FAM wrote:

Thoughts from afar…
-As their leading scorer, I wish I knew why Grant left Miami to come to Duquesne…
-In the same manner I wish I knew why “some” of our players left the last two years…
-Last year, Dambrot said (before the season started) that this was his best team ever… Yet he never said he really screwed up saying that. What will he say this year?
-If there was ever a hopeful year before the season started, it was last year. Yet there were many season tickets not sold nor was there a sellout in the first couple of home games before folks saw how bad the team was. How many ticket holders will not come back this year?
-Is there another Division I mens bball team with the same coaches for as many years as Duquesnes?
— Last but not least, will Harper care enough to lower the music in the Coop next year so you can actually hear the person next to you???

Inquiring minds want to know…

The paper from Lorain (Grant's home) quotes Grant as saying he was transferring due to a coaching change at Miami. 

Tejas, I am done just like you. It’s a combination of things. First, Dambrot was losing his recruits in large numbers way before the transfer portal. It can only get worse with , as I stated previously, the players owning the college basketball game. They can come and go as they please, they hire agents for this NIL, and the big schools are inking incredible deals for these kids. Getting a free college education with a value in excess of $100,000 is no longer the reason these kids go to school. I put four children through Duquesne and another went to a different Catholic University. Some of my children received basketball scholarships and it was much appreciated. 

What is crazy, is most of these kids think they are going to the NBA. In reality, the majority of them are done after their college days. It used to be that a mid major could find a few diamonds in the rough, then coach them and in their Junior and Senior seasons have a nice run. How can you root for these kids, when they show no loyalty to the school or coach that gave them a shot and they leave the next year. That day has come and gone. The player and or another school will choose this player in a heartbeat and destroy the hopes of the smaller school. The NCAA is going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg of college basketball. It’s a shame, because this was my favorite sport. But like the NFL and NBA, I could do without all the nonsense of the inmates running (or ruining these sports) the asylum. I don’t think Duquesne can withstand these drastic changes to the game. Good luck to the Dukes and the few remaining fans that support them.

Never say good riddance.  They can love Duquesne without loving college basketball.  Stick around guys.

I wont buy season tickets.   I'll pick an early game, another one around Christmas, see how they are doing, and if decent, pick 1-2 more in Jan-March.   If they are terrible again, I wont go back in 2023.

Last edited by townsonkid (5/02/2022 11:07 am)

Wildwood13 wrote:

Tejas, I am done just like you. It’s a combination of things. First, Dambrot was losing his recruits in large numbers way before the transfer portal. It can only get worse with , as I stated previously, the players owning the college basketball game. They can come and go as they please, they hire agents for this NIL, and the big schools are inking incredible deals for these kids. Getting a free college education with a value in excess of $100,000 is no longer the reason these kids go to school. I put four children through Duquesne and another went to a different Catholic University. Some of my children received basketball scholarships and it was much appreciated. 

What is crazy, is most of these kids think they are going to the NBA. In reality, the majority of them are done after their college days. It used to be that a mid major could find a few diamonds in the rough, then coach them and in their Junior and Senior seasons have a nice run. How can you root for these kids, when they show no loyalty to the school or coach that gave them a shot and they leave the next year. That day has come and gone. The player and or another school will choose this player in a heartbeat and destroy the hopes of the smaller school. The NCAA is going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg of college basketball. It’s a shame, because this was my favorite sport. But like the NFL and NBA, I could do without all the nonsense of the inmates running (or ruining these sports) the asylum. I don’t think Duquesne can withstand these drastic changes to the game. Good luck to the Dukes and the few remaining fans that support them.

I understand being frustrated but I think you need to step back and quit blaming the players.  They are given a system and doing their best to navigate it for their own best interests - just like almost every other American citizen.  I don't blame them for jumping from school to school or expect them to be loyal because they were given a scholarship.  The same loyalty would not be shown to them if they underachieved or a better recruit showed up.  They would be shown the door.  There is no system other than college basketball for young men to show their ability to pro teams in this country and others - they have to go to college to do so.  The 100k worth of tuition does not mean as much to some of them as it might mean to you so don't use that argument.  Schools have been making millions off these young men for many many years and now the worm is starting to turn.  I agree things need to be fixed but I don't blame the players one bit for doing what they think is best for themselves (I may not agree with their decisions but it's their lives.)   

Styles…good points.  If Duquesne could win with those changes we wouldn’t be complaining.   Until DAMBROT learns to use the situation to his advantage, it will just exacerbate DU basketball.  

We have never had problems in the country when coaches could leave whenever they wanted…it was their right...but since there are less coaches, it wasn’t as obvious.  Plus they get paid a lot of money to stay.   Time will tell. 

