Leon Ayers III’s stay at Duquesne turned out to last one season.
Ayers, who averaged 10 points per game in 2021-22, has decided to put his name in the NCAA transfer portal. A 6-foot-5 guard, he came to Duquesne last year after attending Mercer and Henry Ford (Mich.) College. He was a second-team NJCAA All-American at Henry Ford.
Ayers averaged 12.9 points during Duquesne’s nonconference season, including four efforts of 20 or more. But he fell off to a 7.6 average against Atlantic 10 opponents and did not play in the final three games. He appeared in 27 games overall, with 14 starts.
Since the end of the season, Duquesne has lost five of its top seven scorers, including guards Primo Spears, Jackie Johnson III, Toby Okani and Tyson Acuff. Plus, forward Kevin Easley Jr., who led the Dukes with 6.6 rebounds per game, has declared for the NBA Draft with an option to return to school. Spears, Johnson, Ayers and Easley were with the Dukes for only one season.
Coach Keith Dambrot is working on the second overhaul of his roster in the past year. Six of Duquesne’s top seven scorers left either during or following the 2020-21 season.
So far, Dambrot has commitments for next season from six new players, including former VCU guard Tre Clark and junior college second-team All-American Quincy McGriff, plus forwards Abdou Halil-Barre, David Dixon, Matus Hronsky and incoming freshman point guard Kareem Rozier.
