
Discuss it at Yuku

Duquesne received it's first commitment of 2012 from 6'9'' PF Donovan Jack of Reading, PA according to Northstar Basketball. Jack is ranked the 54th best PF in the class of 2012 according to ESPN and has been assigned an 88 rating. According to his AAU, team he carried offers from Vermont, James Madison, Holy Cross, American, Lafayette and Bucknell. Rivals reports an offer from George Mason. Jack is said to have BCS interest from Washington St, Penn St, Notre Dame, Boston College and Depaul and A-10 interest from St Joe's, Lasalle, Temple, GW and St Bonaventure.

Jack is a south paw who according to ESPN "plays with great energy on both ends of the floor. Jack runs the floor and can catch and finish on the move very well. He scores on the block with drop steps and moves over his right shoulder." Pennlive.com reports 13.6 points per game. Video can be found on You Tube. He wears 34 and 32.

*Update: Per the Reading Eagle, Jack had 25 offers including two from the Big 10, five from the A-10, along with Washington St. His final 5 were Duquesne, Belmont, St Joe's, St Bona and Davidson.

A-10 makes the right move to Brooklyn

2011-09-27T21:40:00.001-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
Discuss Here on Yuku

As great as it would have been for the A-10 tournament to come to Pittsburgh, the folks in Hampton Roads made the right decision by moving the championship to the Big Apple from 2013-2016. This decision is an excellent public relations move, a solid business decision and a move that may just save the conference in the long run.

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2011 Duquesne Women's Cross Country Preview

2011-09-02T18:10:00.002-04:00

Discuss on Yuku

2011 Duquesne Women’s Cross-Country Preview.

Ah, labor day weekend. For most college students, it’s a time to wrap up summer and get started studying. For cross-country runners, it holds a special place though, as it’s always the weekend of the first meet of the year. Let’s take a preseason look at the 2011 Women’s XC team…

Last Season: Tied for 5^th in the Atlantic 10, 11^th in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region

Top Returners:

2011 Duquesne Men's Cross-Country Preview

2011-09-02T18:09:00.002-04:00

Discuss on Yuku

Last year: 99-37 Overall, 2nd in the A10.

Before Jim Lear came to Duquesne from Pitt, Duquesne was a perennial bottom-feeder in the Atlantic 10 Conference for cross-country, only once EVER finishing in the top half of the A10 while finishing dead last 8 of the 12 previous times DU finished a team. In the last 10 years, Lear has got the program to finish 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, tied for 3rd, 2nd, 6th, and 2nd. Quite an accomplishment, especially in an improving Atlantic 10 that has become extremely competitive to where it takes an IC4A time oftentimes to place at the A10 meet in track.

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2011 A-10 Prediction

2011-08-24T23:51:00.004-04:00

Discuss on Yuku

The three of us put our heads together on what to expect in the A-10 season and we came up with a composite prediction of what the standings will look like come tournament time.

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Ten Things to Take from Summer Basketball

2011-08-18T01:09:00.000-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
Click Here to Discuss on Yuku

Duquesne fans got a rare treat this summer with some bonus basketball to help make the longest off season in sports seem a little shorter. With the Greentree Pro - Am long finished and a trip to Canada along with an open practice in the books, here are ten things I think we learned as the events heated up.

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Open Practice 8/9

2011-08-09T22:32:00.000-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
Discuss this on Yuku

This evening at the AJ Palumbo Center, Ron Everhart and the Dukes held an open practice for season ticket holders ahead of their international tour of Canada. The evening began with Coach Everhart thanking the crowd of a few hundred for attending and giving them an update on the renovations to the locker rooms. He remarked that Duquesne now had the finest facilities of any school where he coached and felt it would positively impact future recruiting.

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DU vs. WVU a no go?

2011-08-02T21:54:00.003-04:00

by Face

Discuss this on Yuku

Thuggins is said to enjoy making out with
injured players on the floor at
NCAA tournament games.

Hello and welcome to another edition of "Rampant Speculation." Today, we tackle the Hoopies of West Virginia and their coach, Bob Thuggins, infamous 'round these parts for almost killing Duquesne player B. B. Flenory during his playing career with a viscious elbow to the skull.

According to the preliminary schedule on the WVU Scout site, Duquesne will not be making the trip to Morgantown this year. In fact, they won't be playing West Virginia at all.

Now, this schedule could be far from official. Nothing has been posted on ESPN or the school's website, and no official articles have been found. However, as Rogabee observed on the forum, this schedule shows 27 games and an exempt tournament. There's no room for the Dukes to be added unless one of the other teams listed is a mistake or drops.

If this is all true, it confirms one fact yet again: Huggins is a sleaze. Why? Read on.

Information obtained from a reliable source much earlier this offseason indicated that Huggins wanted to play against DU at the Consol this year rather than at Morgantown as it would normally be. In return, the following two years would have games played at Morgantown. All in all, this would maintain a one for one balance if you include the game played last year, but in reality it is garbage.

