Through his three seasons at Duquesne, Keith Dambrot has shown a willingness to change the immediate face of the program when he thought it was necessary.

This offseason, however, the 61-year-old coach focused on the future, signing six players who may improve depth initially and could form a solid foundation in coming years.

After posting only the third 20-victory season in 48 years and with the top six players returning in 2020-21, the Dukes (21-9) received four signed letters of intent in recent days. Duquesne signed guards Tyson Acuff of Detroit and Jett Roesing of Gibsonia and First Love Academy in November.

All four of the recently signed players are coming off postgraduate seasons in 2019-20. They are:

• Forward Chad Baker, who played at the SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio.

• Forward Andre Harris, who chose Duquesne over Jamie Dixon and TCU, according to 247Sports.com. He played at Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix, Ariz.

• Guard Mike Bekelja, the brother of Duquesne point guard Sincere Carry. Bekelja played at International Sports (Ohio) Academy.

• Forward Toby Okani of Cushing (Mass.) Academy.

“I think we’ve improved our toughness, our versatility and shooting ability with this group,” Dambrot said in a statement. “We needed to get a little bigger at the wing positions and we were able to do that while improving our overall depth.

“We’re building it for the future and we were able to do that by adding a lot of young, talented pieces.”

Baker, a 6-foot-7 forward, moved to the U.S. from his native Dominican Republic prior to his junior year at Colonia (N.J.) High School. He will be the first Dominican to play for the Dukes.

“Chad is a diversified player with ballhandling skills who can play multiple positions,” Dambrot said. “He’s perfect for what they now call ‘positionless’ basketball. He has good length and the ability to make shots.

“As he gets stronger and accustomed to the college game, I think he has the chance to be a real contributor.”

Harris, a 6-7, 225-pound forward, averaged a near double-double the past two seasons at Hillcrest.

“Andre is one of the most skilled big men around,” Dambrot said. “He has size and skill, but what sets him apart is his ability to see the floor. He is a versatile athlete who has the physical ability and toughness to develop into a top-flight Atlantic 10 player.”

Bekelja, a 6-1 guard, teamed with Carry to lead Solon (Ohio) High School to the state championship game in 2018. Bekelja averaged 25 points per game at International Sports Academy this season.

“Mike has a burning desire to be great,” Dambrot said. “He really wants to prove people wrong. He’s very similar to his brother in that respect. He’s physically strong and has a good skill level in addition to good shooting ability. He’s just a winner.”

Okani, a 6-7 forward, played at West Orange (N.J.) High School and spent one season at St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.) before moving on to Cushing this season.

“Toby has been a part of winning programs where he has received excellent coaching,” Dambrot said. “He is another versatile player with a high skill level. We think he has a nice upside.”

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