I appreciate your passion, DU90, but recruiting is far different today than it was 10 years ago when Duquesne got the majority of the top local players. Simply, this player is not at the A10 level. See the schools listed by you as the reference. Frankly, most WPIAL players will not rise to the A10 level, which is pretty good hoops. Money talks in recruiting and the DU women’s program has very little to give, if any. The Villanova transfer that you mentioned previously in another post probably has a contract in excess of six figures with Illinois. No chance to recruit against that. The Dukes staff works hard, but the monied schools have the advantage.

Tre gave us good effort and worked hard. Was better as the year went by, but he was slow in his ball- handling, passing and defense. Hope he gets a payday elsewhere.

Six A10 teams in the post-season:
Big Dance - George Mason and Richmond
WBIT - St. Joe’s and Davidson
WNIT - Duquesne and UMass

https://x.com/DuqWBB/status/1901449226233557372

Aekins is very athletic. Dunks the ball with ease, is very quick, and has a very nice floater

I support my University. Dan Burt is a winner. He will bring size in and build on this style. Go Dukes!

For the first time in years, the Atlantic 10 is on track to have two teams in the NCAA tourney and the Dukes are very competitive with a 17-10 record. Yes, there are probably 4 games that they should have won, but didn’t. With an outside chance to win 20 games, this has been a successful season. The new system has a chance to grow into an even better record if the team adds to its major two needs - size and more outside shooting. On D, if they add a half-court trap the way UMass played it against the Dukes, to the full court concepts, there is a chance for more success. I am optimistic since six freshmen are playing large minutes and are progressing. Megan is one of the 4 best players ever at DU and that is a loss that will be difficult to overcome. However, this is a team of true student athletes with great rapport and still a 100% graduation rate. It is rumored that this team has ZERO NIL dollars, so getting top players is hard. I understand the critiques of the coaching (and all coaches know it better than we fans), but overall the current changes made could blossom and the willingness to change marks a good coach.

We have to remember that this is the first year that Coach is implementing this system. He doesn’t have all the pieces he needs yet and it is remarkable that the team is 15-9. They have absolutely no true post players so that limits their inside-out scoring. The team is totally dependent on their outside shooting and when that fails, they have lost games that they could have won. So, the team needs a couple more three point shooters. The Dukes have no size, so they tend to get beat up rebounding wise. The Dukes have out-rebounded only six opponents and have won all six games. Coach needs to bring in two or three legitimate bigs, at least one of whom can protect the rim. A rim protector is vital to this system. Coach is playing 5 freshmen and 2 others that are in their first year. Blackford has played very well and is a shooter. She needs more time on the floor. Walker is playing better but she has to start thinking about shooting the ball on offense. Sane is an athlete and they probably need her strength and defense. Matic needs to play at the faster level she is now on. The others look like they have hit the wall and have to power through down the stretch. 15 wins is a testament to good coaching and the fantastic leadership and drive of Megan McConnell. She had 7 real steals last night and was close to four or five others. I like this system. Coach just needs another recruiting class to address the needs.

As an aside, Alexis Bordas (our fall signee) through January was averaging 34 points a game with games of 39, 58 and 42 points thrown in. In her high school career at Wheeling Park, she has hit 334 three-pointers. Seems like the shooter we need.

Thank you, CLK! You kept the faith and we had no choice but to follow. Simply put, you are a winner!

https://x.com/NBNwithDA/status/1881822626487943490

Megan with top broadcast analyst makes us all Duquesne Proud.

Dukes have lost three heartbreakers to open A10. There seems to be one constant. When they press with double teams all over the court, they disrupted all three teams. When they play full court man D without the constant trappings, some of their weak defenders and rebounding disadvantage is exposed. The VCU game had the Dukes cut a 15 point deficit at the start of the 4th to one and then they went back to the non-trapping D and lost. Yesterday, the trap whirlwind had Dukes up by double digits and they changed and ended up losing at the buzzer. Keep the heat on - that seems to be the lesson. By the way, Megan is worth the price of admission every game. Go Dukes!

We are all shocked by the start we have had. Why 1-7? I have been watching the Dukes since the Willie Somerset days in the early 60s. I went to every home game in Danny Nee’s 3-24 year. I am a die-hard and will continue to support this team.  So please forgive the following as it is my 60+ years of fandom coming out.

Here are some items that make us 1-7. The team does not have a guard (Jake excluded) that can beat his man and get to the basket. Team Defense gets too spread out leaving drives and open threes available. Rebounding is poor since the box out is not tended to on most plays. The ball needs to hit the post more often with more passing from the post. Generally, ball movement needs to speed up. Shooting is poor (example: second to last in FT in the entire NCAA???)

Here is one thing I like about those who will play the next game. These are strictly my opinions. I will leave Jake out due to his injury (and he was playing best on the team).
Kareem - Our only true ball handler
Tre - Stand still shooter
Jahsean- Bull to the basket
David - Rim protector
Maximus - Athletic
Matus - Shooter
Jakub- Good court sense
Chabi - Improving offensively
Cam - Aggressive

Here is one thing that hurts team play
Kareem - Size on defense (can live with that)
Tre - Too slow in the things he does
Jahsean - Picking the right spots to attack
David - Not being the physical presence needed
Maximus - Where has his game gone
Matus - Rebounding needed
Jakub - Be an aggressive offensive guy who looks to score
Chabi - a little better positioning
Cam - more offensive awareness

This team has talent. If Tomlin can change QBs while winning, we should renew the lineup even if it means some players change positions. For the next game, these are the guys I would start and who would play at least 25 minutes:
Kareem - Our only true point guard
Matus - Maybe our best outside shooter
Chabi - Progressively playing better
David - We need his size and he needs to play with another big
Jahsean

Coach Dru will be an excellent coach but he is currently in the “on the job” training part of his gig. The first year in any new job in any profession has lessons that need to be learned. Here is an example. There is a ton of talent in the transfer portal, but looking for a transfer from winning programs is a little nuance that might play into a team’s success. Jimmy Clark transferred here after winning a JUCO title. The Drame twins had the tournament run for St. Peter’s and played for Coach Dunphy. Coach Dru is smart and he will pick up on these kinds of subtle nuances. I will not be surprised if we are close to .500 when the OOC ends. I have confidence in Dru Joyce.