This year, the Hoopies have only four returning players. Sure, one of them is the very skilled Kevin Jones, but he can't be everywhere on the court. Huggins, though slimy, isn't stupid. He knows how close the game was last year and, especially with a special player like TJ moving up the ranks, that he risks a bad home loss for his team this year should DU play them at Morgantown.

Had his plan worked, the worst that would have happened is a neutral site loss, and then he gets to have TJ at Morgantown for his junior and senior year when his roster will include Aaric Murray and Juwan Staten, among others.

Instead, we're not on the schedule at all.

Thuggins took his ball and went home.

The more time goes by, the more I wonder how Coach Everhart is friends with this guy. If the game is on after all, I'll be happy to take back some of this, unless we were in fact bullied into taking it at the CEC.

PBC Pro - Am Playoffs

2011-07-20T09:48:00.000-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
Discuss on Yuku

The playoffs at the PBC Pro - Am conclude tonight as PBC led by TJ McConnell takes on Aston Gibbs SPK Law at 8 PM at the Greentree Sports Complex. It will pit the team oriented PBC against the high flying, even show boating SPK. I was on hand Monday and Tuesday for the quarter and semi finals.

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Interview with Wally Ellenson, 2012 Target

2011-07-16T02:30:00.000-04:00

by Face

Scrolling through the news feeds and everything else and came across this interview. Wanted to share, so click here for the full story.

It's worth noting that he has some brothers with basketball talent as well; if the Dukes signed him, could it be the gateway to a family that is ripe with D1 talent?

Ellenson is reported to have offers from St. Louis, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Detroit, Loyola, Duquesne, Northern Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, North Dakota State, Cal Poly, Dayton, Holy Cross, and West Virginia.

Martins Abele to transfer to Duquesne

2011-07-15T19:45:00.000-04:00

7''1' Latvian center Martins Abele will transfer to Duquesne from Radford for the 2011-12 season. Martins will be the 5th and final scholarship player of the class.

At Radford, Abele scored averaged over 5 points and rebounds in his freshmen season. He saw limited action due to injury. He also averaged 1 block per game.

It is unclear whether Abele will be eligible to play immediately due to NCAA violations by former coach Brad Greenberg who was suspended for the final 4 games of last season for allowing an ineligible player to travel with the team.

Mamadou Datt a Duke, Aiche Ndao to the Ladies?

2011-07-07T17:21:00.002-04:00

by Face

Discuss this on Yuku

Mamadou Datt

Mamadou Datt, a 6'9" player from Stoneridge Preparatory School in Simi Valley, CA, has apparrently accepted a scholarship offer to Duquesne and is enrolled. Thanks to our friend UncivilDKizzle for finding this information and alerting us to it!

Back in January, Datt (pictured to the left from a team photo on Facebook) was reported as receiving interest from UCSB, Cal-Irvine, UCLA, Fresno State, Cleveland State, and Utah State. Some basketball message boards had found a Stoneridge highlight video on YouTube, but that video has since been made private.

Rivals made mention at one point about a player named Selle Hann, also a Stoneridge player, whom Duquesne was interested in. The speculation could be made that Datt was found in the scouting of Hann and impressed the coaches. Certainly wouldn't be the first time something like that has happened.

Otherwise, there isn't a whole lot out there on this guy. Certainly a welcome to the bluff is extended on behalf of the DU fanbase to young Datt. I'm hoping that he's a legit baller and that signs proclaiming "Who Datt!?" can be triumphantly raised within the confines of AJP.

Aiche Ndao

The same Facebook post (found at the bottom of this article) that would seem to confirm this information also mentions another player - Aiche Ndao. Though Stoneridge doesn't have a women's team, Ndao practices with the guys as reported on one of the school's facebook photos. Other information on her is unclear.

Of course we also extend a welcome to Ndao.

Certainly we will be giving you more information as it comes out. For now, feel free to discuss our two newest Dukes on the Yuku Board.

Click for larger view

The Infamous Jagorim Jarg

2011-07-01T22:46:00.000-04:00

by Face

The new face of Philadelphia... JAGORIM JARG!

Greentree 6/29: Schools at the Pro - Am don't have a lot to be excited about

2011-06-30T09:46:00.000-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli

Click Here to Discuss on Yuku

4 match days completed at the PBC Pro - Am and I have to say that I think it could be a long year for most of the schools participating in the event. I suspect some will be further off their standards than others. Here's a break down of each school.

Greentree Report 6/27

2011-06-27T23:59:00.002-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
Click here to discuss on Yuku

And on the third day, there was some reason for hope. The Dukes at Greentree took a turn for the better tonight with some improved performances and a very nice debut from Daniel Herrera.

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Greentree Report 6/22

2011-06-22T23:47:00.000-04:00

By Steve Dimiceli
Discuss here on YukuDukes

Right to the games tonight. I have some funny stories that I'll save for the message board or another blog entry.