FAM wrote:

Any thoughts on 2, 3, 5, and 6?
 

FAM, for question #3. I'm convinced that Dambrot may have pulled a Danny Nee on us. Good ease into retirement job. Work hard the first few years to land a nice contract then it's so long...As for #2, recall that we lost Isaiha Mike, arguably the best player here in the last ten years except Mitchell after his freshman year. And he had to sit out a year back then. Was a two year starter at SMU and posted solid FG%, 3-Point% and FT%. I subscribe to the player-coach relationship....
 

KenOTR73 wrote:

FAM wrote:

Any thoughts on 2, 3, 5, and 6?
 

FAM, for question #3. I'm convinced that Dambrot may have pulled a Danny Nee on us. Good ease into retirement job. Work hard the first few years to land a nice contract then it's so long...As for #2, recall that we lost Isaiha Mike, arguably the best player here in the last ten years except Mitchell after his freshman year. And he had to sit out a year back then. Was a two year starter at SMU and posted solid FG%, 3-Point% and FT%. I subscribe to the player-coach relationship....
 

Isaiah Mike was a Jim Ferry recruit, not a Dambrot recruit; so when Jim was fired, Isaiah  wasn't sticking around to take a chance on a new Coaching staff.  I don't think Dambrot ever had a chance with Mike.  His plans were already in place to go to SMU; so chalk that one up to firing a coach and losing his returning players.  Assuming that Ferry was allowed to return for another year at Duquesne, he had Isaiah Mike, and Mike Lewis returning after good freshman seasons and three commitments from players who turned into successful D-1 players at other schools.  Of course we know about the Jamari Wheeler, who became a starter at Penn State, and one of the best defensive guards in the Big10.  He also did a grad transfer year at Ohio St after Jim Ferry didn't get the permanent HC job at PSU.  Darius Banks was another commit, that went on to have a good career at James Madison, and then played in the NCAA Tournament last year for Chattanooga.  I don't recall the third commit in that group, but he also played at the D-1 level.  This group would have given Duquesne a pretty athletic and promising nucleus heading into the next season.
 
Lewis was a very strange story, in that he stuck around after Ferry was let go; only to have a pretty rough time  the next season with Dambrot.  He obviously never felt comfortable in the Dambrot system and ended up moving on the next season, but had to sit-out a year,  got caught up in another coaching change and never got another opportunity to play.  The good news is that he is playing professionally in Europe and doing well.
 

Last edited by levon1975 (5/10/2022 3:10 pm)

I'm not renewing my season ticket until they turn off that blast of mindless noise they think the fans care about. Believe me, no one does.  Can't hear anything, can't talk to fellow fans, can't even think. I complained to the University and it falls on deaf ears. Nice building, bad team and very very bad loud noise that not even the players would give a "s" about?  Just less fans in the stands.

DU used to put together a nice band and cheering section for the City Game, which would disappear right afterwards. Even the year in which the Dukes won that game. Once and done. 

townsonkid wrote:

That pep bad was pathetic.   Recreate one, sure.   But not the same old thing.   DU AD needs to figure out their student body.   Hold a meeting to see what the students want at games.   Without them, its quiet and boring in there.   Do they want free stuff?   On court challenges for prizes?   $1K scholarship given out each game?  Free books?   Free clothes, t shirts?   Free food?   They need to "create" a student section.   Do students need a NIL?   It will help the team.   Looks and sounds good on tv.   And old heads like us like to see the students get involved.    I know winning has a lot to do with it, but like said above, even after beating pitt, the students disappear.   That has to change.

It’s beyond ridiculous that this damn school can not piece together a pep band.    Beyond.   Something that every other division one school has managed to do.

Bleeds Red & Blue wrote:

Problems mentioned on this board: lack of student attendance, elimination of overly loud music with use of a pep band and an injection of enthusiasm/spirit/cheering (hate to use that word, but "noise" at the proper times).
Until campus problems regarding games are solved (such as fielding exciting, winning basketball) Why not invite some good local high school bands for each game to inject a little life into the Coop. It's not like a band would be taking seats away from our no-show students. Parents of band members will buy tickets to watch their kids (and game, I hope), We might get better exposure with local high schools and a band can definitely add more of a big time atmosphere during the game. It also solves the problem with coming up with a bad school pep band.
Just trying to think out of the box.

Why not have a school that can actually have the organizational skills to put together and fund a pep band like the 312 or so other Division 1 programs?

I appreciate your response but really a competent athletic department/university should be able to put together a pep band.   It’s not a revolutionary idea