The Dome wrote:

Should of had a offer from Duquesne several years ago. He rolled the dice on a very risky recruit in Elijah Minnie and it has paid handsome dividends.

Nah, the timing was bad. His first couple of years, he was winning with Mike Rice's players. He had to prove he could recruit his own guys and win. It's kind of like when Jarrett was there. When he was winning big, we didn't have an opening. By the time an opening came, they weren't as good anymore.
 

The Dome wrote:

Duq one thing I know is that his teams play tough and I certainly believe that he does more with less. The program didn't drop off when Rice left. They have played in the championship game 6 out of the last 7 I believe.

No question he's a good coach. He just had to prove it, which he has. You have to be careful taking a coach who stepped into a good situation. Look at Jim Crews. Did great with Rick's team. Now they're the worst team in the A10.
 

Out of their first 10 games, they lost 7.  I heard an interview with him this morning on the FAN.  When asked how he improved he said hard work focusing on rebounds and defense.  From the beginning of the year to now...what an improvement.  Unlike Duquesne's coach who said the program has improved - he needs to look at Robert Morris - this year and over the last few years.  That Mr. Ferry, is what improvement looks like.  So, if I am a recruit, and I had to decide between Robert Morris and Duquesne, I sadly think it is a no brainer.  I go to Robert Morris now for men's basketball.  I would not have said that 5 years ago but things have changed.  

rittersdiner wrote:

You all have it mixed up. We shouldn't be trying to get Robert Morris' coach. We should be trying to get into the NEC. Only way to make the NCAAs for this awful program.

We got blown out by the two NEC teams we played. Now tell me how we would win that league?
 

For an education without playing ball - Duquesne all the way.  No question.

For a basketball scholarship - looking at the last five years - I would go to Robert Morris.  Look at the last 5 years.

Phoenix, you make a good point, but in the same venue, if I am a kid "not" from Pittsburgh and not highly familiar with either school, I will see that Robert Morris has gotten to the NCAA a number of times in the last 10 years - Duquesne...not.  Also, I can look at each league and see that if you win the league, you go to the NCAA's, either one.  Then I see that Duquesne hasn't won their league since Norman Nixon.  So, the question is, would I rather go to a school with a winning program that goes to the NCAA with a proven coach and a supportive school, or go to a school (Duquesne) that is in a stronger league but is a terrible program that seldom wins, where the last winning coach was fired, the new coach is suspect, and there is turmoil.  Not dramatizing, just saying...

Sad to say, since the Nelson Twins teams till now we have been to NCAA's 3 times.

FAM wrote:

Phoenix, you make a good point, but in the same venue, if I am a kid "not" from Pittsburgh and not highly familiar with either school, I will see that Robert Morris has gotten to the NCAA a number of times in the last 10 years - Duquesne...not.  Also, I can look at each league and see that if you win the league, you go to the NCAA's, either one.  Then I see that Duquesne hasn't won their league since Norman Nixon.  So, the question is, would I rather go to a school with a winning program that goes to the NCAA with a proven coach and a supportive school, or go to a school (Duquesne) that is in a stronger league but is a terrible program that seldom wins, where the last winning coach was fired, the new coach is suspect, and there is turmoil.  Not dramatizing, just saying...

 
FAM, I agree if the sole basketball goal for a recruit is to play in a NCAA game, even if it may be a play-in game. But there is such a wide disparity between the A-10 and NEC. Look at TV appearances, who you play (VCU, Dayton, UMass, etc. vs Bryant, Quinnipiac, St. Francis, etc.), where you play (Barclays), where you stay, charter flights vs. bus trips, swag and so much more.

What option would you take: Staying 30 nights in Ramada Inns with a 50% chance of spending 1 night in a Ritz-Carlton or 30 nights in a Marriott with a 2% chance of spending 1 night in a Ritz-Carlton???

Most recruits will go to the best conferences available to them, even if the team recruiting them sucks (again, kids have short memories, little sense of history and think their presence will change the program into a winner). That's why you have talented kids going to Georgia Tech, Boston College or Virginia Tech for a chance to play in the ACC; it's hard for even the top A-10 schools like VCU, Rhode Island, etc. to nab these kids.  There's a pecking order; it's seldom you see a recruit narrow down his choices to Maryland, LaSalle, Mount St. Mary's and Howard.