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Greentree Report 6/20

2011-06-21T00:32:00.003-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
Discuss here on Yuku

It feels good to watch some basketball. Let me first thank the Pittsburgh Basketball Club for putting the Pro-Am together once again. The league just keeps getting better and better each year. The place was packed and sweaty, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the intimate setting. Truly, this event helps make summer in Pittsburgh great.

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2010-2011 Athletic Department Lows

2011-06-15T13:06:00.007-04:00

Discuss Here on Yuku

Since we covered the highlights...now for the lowlights...
Special emphasis was put on men's basketball as it is the feature sport at DU.

1. The collapse of the men’s basketball team. Losing three games near the end of the season to teams you beat by double digits earlier in the year – Dayton, St. Louis, and the tourney to St. Joe’s, was disheartening to say the least.

2. Along with that, the collapse keeps the Dukes out of the NCAA tournament as well as the NIT. Given the start and 11-0 run the Dukes had, most fans were expecting more.

3. The women's basketball team finishes on the "Last Four Out" list on both ESPN and collegerpi.com. Unfortunately, the Dukes don't dance, and are left behind in the NIT. Disappointing? Yes. Heck of a season? Absolutely.

4. The Dukes men's basketball team finishes 1-3 at the Consol Center, their home away from home. Most disheartening was perhaps the physical nature in which Xavier dominated the Dukes to close out the game in front of a sold-out lower bowl.

5. Duquesne lost an icon, Nellie King. While Nellie King will be most remembered for his work with the 'Buccos, what he did at Duquesne will be remembered.

2010-11 Athletic Department Highs

2011-06-15T11:06:00.003-04:00

Discuss this on Yuku

As high school graduations wind down and we near a new basketball season that will begin with Greentree soon, here at YukuDukes we're taking a minute to reflect back on the 2010-2011 athletic year, both the ups and downs. Thus, without further ado...the top 20 highs, worst 10 lows of the athletic department season (selected by a forgetful selection committee...me...so let me know if I missed something):

Top 20 Highs of the 2010-2011 Athletic Department Season.

1. Duquesne women’s basketball team wins at future Big 10 tourney champions Ohio State 71-67. The Dukes, down by 8 with about 5 minutes to go, cap off an incredible comeback vs. the Buckeyes on a Kelly Britcher trey with 9 seconds left. The Dukes finish with a 24-9 season (tied for 3^rd in the A10).

2. The Dukes men's hoops team runs of 11 straight wins before a heartbreaking loss in Olean on a three near the buzzer, including a rout of Temple. It marked the Dukes best start ever in A10 play.

3. Duquesne men’s basketball team gets their first out-of-conference postseason win in what seems like an eternity at Montana.

4. The Dukes could sell out the lower bowl of the CEC. Quite an accomplishment for a team whose home court capacity currently is below 5,000.

5. That the Dukes would be the hottest ticket for an opposing team in the A10 this season (at St. Bona).
6. Dukes have their first winning conference season in the NEC in football, highlighted by a 35-31 home win over Dayton, which featured a Sean Patterson touchdown pass with 21 seconds left to cap a 66 yard drive that started with 1:18 left on the clock for the win.

7. The Dukes took care of their City Game opponent quite often across the board. Women's basketball, men's and women's cross-country, and women's tennis all beat the Panthers. The only varsity program to lose to the Panthers (outside perhaps rowing, where results are tough to find) was men's basketball.

Greentree Pro-Am Wish List

2011-06-14T15:34:00.002-04:00

by Face

Discuss this on Yuku

Can it really be that time again? The Greentree Summer Pro-Am is right around the corner. I'm excited to see some games after this offseason, and I know I'm not alone.

Last year saw a mixed bag in the pro-am. TJ looked excellent - and that was truly a sign of things to come for our rookie of the year. Talley, a lot of us agreed, just looked small and didn't seem too effective. He sure proved us wrong on that front, putting in a solid freshman season on the bluff. Evans was a great story in Summer League. His passing was crisp, his shot had found more arc and lift... but unfortuantely, his season was hindered by injury and he never really found his form again. Saunders and Clark didn't participate because they were hoping to go overseas, which fell through. In one game that I saw, BJ was a pretty scrappy defender of a much taller Pitt player whose name eludes me at the moment (was it Donte Taylor?), which impressed me.

Truly there were some ups and downs for the summer, which is as to be expected. What would we like to see next year? I'll give my thoughts after the break and I hope that you provide your own on the boards.

Yahoo Article on Everhart's Decision

2011-06-08T12:13:00.001-04:00

by Face

Discuss this article on Yuku

I hadn't yet seen discussion of this article that was posted on Yahoo Sports and felt it worthy of a look. According to the article, Everhart hadn't decided that he was going to pull his name from the PSU search until he walked into the meeting with the players.

