Seems like an answer is coming soon.

Do we get an immediate announcement of Dru's promotion or the standard "a national search will begin immediately" line?

The search has to go fast with portal-mania already in full swing.

What a tantalizing set of possibilities & prospects we Dukes fans are faced with this week.

Do some winning on the biggest of stages? Retain & promote a hot but inexperienced young assistant in the hopes of keeping the current players & the obvious positive momentum? Use the new-found respect & exposure that the program has fought so painstakingly to win to swing for the fences on a big-time coaching hire? Select portal recruits from a much higher shelf because the school's rep & NIL coffers will have been significantly upgraded?

I've been a staunch supporter of Keith since he was hired.  I was hoping he would stay for another year or two but with Donna now joining my late mother as a survivor I am certain he's making the right decision for his family.  Best wishes in retirement!

I am hoping that Dru Joyce is named our new head coach shortly after our last game of the season.  He'll keep us on a successful path.  I'll be very surprised and very disappointed if he is not our next head coach. 
 

Last edited by VBC (3/18/2024 3:02 pm)

When Dru Joyce was hired as associate head coach it seemed apparent to me that he was being put in line as Keith's replacement.  So from my seat behind the Dukes bench I've been watching him to gauge how the players interact with him as well as whatever I can observe.  I see him as a coach who is completely engaged with both the offense and defense during the games and who is liked and respected by the players.  Plus he's got KD's endorsement and that goes a long way with me.

As far as hiring a "well regarded known entity with players" just who do you suggest this could be?  Do you mean a veteran coach from a lower conference like 7 years ago when we hired Keith? Or a recently fired retread like Travis Ford?  I certainly hope you don't mean an alcoholic acquaintance of mine who's older than me and of low integrity.  No, give me Dru, I think he's our best bet for continued success. 

With that being said, if they do go another route I'll be very disappointed but my support for the program and for the new coach will not waiver.

VBC wrote:

When Dru Joyce was hired as associate head coach it seemed apparent to me that he was being put in line as Keith's replacement.  So from my seat behind the Dukes bench I've been watching him to gauge how the players interact with him as well as whatever I can observe.  I see him as a coach who is completely engaged with both the offense and defense during the games and who is liked and respected by the players.  Plus he's got KD's endorsement and that goes a long way with me.

As far as hiring a "well regarded known entity with players" just who do you suggest this could be?  Do you mean a veteran coach from a lower conference like 7 years ago when we hired Keith? Or a recently fired retread like Travis Ford?  I certainly hope you don't mean an alcoholic acquaintance of mine who's older than me and of low integrity.  No, give me Dru, I think he's our best bet for continued success. 

With that being said, if they do go another route I'll be very disappointed but my support for the program and for the new coach will not waiver.

The list is long.  There are many, many up and coming college basketball head coaches who would not have considered Duquesne last week. But, things MAY have changed.  If NIL money rolls in a coach may now see Duquesne as a place to go to get to the NCAA tournament.  I’m not going to name names but just google a list of up and comers. We aren’t hiring someone to resurrect a program anymore. I think DU should consider all options.  Dru would be a great hire. But there may be an exceptional hire out there interested now that wasn’t interested before.

I think Phil is right, next season is an overhaul of much of the roster anyway and Duquesne should look more attractive as a place to stay for the potentially returning talent regardless of who coaches.  And, as Styles also points out, the Duquesne job may suddenly apeal to candidates were not previously intetested.  I don't know who those candidates are, but I bet Dave Harper does.  If the job hasn't already been promised to Coach Joyce, then I submit that the university is in a better position to attract "Mr Right" than it has been for almost 50 years.  If it is determined that Dru Joyce is "Mr. Right" , then i will support that as well. 
Thanks Coach Dambrot and staff  for putting us in this position and happy retirement. Although, I hope, your team causes you to work until eclipse day.

There is no doubt that the university & Harper have had professionals coach shopping for months. As recently as 6 weeks ago KD would not have had the option to return had he wanted to.

