Duquesne men's basketball preview: Keith Dambrot salutes poll that picks Dukes 11th in Atlantic 10

Keith Dambrot’s routine was the same:

• Lead his Duquesne team through basketball practice.

• Offer final thoughts and instructions to his players.

• Get in his car and drive to Akron.

Every day. For five weeks. His intent was to spend as much time as he could with his father, Sid, in his final days. Sid Dambrot, a star at Duquesne in the 1950s, died Oct. 26 at the age of 90.

No wonder when Dambrot spoke to reporters last week in advance of Duquesne’s opener Tuesday against Rider at Cooper Fieldhouse, the first order of business was pulling out his phone and proudly displaying his father’s 1954 Duquesne letter sweater that he requested to wear at his burial.

Only then was it time to get to the business of discussing the latest version of the Duquesne Dukes. And there is a lot to discuss.

Here are five points of interest to ponder about a team replacing 11 players and 85% of its scoring from last season.

1. How could he be surprised?

When you ask Dambrot if he expected to lose so many players, he’ll do what he always does — give an honest answer.

He said, “Yeah, because I did it.”

When the Dukes returned to campus after a 75-59 loss to St. Bonaventure in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, he met with all of his players.

“I just told them, ‘You can stay, but these are the expectations.’ Basically, I’m going to treat them just like my own children.”

He said the ideal player is “going to go to class. He’s going to do the right things. He’s going to be a good citizen. He’s going to play hard every single day. He’s not going to put his head down.

“If you don’t (ask) that, you’re cheating them. I wasn’t going to cheat them anymore.”

After guards Sincere Carry and Lamar Norman Jr. transferred mid-season, Chad Baker, Tavian Dunn-Martin, Andre Harris, Amari Kelly, Ryan Murphy, Jett Roesing and Marcus Weathers followed them off the roster. Maceo Austin decided not to play this season. Michael Hughes signed with BC GGMT Vienna, a pro team in Austria.

“We didn’t think we could win a championship with the group we had,” said Dambrot, who is 22 short of 500 career victories after compiling a 65-47 record in four seasons at Duquesne.

“If you can’t win a championship, what are we messing around for? I didn’t come here to finish eighth or 10th or 12th. I came here to win.”

2. What’s next?

While preaching about a winning culture, Dambrot made a good point.

“Let’s be clear on one thing: You can have great culture and if you have bad players, you’re getting your (butt) kicked. And if you have good players and bad culture, you’re getting your (butt) kicked.”

He took advantage of a crowded NCAA transfer portal and signed five players, including 6-foot-5 guard Davis Larson, who initially came to Duquesne this summer as a graduate assistant. “Don’t sleep on the grad assistant. He’s one of our best players,” Dambrot said.

Dambrot admits to the challenge ahead of him, but he doesn’t appear concerned.

“We might take one step back in November, but I’m not expecting that in late December. I think by late December, we’ll be no steps back,” he said.

Duquesne is one of 10 Division I programs that have added 4,000 or more points through transfers. Its total of 4,695 is No 1 among non-Power 5 schools.

“They’re experienced guys. They’re just not experienced in our system,” Dambrot said.

One of the newcomers, 6-7 sophomore center Tre Williams, started every game in two seasons at Indiana State where he scored 443 points and blocked 74 shots with a 7-foot wing span.

“He is going to be as good as (former center) Mike Hughes,” Dambrot said. “Mike’s a good player. Mike’s a pro.”

Williams was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Defensive team, but he’ll have a more prominent role at Duquesne than he had at Indiana State.

“The coaching staff showed how much they really cared about me and will put me in the right spots for me to win as an individual and win as a team,” said Williams, who added he also had offers from St. Bonaventure, UAB and Northern Kentucky.

Kevin Easley Jr., formerly of Chattanooga and TCU, will pair with Williams in the paint. Dambrot said Easley comes with TCU coach Jamie Dixon’s blessing after playing in all 26 games last season. In 2019, he was Southern Conference Freshman of the Year.

The other transfers include Larson (991 points at D-II Hillsdale), R.J. Gunn (1,183 points at D-II Lenoir-Rhyne) and Junior College All-American Leon Ayers III (1,196 at Henry Ford JC and Mercer).

Keep an eye on 5-11 freshman guard Jackie Johnson III, who averaged 22.1, 25.1, 28.4 and 27 points per game in three seasons in Wichita, Kansas, and last year at Hargrave Military Academy.

“He can put the ball in the basket with the best of them,” Dambrot said. “He just has to learn what we do. He does the hard stuff really good. He does the easy stuff not so good. That’s typical. That’s what coaching is.”

3. Injury update

Duquesne’s front court depth is compromised while 6-10 holdover Austin Rotroff recovers from a stress fracture in his ankle and Gunn’s high ankle sprain heals. Dambrot hopes they will be out no longer than three more weeks.

“That’s hard to practice like that. You’re scared to death going into games,” he said.

But, again, he’s hopeful.

“It’s a little bit of an issue,” he said of the injuries. “If we stay the course and we get healthy, this team will get a lot better.”

4. The loyalists

When you lose 10 of your top 12 scorers, you cherish the few who remain.

They are 6-8 guard Toby Okani, who shot 49.1% in conference games last season and averaged 4.7 points overall, and 6-4 guard Tyson Acuff, who averaged 10.5 points in the A-10 Tournament.

Also, 6-2 guard Mike Bekelja is back after committing only four turnovers in 142 minutes.

5. Here’s to you

On a wall in Duquesne’s practice gym. Dambrot has posted a series preseason polls, all of which have the Dukes finishing in the bottom half of the A-10.

In the official A-10 poll, coaches and media members picked Duquesne to finish 11th among 14 teams.

At the end of practice Thursday, Dambrot gathered his players around him, turned and raised his middle finger to the wall. Point made.

“You think I should accept that? I don’t think I should accept that,” Dambrot said. “I understand why they picked us there. I guess they don’t respect us very much. Why shouldn’t I use it (as motivation)? Maybe they’re right. We’ll find out.”