In addition, I think our chemistry worries are over:

"Everhart's impromptu declaration that he was staying at Duquesne provoked everything from smiles, to cheers, to sighs of relief from his players. One player even leapt out of his seat in excitement that the Dukes were keeping the coach who has led a long-struggling program to three consecutive postseason appearances."

And also:

"Making the decision Thursday certainly saved Everhart an awkward evening since his players gathered at his house that night to watch Game 2 of the NBA Finals."

Still, we all hope that Everhart and Amodio can patch things up. Mention of the rumors that there is friction between the two appeared in this Beaver County Times article from a week or so ago.

Everhart's Heart at Duquesne

2011-06-02T22:02:00.002-04:00

by Face

Rest your weary heads; as reported on our message board via Jeff Goodman's tweet and then many other places, Ron Everhart is staying with Duquesne. Here's a nice quote from Dave Mackall's article in the Trib:

"We've got a great bunch of guys, a close-knit unit," Everhart said. "I'm excited to continue on with the task of taking Duquesne to another level. I never wanted to leave here. We've still got a lot of work to do."

I think we can agree with his sentiment. Much work to be done. Certainly many sighs of relief were breathed when we recruited a few 6'6"+ players recently, so we will have some options in addition to redshirt freshman Martin as well as Andre Marhold, who may also be a 4. Now we can look forward to Greentree and a little player development. Hopefully everyone clears in plenty of time for the summer league.

It remains to be seen whether or not Everhart managed to get a raise out of the deal. Some "inside folks" had indicated to us that there wasn't much support for such a thing. If we hear anything, we will certainly let you know!

Is Duquesne ready for life after Ron Everhart?

2011-05-31T00:05:00.001-04:00

By Steven DiMiceli
Discuss Here on Yuku

As we sit on the edge of our seats waiting for word to trickle in on whether or not Ron Everhart will be moving to Happy Valley, I think there is a genuine collective concern amongst Duquesne fans. Some common questions I'm seeing over and over again. Who will the Dukes be able to find this late in the coaching cycle? Will TJ follow Ron? Is Greg Amodio stupid enough to hire Dino Gaudio?

Does everyone have their panic button placed directly in front of them? Good, but don't push it just yet.

Read more »

Matt Moss signs with the Dukes

2011-05-26T18:35:00.001-04:00

By Steven DiMiceli
Discuss this topic on Yuku

Duquesne has added yet another power forward out of the blue. This time it's 6'10 Matt Moss of very, very, very rural western Louisiana. Moss went to high school in Anacoco, a small town about 2 hours south of Shreveport. It seems like the kind of place where a college coach could find an underexposed big man for a late recruiting steal. In Moss' case, he didn't exactly fly completely under the radar having appeared for the Louisiana U17 select team. Moss was an all state honorable mention after receiving first team honors his sophomore year. However, I could see why he wouldn't draw a ton of attention. It's been reported that he drew attention from a number of local schools though no specific offers have been identified.

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AJ West, the newest Duke

2011-05-21T11:55:00.002-04:00

nBy Steven DiMiceli
Click here to discuss on Yuku

Late last night, Ron Everhart and the Dukes received their fourth spring commitment from AJ West of CJEOTO Academy in Spring Lake, NJ. West, originally from Brooklyn, was described by ESPN as "a scrappy, and rugged post player" after his senior year in high school, but knocked his ability to score in the low post. From video I've seen including one where he scored 40 points against Impact Basketball, he seems to find holes in the defense, runs the court well to create space for himself and his offensive game appears a bit more polished than it did in video from high school. He seemed to roll off collapsing defenses for an open look and the opposition had no answer. When he found an opening, his teammates found him. He seems to finish strong and go hard to the net on offensive rebounds. While it's just one game where he certainly had something of a size advantage over Impact, he played aggressively and used his height and strength to take advantage of it.

West was named to the New Jersey All - Prep second team by NJ.com last season. CJEOTO has produced 6 Division I athletes for the class of 2011 including Rutgers recruit Kadeem Jack. According to a tweet from Alex Kline of the Recruit Scoop, West had offers from Cal Northridge, Hofstra, Texas Southern, Quinnpiac, and St Peter's. In late April, he visited Rhode Island.

Seems like West should be a good fit. If he can continue to find space for himself, I have no doubt that Duquesne's guards will get him the basketball in good position to score. I suspect he could come in and compete for a starting position. If Everhart still has another scholarship to offer, it will likely be used on another big man meaning Duquesne should still be in the running for Youssou N'Doye of the Lee Academy. West helped us become deeper down low, but we still may not be deep enough.

AJ West to Duquesne

2011-05-21T01:47:00.000-04:00

Duquesne has landed their 4th spring commitment 6'8'' 220 PF AJ West of CJEOTO in New Jersey. More to follow tomorrow. To tide you over, here is his senior year highlight real.

Kadeem Pantophlet to Duquesne University

2011-05-10T17:59:00.003-04:00

By Steven DiMiceli
Discuss this on Yuku

Now I don't speak Dutch, but I do speak German, English and a tiny bit of French meaning I have about a 30% chance of understanding Dutch when I read it. Here is my best stab at interpreting this article.