Duques102 is correct on all his points. Those reasons are as important to me as to why I would support the hiring of Dru Joyce with some enthusiasm. 

However, DJ's lack of head coaching experience coupled with the Dukes' recently raised profile as a coaching destination demands that all reasonable options be considered.

Another plus for DJ is that he is now a member of the very impressive KD coaching tree. It is worth considering that there are at least 3 really good coaches from that group that have done as well or better than their mentor.

In recent years several A-10 schools generally have hired very good coaches that got things rolling early. Some of them are youngsters or first-timers & others had strong careers before ending up at their present jobs. It truly sucked that it took KD 7 years to make any real noise & I am not interested in it taking 4-5 years for more magic in March. Not everybody needs 2 years in the league to get their feet under them.

This isn't an argument against DJ. It is an argument in favor of seeing who else can be hired.

-VCU's Odom just made the A-10 Tournament final & the NIT in his first A-10 year.
-Drew Valentine just won the A-10 regular season title & made the NIT in his 2nd A-10 season.
-Frank Martin at UMass just went 20-11 in his 2nd A-10 season & made the NIT
-Anthony Grant went 21-12 in his second A-10 season & went to the NIT
-Keith Urgo's first year at Fordham saw him win a national first time head coach of the year award, NABC District 4 Coach of the Year & A-10 coach of the year with a 25-8 record 

NapaDuke wrote:

phil95 wrote:

There is no doubt that the university & Harper have had professionals coach shopping for months. As recently as 6 weeks ago KD would not have had the option to return had he wanted to.

Duques102 is correct on all his points. Those reasons are as important to me as to why I would support the hiring of Dru Joyce with some enthusiasm. 

However, DJ's lack of head coaching experience coupled with the Dukes' recently raised profile as a coaching destination demands that all reasonable options be considered.

Another plus for DJ is that he is now a member of the very impressive KD coaching tree. It is worth considering that there are at least 3 really good coaches from that group that have done as well or better than their mentor.

As I pointed out before. It takes two years for a new coach to have ever been on all A-10 courts to know how to compete. . Dru has been there with this team, and with this HC. Dru was, not only, an Asst. at other schools, but a Pro for years and, of course, Lebron's team mate.  Every Head Coach started somewhere. I would be 100 percent behind Dru.

Last edited by phil95 (3/18/2024 7:45 pm)

phil95 wrote:

In recent years several A-10 schools generally have hired very good coaches that got things rolling early. Some of them are youngsters or first-timers & others had strong careers before ending up at their present jobs. It truly sucked that it took KD 7 years to make any real noise & I am not interested in it taking 4-5 years for more magic in March. Not everybody needs 2 years in the league to get their feet under them.

This isn't an argument against DJ. It is an argument in favor of seeing who else can be hired.

-VCU's Odom just made the A-10 Tournament final & the NIT in his first A-10 year.
-Drew Valentine just won the A-10 regular season title & made the NIT in his 2nd A-10 season.
-Frank Martin at UMass just went 20-11 in his 2nd A-10 season & made the NIT
-Anthony Grant went 21-12 in his second A-10 season & went to the NIT
-Keith Urgo's first year at Fordham saw him win a national first time head coach of the year award, NABC District 4 Coach of the Year & A-10 coach of the year with a 25-8 record 

NapaDuke wrote:

phil95 wrote:

There is no doubt that the university & Harper have had professionals coach shopping for months. As recently as 6 weeks ago KD would not have had the option to return had he wanted to.

Duques102 is correct on all his points. Those reasons are as important to me as to why I would support the hiring of Dru Joyce with some enthusiasm. 

However, DJ's lack of head coaching experience coupled with the Dukes' recently raised profile as a coaching destination demands that all reasonable options be considered.

Another plus for DJ is that he is now a member of the very impressive KD coaching tree. It is worth considering that there are at least 3 really good coaches from that group that have done as well or better than their mentor.

