Sean Hogan?He always seemed to garner the gnashing of teeth among Dukes fans.

The pride of Homestead pa. John Manning.Fine basketball coach,louzy administrator.Thanks red head.

Dont be shy fellars,it took a lot of well known Duquesne personalities who contributed and I just want to
call them out.

What would really be interesting to this post, is if we could get all the former coaches to answer this question . Starting with Mike Rice up to Jim Ferry. Would love to see their answers as to why our basketball program is in the state it is and their recommendations.

Wildwood13 wrote:

What would really be interesting to this post, is if we could get all the former coaches to answer this question . Starting with Mike Rice up to Jim Ferry. Would love to see their answers as to why our basketball program is in the state it is and their recommendations.

CLK get on that👍How about Duquesne filing a lawsuit for breach of contract against Ferry. At least the Universuty could set forth a legal precedent for future coaches😂

Dudey Moore started it by going to La Salle.

levon1975 wrote:

Also, do we know for a fact that Duquesne was offered an opportunity to join the original Big East lineup? Duquesne definitely deserved to be among the original invitees base on their fan support, successful history and as the primary basketball program in the region. Certainly adding Seton Hall was kind of a favor to some old cronies; because they were not even on the map at that time; but remember that Dave Gavitt’s goal was to disrupt the Eastern All-Sports Conference that Joe Paterno was developing to encompass all football playing schools in the east, but to include all sports! So Gavitt needed to include Syracuse and Pitt to disrupt the Eastern All-Sports Conference. The story at the time was that that was why a basketball nobody like Pitt was included!

Duquesne was not invited as one of the original members of the Big East, or have they ever been invited to join. Holy Cross and Rutgers were the only original invited teams that rejected the Big East.

A83 wrote:

Nesti drilled the hole and Murray and Dougherty bolted it shut.

I think the absolute neglect by these three of the program have killed it. I’m 61. I never thought I would be waiting since 1977 for success. With the transfer portal and NIL, this program is dead.

I stopped watching or listening. I just check the score before I go to bed.

With your prediction of 6 wins, your opinion should be respected because right now you look like the smartest person in the room.

However, I think the limitations are more systemic than individual. We have never put a lot of money in the program. We suspended the basketball program in WWII (N.B.: Pitt did not, just played fewer games) and Chick Davies had to teach and coach at Homestead HS to make a living then. Dudey Moore made a lateral move to LaSalle. Red Manning was paid peanuts. I have heard it said we neglected basketball to beef up the endowment in the '80s and '90s.. We got Mr. Palumbo to donate so we had an on-campus facility but had to cut corners to stay within budget.. We made Darelle Porter head coach; I assume he wasn't paid much either. We tried to low-ball the head coach's salary and got JF. We cobbled together money from various sources and have the Coop--nice-looking but small. Now I'm hearing that the new financial emphasis is on the osteopathic school.

I understand that before Pitt became state-related, Duquesne tried to keep tuition down for a private school so perhaps we never had the money to stay successful. Certainly we never had Duke tobacco money that helps pay Coach K this very day. I agree with many on this board that because Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio had good high school players supplemented by a sprinkling of outsiders (e.g., Sihugo Green, Jim Tucker), we could disguise these shortcomings. When the money in college basketball got big, we couldn't keep up.

I'm still glad I went to Duquesne but I sure would like that NCAA bid before I die.

scduke wrote:

A83 wrote:

Nesti drilled the hole and Murray and Dougherty bolted it shut.

I think the absolute neglect by these three of the program have killed it. I’m 61. I never thought I would be waiting since 1977 for success. With the transfer portal and NIL, this program is dead.

I stopped watching or listening. I just check the score before I go to bed.

With your prediction of 6 wins, your opinion should be respected because right now you look like the smartest person in the room.

However, I think the limitations are more systemic than individual. We have never put a lot of money in the program. We suspended the basketball program in WWII (N.B.: Pitt did not, just played fewer games) and Chick Davies had to teach and coach at Homestead HS to make a living then. Dudey Moore made a lateral move to LaSalle. Red Manning was paid peanuts. I have heard it said we neglected basketball to beef up the endowment in the '80s and '90s.. We got Mr. Palumbo to donate so we had an on-campus facility but had to cut corners to stay within budget.. We made Darelle Porter head coach; I assume he wasn't paid much either. We tried to low-ball the head coach's salary and got JF. We cobbled together money from various sources and have the Coop--nice-looking but small. Now I'm hearing that the new financial emphasis is on the osteopathic school.

I understand that before Pitt became state-related, Duquesne tried to keep tuition down for a private school so perhaps we never had the money to stay successful. Certainly we never had Duke tobacco money that helps pay Coach K this very day. I agree with many on this board that because Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio had good high school players supplemented by a sprinkling of outsiders (e.g., Sihugo Green, Jim Tucker), we could disguise these shortcomings. When the money in college basketball got big, we couldn't keep up.

I'm still glad I went to Duquesne but I sure would like that NCAA bid before I die.

Amen, well said!  I'm in the same situation; just hoping for some kind of miracle; perhaps selling our souls to the devil like the great bluesman Robert Johnson allegedly did to become a great blues guitarist.  In our case it would be in exchange for one good team!  Of course those things only happen in fiction, so I've become resigned to the reality that it's never happening.  At some point an adult has to make the decision to stop the embarrassment and pull the plug; and either get out of the game; or at least drop down to a league that is commensurate with Duquesne's commitment. Hire the best X's and O's guy you can afford, and recruit guys who understand how to play basketball, and just want the chance to play at a D-1 school, and I'll support the team.     
 

Last edited by levon1975 (1/28/2022 6:14 pm)

STEW: I am sincere when I say this. I watched you do cheers with the students at the one game. They responded to you 100%. The Dukes need a spark. If you are going to the game tomorrow why not talk to the students before the game and explain a few cheers. I think you would be a success. If you get the students going who knows…

I have followed the team since the Willie Somerset years.   The following are my views. When Red Manning retired and became AD, he wanted to make sure his legacy was intact. He undermined Cinacola and was so hated by Gavitt and others forming the league that we did not get a Big East invite. Presidents who didn’t care (Nesti, Murray, Daugherty) hurt the ability to be functional. Nesti met with fundraisers, asked for 20K, was promised 200K and then spent the rest of the meeting talking about the Music School! Murray insisted on hiring Nee when Colleary wanted Bruiser Flint. Daugherty was amazed when we had a crowd of 10,000 for a Xavier game. The Vice President of Student Life (Hogan) killed the program by restraining the budget and making sure the ADs listened to him. ADs who thought more of themselves (Colleary/Amodio) than the program. Coaches who were terrible with recruiting. Little wonder we have been in the desert.

I like what Gormley, Harper and Dambrot have started. Gormley gets it and leads. Harper has sprouted a program, now can he grow it? Coach Dambrot is the right guy, but is he worn down? Can we step up our recruiting and get into the fight?

The past tells us that we can’t be half-measure. If the goal is to win championships, then attack it with everything we have! Go Dukes!

I graduated in ‘90.
Nesti was president my first 2 years.

My history is fuzzy but I remember the University endowment at pitiful levels.  Nesti leaves & Murray enters.
Murray drove incredible fundraising & shored up the budgets
Limited focus on sports.
Title IX started about that time & killed a bunch of mens sports.

Can’t remember who funded AJP.  Opened for the 88-89 season
Was it led by Nesti?  Or by coincidence while Nesti was in charge?

Last edited by Box & One (1/29/2022 1:10 pm)