I feel our whole recruiting jinx started in the early 70's when I was going there.We had recruited Ed Searcy,Henry KInsey,and Lionel Billingsly in a fantastic recruiting class.They were all top notch recruits from New York.Some projections had us A top ten team in the nation for the upcoming year.The bottom line is that both Kinsey and Searcy left Duquesne after attending only one semester.The rumor back then was that they were supposed to get some cash payments that never materialized,My point is,just think if they stayed and we were a top ten team!Just think of the possible recruiting classes we would have had in the upcoming years!Just some idle thoughts,but maybe there's some substance to them! CalErnie-7

As far as I know,Searcy graduated from St.Johns.I don't know about Kinsey.

CalErnie-73 wrote:

As far as I know,Searcy graduated from St.Johns.I don't know about Kinsey.

What makes this worse is that because of the pursuit of the New York class, Red Manning passed on a chance to get Billy Knight, much to the chagrin of Dukes legend Moe Becker, who coached Knight his first 2 years at Braddock. Becker told Red what a great player Knight would be, but to get him, he'd need to offer a spot to Knight's best friend, Carl Morris. Red declined. Pitt, which was at their absolute nadir, was more than happy to sign Morris (who was better than most of what they had anyway), and Knight followed the next year.
 

Gotta start paying high school kids to come here, takes one class, 3 players, $150,000 total.  
Get a big man, an athlete and a point guard.  
Whats the worst that can happen, DU goes on probation?  Gets kicked out of the A10?  Who cares.  A doormat for 20+ years is hardly something to hang on to.
 

CalErnie-73 wrote:

I feel our whole recruiting jinx started in the early 70's when I was going there.We had recruited Ed Searcy,Henry KInsey,and Lionel Billingsly in a fantastic recruiting class.They were all top notch recruits from New York.Some projections had us A top ten team in the nation for the upcoming year.The bottom line is that both Kinsey and Searcy left Duquesne after attending only one semester.The rumor back then was that they were supposed to get some cash payments that never materialized,My point is,just think if they stayed and we were a top ten team!Just think of the possible recruiting classes we would have had in the upcoming years!Just some idle thoughts,but maybe there's some substance to them! CalErnie-7

It was Lionel Billingy, the Big Train, not Billingsly, and I enjoyed watching him play for the Dukes for four years.  He definitely had game, and after being drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks and a year in the EBL he played in France for about 8 more years.  
As for Searcy and Kinsey, I never heard any rumors about cash payments, but who knows, it wouldn't have been a surprise. I don't believe they even stayed for the full first semester.  There are probably a few people still alive that know what happened, but no sense just spreading rumors at this point.  Searcy was a good player at St Johns but I don't think he ever lived up to his advance-billing.  The Dukes were still good with the Train, and the guys that remained, after all the cupboard wasn't exactly bare.  They certainly beat some good teams over those four years.  Losing Dan Slater to a severe ankle injury hurt that group as well, he was a big guard who could shoot and was athletic as well.   From a perception standpoint, losing two big recruits before they played a game was certainly a blow to the program.

Train had some sort of leg or knee problem his senior year which hampered him. 

WashPaRick wrote:

Looks like we have a new beat writer for the Dukes at the P-G. Sara K. Spencer should be covering the Bonnie game according to Brian Batko.

Poor girl drew short straw.

phil95 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

Of all the blunders in Duquesne basketball history-- and there have been MANY --the firing of Ron Everhart and the hiring of Jim Ferry will rank among the most egregious.

Your man-crush on RE is getting so stale. 

Ferry being a total bust doesn't change the facts that after 6 years Ron hadn't made it happen & was circling the drain. He is known as a great fixer-upper & a great guy; both things I agree with. Likewise, he is certainly a better player development & strategic coach than Ferry. However, a guy who was a Div-1 coach for 17 years, makes zero NCAA tournament appearances, & hasn't been re-hired as a head man in 5 years is no tragic loss.
He had his chance & for myriad reasons, it didn't work-out.

In my opinion the consecutive hiring of  Edgar, Porter, & Nee did significantly more damage.

In the words of that great heroine, Elsa, "Let it go, Let it go".

I wouldn't say Ron was circling the drain. I'd say he'd lost momentum. I'd have given him 2 more years to get the train moving again. If we were still around .500 after 8 years, then you could probably justify making a move, and all but a handful on this board would have accepted it. The plug was pulled too early, and for the wrong reason (personality conflict).

The point is that when Ron was here Duquesne basketball was fun again and the record was much better than it had been for years and much better than it has been since he left.  Was Ron perfect?  No.  But what do you expect to hire at the dumpster program that Duquesne has become? Answer:  someone like the current coach who, despite a budget that far exceeds what Ron had to work with, is not "circling the drain" but in a total free fall.  So donate money; go to the game tonight and witness another probable loss.  Enjoy!