As I pointed out before. It takes two years for a new coach to have ever been on all A-10 courts to know how to compete. . Dru has been there with this team, and with this HC. Dru was, not only, an Asst. at other schools, but a Pro for years and, of course, Lebron's team mate.  Every Head Coach started somewhere. I would be 100 percent behind Dru.

 

Good post. DU should take a look, and if there is someone that can not just match, but exceed hiring Dru, then they should consider, but just an observation, none of these other schools had a qualified asst. in waiting like Dru. 

I believe Dru deserves the chance to prove himself as a head coach.  I would not look anywhere else.  Phil95 referenced KD's coaching tree which includes Shaka Smart and Lamont Paris.  KD never passes up an opportunity to praise Dru.   That's good enough for me.  Go elsewhere for a high profile coach and you most likely will take a step back for a year or two.  Looking for a big name proven winner?  How about Will Wade?  It wouldn't be the first coach we hired from McNeese State.  But, hires like that can bring a lot of risk.  No thanks.  Stick with Dru.

Tony84 wrote:

I think Phil is right, next season is an overhaul of much of the roster anyway and Duquesne should look more attractive as a place to stay for the potentially returning talent regardless of who coaches.  And, as Styles also points out, the Duquesne job may suddenly apeal to candidates were not previously intetested.  I don't know who those candidates are, but I bet Dave Harper does.  If the job hasn't already been promised to Coach Joyce, then I submit that the university is in a better position to attract "Mr Right" than it has been for almost 50 years.  If it is determined that Dru Joyce is "Mr. Right" , then i will support that as well. .

I agree 100%. I am overjoyed at making the tournament. It’s a great parting gift for Coach D, as I think the players have known this was coming for awhile and were playing for him. We need to take advantage of all this good publicity though.

We can’t recruit without a coach, so we should be going after the best coaches we can. If they are good enough for us to target them, they’re probably still coaching but we can at least gauge their interest. I don’t know who those coaches are, or the process for asking without asking. As you said Dave Harper does though.

If the interest isn’t there from the impact coaches, or if they decide Joyce is the best candidate, I’d support his hire 100%. It shouldn’t be assumed or automatic though. Promoting him truly keeps the “Dambrot era” going. Anyone who has sat near the bench at all during his time here knows how involved he has been, but also how in step he and Dambrot are. His promotion also likely keeps the non-seniors at Duquesne. This is as close knit a team as I have ever seen on the bluff, and he is definitely a big part of that. It also allows us to get back on the recruiting trail, and should keep the recruits we’ve been going after already interested.

I think Harper answered the question perfectly, because today should be about Dambrot and what he has accomplished. While I was certainly critical of him at times, I always recognized how much he advanced the program. Even if they lost to St. Louis in the first game in Brooklyn, the program would be much better off and more attractive than when he came.

I also think he answered that way to be coy though. I don’t think Joyce will just be handed the reigns whenever we lose in the tourney. He doesn’t want to say that publicly though because it would discourage the staff and players who I think all want him to get the job.

Ultimately I think Coach Joyce does get the job. It wasn’t hard to read between the lines at the presser today when Dambrot was asked about his successor and immediately looked right at Dru. I think everyone wants to keep Dambrot involved even after his coaching days are over, and hiring Joyce is the best way to do that.

I expect it will be after at least a cursory search process though, and possibly even bringing in outside candidates to interview. While I’ve been very critical of some of his underlings, Harper is an excellent AD and I’m confident he’ll handle it the right way.

Last edited by luckymcd (3/19/2024 1:12 am)

After conversations with a number of people way  closer to the program than I will ever be, I would say that there is a 99% chance this is Dru's job.

Prince of Pilsner wrote:

Rumor has it another local guy may be available, Coach Calipari may think hard about coming here.  There, I threw my BS rant into the arena, now I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the Dukes TONIGHT, and worry about the future tomorrow.

My vote is Dru. A lot of this late season surge has to be in some way be part Dru. Right now with this National exposure and the players coming back next year and building on this run and it's KD's coaching legacy all depend on Dru taking over.

Last edited by NapaDuke (3/23/2024 10:02 pm)