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How do you replace the guy who was supposed to be a replacement?

2011-05-07T16:14:00.000-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
Discuss this on Yuku

Losing Damian Saunders and Bill Clark will be devastating for this team but so is life in the NCAA where turnover after 4 or 5 years should be 100%. It should not be 50% within two years like it has been under Ron Everhart. Joel Wright is just the most recent Duke to leave well before he was supposed to. We don't know the events that lead up to his dismissal and based on what we experienced about Duquesne men's basketball under RE, we probably never will. However, it's just another loss in a pattern of losses.

Presumably, Wright would've filled a portion of the roles previously occupied by the departing seniors and his experience, however slight it was, would've come in handy in a very green front court. Chiehk Fall would've filled some more, but I'm confused that he still has not signed. The Dukes do not have any proven options down low at this point with Andre Marhold yet to live up to his three star rating and Derrick Martin still without a minute of NCAA action. Of course, Rodrigo Peggau could make an unexpected return but he has was unsuccessful holding down the middle this past season. So what are the Dukes to do?

There are a few options:

1) Recruit, Recruit, Recruit

With the departure of Wright, it comes as no surprise to me that the Dukes were linked to 6'9'' PF Alexandre Gavrilovic and a 6'11'' C Youssou N'Doye in the past week after pursuing nothing but swings. However big men take time to develop (see Aaric Murray and Kenny Frease). While they might be able to eat some minutes, I don't think I would what a true freshmen playing the 4 or 5 unless we're looking at an undersized athletic PF ala Wright or possibly Herrera. Still it would be nice to have at least one more guy with the right body type that we can throw under the hope.

2) Try Daniel Herrera at the 4

His coach didn't hesitate when asked if Herrera can step in and play right away for the Dukes. He might be able to take a role similar to Bill Clark where he played inside and outside on the offensive side of the ball and than played to the best of his abilities out of position on the defensive side. Again not an ideal situation, but it might be better than starting a true freshman big.

3) Mitigate the thin front court with our deep back court.

It was discussed even before the Joel Wright departure that Ron Everhart should consider going with a 3 guard set to give his best players more time on the court. Now, I'm almost certain this will be the best option at least for the non conference portion. Sean Johnson and TJ McConnell both rebound well for their size, and PJ Torres would provide good length at the 3rd guard position in the minutes that he plays. The team will need to rely on steals to help even out the opportunities, and thankfully, TJ should become one of the best in the NCAA next year. BJ Monteiro emerged as a ball hawk towards the end of the season and a healthy Eric Evans should get his as well. With three guards, the team would likely cut down on it's own turnovers and keep the assist numbers up around where they were this past season.

While I seem optimistic here, I think we're going to get killed on the glass and we'll really struggle to guard the post all year from a three guard set. We're going to give the other teams a lot of easy buckets.

4) Hybrid 10/40

We saw a modified 10/40 in the CBI and I suspect we could see a lot more of it moving forward. I'm not sure if this team will have a true star next year, so we might just want to spread the minutes around and run like crazy. I'd love to see a little more structure though and not just chucking three's. Moving the ball and speeding up the tempo could help to counter inevitable size and experience disadvantages in the post.

Follow us on Twitter @yukudukes

International Flavor

2011-05-05T18:03:00.004-04:00

by Face

There have been rumors that we'll be looking internationally for our recruiting, so I wasn't surprised when I found this article during a routine Google news search. The article is about Dayton's recruiting of 6'9" 230 lb Alexandre Gavrilovic out of France. He had committed to Providence in 2010 but had a problem with his French transcripts, and so he returned to Florida-based IMG Academy. After the troubles qualifying, it is rumored that he doesn't want the shuffle and red tape of a bigger school. How accurate that is remains to be seen.

This is the key part of the article:

"Barto said Gavrilovic is being recruited by a wide range of schools, including Kansas, Texas Tech and Mississippi State. He plans to take a visit to Towson next week and also is considering Duquesne, Florida International and SMU."

According to an article quoted by our friends at the Blackburn Review, Gavrilovic averaged 1.3 PPG and 9.2 minutes per game on the French U20 team last year. Still searching for stats from IMG Academy.

We'll be looking into this more as it develops.

Bad week for Duquesne, Great week for America

2011-05-02T09:40:00.000-04:00

By Steven DiMiceli
Discuss this on Yuku

America got it's guy, but Duquesne missed out on three players who could've been great contributors moving forward. With Micah Mason committing to Drake, Sim Bhular pledging for X and Maurice Aniefiok heading south to Ole Miss, the Dukes lost the three prospects fans were talking about the most. I'm not really sure how interested Bhular was in us, but I have to think we were very close on the other two. I have little doubt that Mason would've committed to us had we offered in the winter or maybe if we had offered at all. Recruiting is never over and there is still lots of room in the class of 2012. However, I really have the sinking feeling that we'll be doing nothing but settling in 2011. We've been to this rodeo before. A couple weeks left in the spring signing period with likely multiple scholarships to fill. Sometimes, it works out and we snag a late cast off from another program, but right now Robert Morris is beating us in that department having already brought Jervon Pressley without a sniff from the Dukes. More often though, we end up scraping the JUCO barrel or bringing in a guy just because they're tall only to have them leave in two years. Maybe Kenny Harper will end up here after all.