Professor - your info on little DU coverage, blog not update, etc.  I often see "nothing" ...what an oxymoron ...  Doesn't Duquesne have a guy named Saba who is in charge of Media Relations?  Is that his job to get our name on TV, radio, papers.  This no mention has been going on for years.  It amazes me when the radio in the morning seldom announces that we have a game in the evening.  Mr. Harper, who is supposed to do this and why aren't they?  This is NOT the coaches job though if they won, the media would want to pick up on it.

Please Mr. Harper, have someone do proper media relations.  It has not happened for years but again, maybe it is someone else's job...I don't know but I do know it doesn't get done.

duq81 wrote:

phil95 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

Of all the blunders in Duquesne basketball history-- and there have been MANY --the firing of Ron Everhart and the hiring of Jim Ferry will rank among the most egregious.

Your man-crush on RE is getting so stale. 

Ferry being a total bust doesn't change the facts that after 6 years Ron hadn't made it happen & was circling the drain. He is known as a great fixer-upper & a great guy; both things I agree with. Likewise, he is certainly a better player development & strategic coach than Ferry. However, a guy who was a Div-1 coach for 17 years, makes zero NCAA tournament appearances, & hasn't been re-hired as a head man in 5 years is no tragic loss.
He had his chance & for myriad reasons, it didn't work-out.

In my opinion the consecutive hiring of  Edgar, Porter, & Nee did significantly more damage.

In the words of that great heroine, Elsa, "Let it go, Let it go".

I wouldn't say Ron was circling the drain. I'd say he'd lost momentum. I'd have given him 2 more years to get the train moving again. If we were still around .500 after 8 years, then you could probably justify making a move, and all but a handful on this board would have accepted it. The plug was pulled too early, and for the wrong reason (personality conflict).

Agreed, given the fact that he resurrected something that had been dead for three decades, he deserved at least one year to continue that level of mediocrity, considering the recruits he had brought in.  Yeah I was not happy with making the NIT and the ball point pen tournament but it was a hell of a lot better than the 13-18 seasons we usually saw over 30 years and a hell of a lot better than now!

ElDuque wrote:

phil95 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

Of all the blunders in Duquesne basketball history-- and there have been MANY --the firing of Ron Everhart and the hiring of Jim Ferry will rank among the most egregious.

Your man-crush on RE is getting so stale. 

Ferry being a total bust doesn't change the facts that after 6 years Ron hadn't made it happen & was circling the drain. He is known as a great fixer-upper & a great guy; both things I agree with. Likewise, he is certainly a better player development & strategic coach than Ferry. However, a guy who was a Div-1 coach for 17 years, makes zero NCAA tournament appearances, & hasn't been re-hired as a head man in 5 years is no tragic loss.
He had his chance & for myriad reasons, it didn't work-out.

In my opinion the consecutive hiring of  Edgar, Porter, & Nee did significantly more damage.

In the words of that great heroine, Elsa, "Let it go, Let it go".

 
Phil I suspect you're one of the boosters who had Amodio's ear. I didn't know Ron. All I know is that he won here and your so-called next level coach is actually several levels below what Everhart could do. Man crush? Hardly. But you and the rest of your twerp crew including Amodio and Dougherty had a boner for the guy and used it to destroy the program.

Look at the facts: the record, the attendance, the level of interest in the program. It all went up under Everhart, and thanks to your contributions it's tanked so damned far that I don't honestly see it ever coming back.

When I read crap posts like this from people like you, I'm tempted to tell you to shove the program and Ferry where they wouldn't fit because in my opinion you got exactly what you deserved.

But I expect nothing less from someone who quotes cartoons.

I am not a booster & I have nobody's ear. I have written 3 emails to the DU administration in 25 years. 1 of those led to a phone call from the AD.

Aside from Brian Colleary's obvious embarrassments to the university, I don't have a an opinion on the virtues & vices of ADs. Very good coaches win consistently & grow programs despite challenging circumstances & great coaches change cultures. Even RE was making 8 times the median average household income; that kind of paycheck comes with expectations

In year 5 RE went 3-8 down the stretch with Saunders/McConnell/Clark & the recruiting class for the next season was awful.

In year 6 RE went 7-9 in the conference & lost 5 of 6 down the stretch with 2 senior starters, had his 2nd consecutive bad recruiting class, & lost McConnell/Talley to transfer leaving Marhold &Johnson as the best returning players.

I admit it, "circling the drain" was a bit of an exaggeration. However, the cupboard was bare, his teams looked terrible for the last month of each his 3 final seasons (lost 4 out of 5 in year 4), & people just kept transferring. He peaked Ajax's senior season, plateaued by Saunders' senior season, & had little hope of fielding a .500 team in year 7. That will & should get you fired if the university is serious about moving forward.

I was & am a RE fan. If there was no shooting, Shawn James comes back for a senior season, he gets better administrative support, he avoided February swoons, & TJ stays the course he is probably in year 11 with a program on the rise. These things didn't happen.

From an avid fan's vantage point Ferry was a reasonable, but not great, hire given the level of interest from the coaching community at large, the timing of the search, & the asinine way in which RE was terminated. Unfortunately, he sucks.

I am now of the opinion that when, (not if),  Ferry gets fired DU has one more chance to make a great hire before it will be necessary to downgrade the program.