Duquesne's Keith Dambrot works closely with players to tap potential, regulate passion

Long after the end of practice Tuesday morning — while most of his teammates were catching a snack or perhaps a nap before the flight to St. Louis — Duquesne’s Marcus Weathers was working on his jump shot.

Never mind that he leads the Dukes in scoring (14.5 per game), rebounding (7.9) and shooting percentage (60.1). Duquesne (16-5, 6-3 Atlantic 10) is in the midst of its most crucial and demanding stretch of the season — resuming Wednesday at Saint Louis (17-5, 6-3) — and Weathers will be a big part of it.

Watching close by was coach Keith Dambrot. He doesn’t insist on extra work for the 6-foot-5 junior, but he sees great potential in Weathers and has told him so. This is Weathers’ way of reaching for his future while not wasting the present.

“He’s taken a huge jump to become a really good player, but he’s got a lot left on the table,” Dambrot said. “I feel like he’s only 60% of what he should be. He should be (Golden State Warriors star) Draymond Green. That’s the type of player he is.

“What I’ve done now is I’m going to spend a little more time with him to show him, ‘Look, man, I’m serious about this. You can be a lot better.’ ”

Dambrot’s relationships with players born nearly a generation after he started coaching in 1984 is a welcome by-product of why he ambitiously tackled the toughest assignment of his career: trying to resurrect Duquesne basketball.

He has known adversity, but forget the three losses in the past four games. That’s nothing. Dambrot, a three-year starter and an MVP on the Akron baseball team of the early 1980s, set the school record for getting hit by a pitch (28 times).

Standing out there with Weathers is much easier for the 61-year-old coach.

“I built my whole career on relationships with guys,” he said. “My feeling is they’re not going to fight for you if they don’t know you care for them.

“The hard part is when you do that for a lot of years, a lot of years, a lot of years, now you get a little worn down and run down. You have to kick yourself in the butt and say, ‘Look, man, this is why you’re successful.’ ”

Dambrot’s other project is 6-8 junior Michael Hughes, who has been one of the team’s hardest workers off the court. Since he transferred from Akron after the 2016-17 season, he has lost 40 pounds and dropped his body fat from 24 to 10%.

On the court, he is second in the A-10 in blocked shots (59, including seven in a victory last month against Saint Louis) but also has fouled out of of more games (four) than any of his teammates. He was called for a technical foul Sunday late in a 71-69 victory over La Salle.

Dambrot loves Hughes’ passion. But he walks a thin line between trying to curb it versus encouraging Hughes as a way of ratcheting up other players’ intensity.

“I don’t know if we can cure him of it unless I completely play hardball with him,” Dambrot said. “Even then, I think he’s going to have slippage.

“He’s an emotional, impulsive (player). He’s a nice guy who just loses his mind out there. I could get mad about it, but I’d rather have an emotional guy than one who’s dead-headed. Neither one are good.

“If he practices hard, I’ll live with the rest. He’s practicing hard.”

Dambrot sent a message to Hughes by keeping him out of the starting lineup last week against Dayton. Hughes responded by scoring 19 points with seven rebounds and four steals in 31 minutes. After the loss, Hughes publicly lobbied for harder practices. Since then, his positive moments have outnumbered the negatives, Dambrot said.

Meanwhile, Dambrot tries to keep walking that line.

“You have to keep analyzing, trust your gut, your instincts,” he said, “as to how to handle players and how to handle your team.”