I do also want to point out this is not a bash on the coaching staff. These are just the breaks. When you run with the big dogs, you get bit sometimes. Just bad luck in a lot of ways. Publicly, all our eggs were in one basket it seemed, so it is a little concerning when there does not seem to be any clear direction for the rest of 2011 recruiting with no known commodities in the mix. Reality is probably not as dire as perception right now, and I'd like to think our days of bringing in crap for crap's sake are over. Like I said before, history does not give me reason to believe this, but I think one of these years I'll be proven wrong.

The Dukes of Duquesne

2011-04-28T18:43:00.004-04:00

by Face

Discuss this on Yuku

If any of you knew me in real life, you'd quickly learn that I have a little bit of an affinity for things that are old and interesting. In fact, that's my favorite section in Half Price Books - "Old and Interesting." This has also been a part of my Duquesne fandom in a manner which, luckily for me, touches some of my other interests... most especially music.

Did you know, by the way, that the Victory Song has a verse? I didn't until I found a copy published by Volkweins from the early 30s. Heck, I didn't even know that there was more than just the Alma Mater and the Victory Song until a few years ago.

More on that in another entry.

Anyway, I managed to find some old and obscure Duquesne fight songs through eBay, ones that fell out of use a long time ago. My favorite find is the one that I'm going to talk about today - the drinking song entitled "The Dukes of Duquesne." I think it's my favorite because during the time that I was at Duquesne, a common phrase to govern behavoir was that we had to keep things "Duquesneable."

The meaning of that should be clear.

I can't imagine something less Duquesnable than an official school drinking song. The lyrics are also FANTASTIC, some of my favorite statements about Duquesne pride. Read on after the jump.

What is going on with recruiting?

2011-04-26T20:48:00.001-04:00

By Steven DiMiceli

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The Greatest Duke of All Time

2011-04-24T20:35:00.002-04:00

By Steve Dimiceli
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The Duquesne 15 begins tomorrows and I thought the best place to begin would be the 5 players with their jersey numbers retired. While we might all really like some of our more recent players, I think some of these guys are in a class of their own. As promised, I would give a detailed account of each player on the list.

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4/24 Recruiting Update

2011-04-24T10:25:00.002-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
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Maurice Aniefiok - Huntington Prep

6'5'' 225

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Daniel Herrara a Duke, Part II

2011-04-21T20:25:00.003-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
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Sometimes, one finds ones self in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, one makes a phone call at exactly the right time. It happened to me this morning when I reached Jarrett Forbes the head coach for Daniel Herrera's Doral Academy basketball team just 30 minutes after he faxed his binding letter of intent to coach Ron Everhart. There is something special about talking to a coach who hardly can contain his excitement for a special player he not only taught the game of basketball to, but a player he brought to the game in the first place.

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Daniel Herrera a Duke

2011-04-21T10:32:00.000-04:00

More come in an interview with his coach, but Daniel has faxed his Letter of Intent in this morning.

Q & A with Alex Kline of TheRecruitScoop

2011-04-19T22:54:00.001-04:00

By Steven DiMiceli
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If you haven't heard of Alex Kline, you might want to get to know his name. Alex might be the Mel Kiper, Jr of college basketball recruiting and get this, he's 16 years old. He already runs a highly respected Internet recruiting information service called The Recruit Scoop and has a tremendous following on twitter (@TheRecruitScoop). My twitter feed is always full of news about hot recruits nation wide. He's been featured in the Wall Street Journal and on ABC National News and he was very gracious enough to answer a few questions about himself, the Dukes, and recruiting for Yuku Dukes.

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Recruiting Update

2011-04-14T23:14:00.001-04:00

By Steven DiMiceli
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Ron Everhart appears to have four small forwards in his sights for the 3rd and possibly final spot in his class of 2011. With Cheikh Fall and PJ Torres already on board and Shakore Grant prepping, the Dukes are after depth at the swing position, and weapon for the future. Here are the candidates:

Maurice Aniefiok - Huntington Prep

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Dukes get a new commitment

2011-04-11T19:56:00.002-04:00

by Face

PJ Torres is headed to the bluff, apparently. He's a 6'3 guard who seems to be an RE type player - you need look no further than the fact that he is described as an "athlete."

This announcement was first noted via his twitter account. However, the article referencing his twitter provided a link to the account and PJ has now blocked his tweets from public view.

Still, his bio says that he is Duquesne-bound, so no worries there! This all happened after a recent visit. One thing that all Duquesne alums know - It'd be hard to not love the campus after visiting it.