Where the Dukes have a problem is out recruiting schools in the A-10 and similar conferences. These are the battles the Dukes have to win; and our recent track record of losing and no NCAA's certainly hurt.  Whereas RMU has a track record, so they should be able to out recruit Sacred Heart, Central Connecticut and Fairleigh Dickinson.

This leads me to another tangent that I will not explore here but just state - in spite of having some hurdles, I think that Jim Ferry has done a pretty good job of recruiting and getting talent to the Bluff. I know that some may disagree with this assessment, but I think we had more collective talent than about half the teams in the league. This coaching staff did a terrible job of utilizing and maximizing that talent (no defense, little toughness, poor personnel judgment, and so on).

Andy Toole and Mike Rice have done great jobs coaching RMU, doing many of the things that the Dukes coaching staff has failed to do.  But it's not because they are out recruiting Duquesne. Congratulations to the Colonials on their NCAA appearance.

pressurecooker wrote:

Phoenix: So your opinion is the coach Ferry can recruit, but can't coach?  You may be right. Or it may be that he isn't recruiting very well and that explains the problem. Or he may be deficient in both. Regardless, it ain't working.

pressurecooker, that is my opinion. I look at the talent that was on the team this year - was it a group capable of winning 20 games?  I don't think so.  But this team should have won 16 or 17 games if it was coached correctly.  We have all kicked around the defensive coaching shortcomings of this staff and Ferry in his D-1 career, and consider that he started out the year by yanking the chain of his 3 best players down the stretch in Colter, Mason and McKoy is completely perplexing and boneheaded. To me, this was not just 12 win talent.

From a recruiting standpoint, he's still missing the pieces at the 3/SF position. We know what we have with Jerimiah, and to me it's not as bad as some on this board think, but not ideal if you are trying to get to the top of the A-10.  You would hope that either Gill or James steps up, but unless either of these guys step up their defense and rebounding, they will just be role players; and I'm curious to see what Jackson will do.

I do think Ferry has done a pretty good job coaching on the offensive end, both on sets and transition.  But unless he can get Duquesne in the middle of the pack defensively, the Dukes will flounder.  Here's our "Conference Only" defensive stats from Pomeroy:
- Last (14th) in Conference in Defensive Efficiency giving up 1.154 points per possession (Rhode Island #1 at .927; SLU #13 at 1.081)
- Last (14th) in Conference in Forcing Turnovers (Turnover %) at 14.1% (VCU #1 at 23.9%; GW #13 at 15.9%)
- Last (14th) in Conference in preventing Offensive Rebounts (OR ) at 33.4% - one out of every 3 shots missed by the opponents were rebounded not grabbed by the Dukes (Dayton #1 at 26.7%; Richmond #13 at 32.4%)
- Last (14th) in 3 point % allowed at 38.6% (Richmond #1 at 26.0%; George Mason #13 at 36.9%)
One of the few defensive stats that we were good at was Free Throw Rate, where we finished 5th in the conference - that's because we didn't get close enough when guarding to foul anyone.

I hope that Ferry can change, coaching up and prioritizing defense - giving more minutes to his best defensive players.  But I remain highly skeptical based upon Ferry's history and what I have seen so far in his 3 years at Duquesne.
 

Look at the Robert Morris AD's background. Doctor ....Dept head  at UPMC. Recent article this weekend about the success in multiple sports out at Moon Township. GA is an amateur. Syracuse & Pitt please hire him.

Now begins the demonization of Charlie. 1 year left before new president save your Arse . Classic Duquesne. Yeah Amodios blunder but blame it  on Charlie & Father Hogan.lack Od Administration support REALLY?

duq81 wrote:

Ironduke1981 wrote:

Now begins the demonization of Charlie. 1 year left before new president save your Arse . Classic Duquesne. Yeah Amodios blunder but blame it on Charlie & Father Hogan.lack Od Administration support REALLY?

 Who is Amodio's boss? If I'm your boss, and you screw up your job, I either fire you, or the blame falls on me. That's the way things work. If I tell my boss that Ironduke81 is the problem, he's gonna ask what I've done to fix things. If I tell him it's not my fault, the pink slip will soon follow.

 
I would agree with your analysis but after all it's Duquesne University. Logic or sound business concepts do not apply on the Bluff.  Unfortunately Charlie is retiring next year. New President gives GA  Atleast another year. Program setback at this stage seven years & counting 2022 starts the new era for Duquesne basketball.