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CONGRATULATIONS COACH DRU JOYCE III

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9/29/2017 10:33 am  #1


Practice starts this weekend

This may have been the ... what's the word I'm looking for ... strangest? offseason I can remember.

1. The firing of Ferry surprised me on many levels. I did not, in retrospect, understand the commitment of the Board of Directors, the President, and the AD towards rectifying a situation that I found intolerable. With so much time and so much money left on Ferry's contract, I figured we would be in for more of the same this season. Which in my mind translated as yet another losing season, regardless of who was staying, who was coming in, and who was going out.

2. The still unexplained coverage of the supposedly many offers being extended to a variety of candidates to replace Ferry remains an enigma to me. The arrogance of some members of the local media in adding to or perpetuating stories that may in fact have no basis in truth was disturbing in itself; the joy that some took in kicking Duquesne while it was "down" bordered on unprofessional. Reporting turned into parodies, and even after Keith Dambrot was hired none of these "journalists" were willing to back off their hate perches. To me, the most frustrating part was the expertise proffered by "journalists" who hadn't set foot on Duquesne's campus since Red Manning passed away.

3. The Keith Dambrot press conference was a glowing highlight, a glimpse into the thought process of the Board/Dr. Gormley/Mr. Harper as well as the introduction of a coaching mentality and philosophy that steered us away from the 10-year brick-building process to an actual plan on how to move forward. Recruiting better players. Coaching them. Bringing in a sports psychologist to help change the mindset. Securing a true commitment to better facilities. An expanded budget. A team first attitude that took players out of the way of bus tires. Passion for the University. Dedication to getting the job done. Refreshing? This was diving into 70-degree pool water on a 100-degree day.

4. Immediate, impactful, exciting recruiting, which, while we still have to see how these players pan out, was an expeditious departure from the world of sorry excuses to which I had become accustomed. Transfers from big-time programs. A demonstrated willingness to recruit over players, no matter what role they played in the past. Big men. REALLY big men. Of course, I can't mention recruiting without pointing out that we now have more players on our roster than the Steelers, and that no one seems to know who's on scholarship, what's on second. Third base? I don't know. But we have, well, depth.

5. The as-yet-unknown plans for Palumbo. We've heard rumors. We haven't see any announcements. Only thing we know for absolute possibility is that RoMoCo may be playing some "home" games on our court.

6. Turnover in the A-10, in the coaching ranks but also some player defections. 

7. Shoegate (this time, a REAL shoegate) involving coaches, money, financial advisers, and Adidas. Hopefully we are not tainted by this. Have to believe, though, that big-time changes will be coming.

8. The "addition of Lebron James as a recruiting tool." OK, I put that in quotes because I will never have first-hand information as to how that worked, works, or will work. At a minimum, the ability of Coach Dambrot to say, "I was his first coach," is a big bonus. Whether or not the big man is calling recruits on behalf of DU, who knows for certain?

 9. The return -- happily -- of long-time posters to the message board. And the addition -- happier still -- of new posters.

Certainly, there's more. But I'm just glad that practice is starting, games are around the corner, and for one, there's interest in and momentum behind Duquesne University men's basketball.

Go Dukes!

 

9/29/2017 11:02 am  #2


Re: Practice starts this weekend

Great post my friend.  Here is an interview with Mike Lewis & Rene Castro by Pgh Sports now.

 http://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2017/09/29/interviews-duquesnes-mike-lewis-ii-rene-castro/







 

Last edited by CLK (9/29/2017 11:06 am)

 

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