Returning Players - Joel Wright

2011-04-06T22:59:00.001-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
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Joel Wright (Career Points: 110)

I know what all of you are expecting. Four paragraphs of me gushing over Joel Wright and his potential like the little fan boy I am. If you thought that, you're wrong. I'm going to do it in five paragraphs (including this one). Joel is the third member of our dynamic freshman class I'll be looking at, but this isn't just a recap of his season, it's a love story about a pure and innocent man crush.

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Returning Players - Mike Talley

2011-04-03T14:31:00.001-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli

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Mike Talley (Career Points: 222)

With all the fanfare surrounding other members of the '10-11 Duquesne team, we missed that Mike Talley had a helluva freshman season and plenty to build on for next year. Like most young players, his season was riddled with inconsistency. He scored 17 twice, but put up goose eggs on a number of occasions. The odd thing about Talley is that I never really could to tell how good or how poorly he was playing until I checked the box score. When looking at the stats, there were quite a few occasions where I said to myself "How bout that? Talley had _______," or "I thought Talley had a better game than that." The effort was there every game, but the results weren't. Overtime, this should change. He was very efficient with the basketball with a 1.62 assist to turnover ratio and proved to be a very good passer. He cut down on his turnovers in the A-10 season and only coughed it up more than twice at the UD arena.

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Making the world go 'round...

2011-04-02T00:01:00.003-04:00

by Face

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I was listening to 93.7 today and heard a rather interesting discussion about whether or not student athletes should be paid. Certainly the argument is logical from some points of view. There are players that bring in a large amount of money to the university because of the way that they play. I'm going to deal with football on this because, what with the bowl games and the fact that it has long surpassed baseball as the prime sport in this country, it has been the sport at the forefront of this situation.

Now the large amount of debt that I've incurred from my time in undergrad makes me want to shout "NO!" from the rooftops. For as much as an education costs, it's patently ridiculous to think that they should get more. Nonetheless, I took a breath, took a step back, and decided to play a little "what if?" game.

Here's the fundamental problem with paying student athletes - where do you draw the line? The kids who play on the field? Jersey number sales? All players on the team? Only the first string? If it's only the first string, what about the guy who comes in on the nickel package? Clearly he's good enough to hit the field. What about a two-headed running back system? Clearly both are talented, but only one is listed as the starter. And aren't the guys on the prep team working hard to keep the starters on their toes...?

Let's look at a few possibilities after the jump.
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Returning players - TJ McConnell

2011-03-30T23:55:00.001-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
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TJ McConnell (Career Points: 344)

In case you haven't noticed, I'm reviewing players seasons in descending order from most to least career points. Not to be lost amongst all of TJ's other Freshman year hardware like A-10 Freshman of the Year, ECAC Freshman of the Year, and the Freshman All American Team, TJ is currently the 4th leading career scorer returning to the team next year. Forget leading the conference in steals, setting the school steal record and the all time conference steal record for freshmen, Steve DiMiceli is reviewing TJ 4th! I'm sure he feels honored.

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Returning players - Sean Johnson

2011-03-29T21:57:00.000-04:00

By Steven DiMiceli
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It would be hard to argue that any one player improved more throughout the course of the '10-11 for the Dukes than Sean Johnson. He scored at least 17 points more often in the final 7 games of the season than in his first 55 contest of his college career. He closed the year with double figures in 6 of his final 8 games. More importantly, he proved to be a guy who wants to take the big shot with the game on the line by nailing a 3 pointer near the end of the St Bonaventure game to seal the victory. He also drew contact on a 3 pointer at the end of the Oregon game that put him in the position to tie the game at the free throw line. While he couldn't convert, he is beginning to look like the first Duke who wants the ball in his hands with the game on the line since Aaron Jackson.

Sean improved in every statistical category. His end of season hot steak nearly brought his season scoring average to double digits. He closed with 9.8 up from 5.6. He doubled his assist totals and shot better in every single category. His A/TO ration improved to a still unimpressive .97, but was up .24 none the less. He also improved on the boards and was counted on to play defense against some highly rated competition.

Still, Johnson was down right sloppy at times and his play really hurt the Dukes. He had 4 turnovers in 6 games including the 4 against Oregon in the final game of the year. It is quite possible that he was the difference between Duquesne and Penn St in the Dukes loss in Happy Valley. He turned the ball over 6 times and went 1 for 7 from the floor.

Moving Forward

Dukes fans are expecting a lot from Sean Johnson next season because of the confidence and poise he ended the '10-11 season with. I've heard a number of comments about how Sean will take the sting from losing Damian and Bill, but what will take the sting away for Sean when he loses Damian and Bill? Let's face it Sean had tons of space to operate because of those two players. He and BJ will draw the brunt of the attention from defenses next year and he needs to show that he can play smarter with the ball. To Sean's credit he did create his own shot on a number of occasions. His dribble penetration was as effective as any Duquesne player by the end of the season. He was taking better shots as the year went along. Now he needs to make better decisions about passing. I would have no problem if Sean's assists did not increase between this season and next provided he is creating for himself and keeps his turnovers in check He needs to watch himself on the offensive fouls as well as the defensive fouls. He was on the giving end of way too many charges this year.

A couple of things to consider for Johnson moving forward. He's a pretty pure 2. The love affair with him as a 1 that people had in '09-10 is over. I also I think he should be our starting next year. It's hard not to get excited about this sophomore based on the final 8 games of the season. For all the hype about TJ this year, Sean seems a hair closer to being a guy who can take games over for the Dukes. He's the kind of close game player we've been searching for a long time even if we don't have a close game coach. Already, he's showing that he doesn't shy away from pressure and he has the guts to be the guy.

The best part? Sean is only going to be a junior.

Grade: B+

What he needs to do to get the A

14 Points per game
+ 1 Assists to turnover
Decrease Turnovers
Continue to seize leadership role

Returning Players - Eric Evans

2011-03-28T12:17:00.001-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
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Eric Evans (Career Point 763)

No Duke is happier to see the '10-11 season in the rear view mirror than Eric Evans. After breaking his foot in the Blue and Red game and missing the first month and half of the season Eric seemed a step slow and saw his minutes slashed with the emergence of TJ McConnell and Mike Talley who were solid in his absence. Eric simply never found his stride with any consistency and faded even further as the Dukes hit the home stretch. About a month into his return, Evans was scoring 6.6 a game. He closed with 4.9. He only scored in double figures twice this season and went 3 consecutive games without scoring a point or an assist. He ended up with an assist every 11.5 minutes this season from an assist every 8 minutes last year. His A/TO dropped for 1.6 to 1.2. His FG% decreased by .02 in spite of a very impressive .12 increase in his 3PT%. It would seem he was missing baskets he should have made or he still was taking ill advised shots. The tear drop he so often relied on last year to score over taller defenders in the paint didn't seem to work.

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The Returning Players -- BJ Monteiro

2011-03-27T14:16:00.001-04:00

By Steve DiMiceli
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This is a the first of a series of entries where I'll look back on the seasons the returning players had and discuss what they will need to do moving forward. Each post will be accompanied by poll on the message board.

BJ Monteiro (Career Points: 808)

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Blah Blah Blah. Once again BJ Monteiro's season seems to be defined by his inconsistency between hot games and his games where he simply disappears. Even inconsistencies within the same game where he had one monster half and one mediocre. His ups and downs on the score sheet seem to have lead a stagnation in his points per game improving a meager .3 increase over last season. His regression at the free throw line didn't help either. You have to take the bad with the good though. His season also should be defined by his overall improvement and his increased value to the team. Some might think I'm crazy for saying this, but BJ may have mattered more to this team than any other player in spite of his inconsistencies, in spite of his struggles at the FT line.

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The Q&A, wherein we meet folks who are "Addicted to Quack"

2011-03-20T16:26:00.002-04:00

by Face

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Just as the Dukes must prepare for their next opponent, so must we.

Oregon: The home of the Ducks and one of the weirdest basketball floors in the entire country. We got in touch with the guys at "Addicted to Quack" to exchange info about our favorite teams. Check out their thoughts on Oregon's floor, the least intimidating mascot in the Pac10, and the secret to eternal youth! We'll make sure to post a link up when they post our responses (they're coming soon, I promise!). EDIT: We have their responses. Check them out here!

Otherwise, Join us after the jump for the full Q&A.
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Wrapping up the DU/Montana Game

2011-03-17T16:09:00.001-04:00

by Face

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Our new friends at the Grizzly Journal were kind enough to send us some game pictures. Thanks a lot, guys! I'll include those at the end of the post.

The win against Montana was a fun one to watch. It got a little intense as Montana did all that they could to come back in the game, but the Dukes weathered the storm and came out on top, much to the relief of the Dukes fans and their growing ulcers.

At first glance, it was easy to think that what we saw during that game was merely the 10/40 offense redux. I think that it was something a bit different. This was a ten-man rotation rather than strictly a two-platoon system. There's a subtle difference - we saw players like Clark and Saunders stay in across changes in the rest of the personnel. There is also a difference in minute distribution. Check out the stats after the break.
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Women vs. Kent State

2011-03-16T23:48:00.001-04:00

by Face

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It's time for the WNIT. The ladies of Duquesne will be taking on Kent State at the AJ Palumbo Center. This is the third year in a row that Suzie McConnell-Serio's iteration of the Dukes will be playing in this event. Certainly we hoped for the NCAA, but clearly the future is bright for the ladies. You need look no further than A10 Rookie of the Year Wumi Agunbiade.

The Dukes are only 14-15 against schools from the MAC, but this year bested all MAC competition that they faced this year. Here's hoping for another! This one will be a short blurb then it is off to bed for me! Read on!
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