Duquesne Dukes Fan Forum / NLI Day - We signed 4

**Posted by ElDuque** 11/19/2018 2:22 pm

https://goduquesne.com/news/2018/11/19/womens-basketball-duqwbb-sign-four-to-nli.aspx?prl=636782236018772995

Amaya Hamilton, Precious Johnson, Snezhe Serafimoska and Bernada Rreshpja. The Class of 2019 represents 4 countries - Albania, Macedonia, Sweden & the United States.

**Posted by yak-rbc** 11/19/2018 2:43 pm

No local kids this year. Hmmm...

Nice to see an emphasis on size. 6'4, 6'3, 6'2 and 5'10.

**Posted by SteelCityVoice** 11/19/2018 3:00 pm

*Announcer grin at a few names* Oh I do love a good challenge!

**Posted by levon1975** 11/19/2018 4:45 pm

SteelCityVoice wrote:
*Announcer grin at a few names* Oh I do love a good challenge!

Voice, you'll need to give them nicknames!

**Posted by sperlman** 11/19/2018 4:57 pm

Cautiously optimistic about this group. Rreshpja (5'10) may be that big, strong, athletic guard the Dukes have been looking for who can create offense (and most importantly), get to the rim- something the program has lacked for a while.

Glad Dan plans to redshirt 6'4 Serafimoska. I saw video clips of her and she has offensive skills, but needs to get stronger. I love her length.

For several seasons, Duquesne has not been a particularly good defensive team. I am hoping the 6'2 Hamilton will give us not just size, but more athleticism and defense in the front court.

The 6'3 Johnson is not going to replace Kadri-Ann; especially offensively- but she gives Duquesne size, strength and a defensive presence in the post as well as being a strong rebounder. I don't know if Dan would do it, but (next season), I would love to see Johnson and Laia Sole playing together- because Sole is going to be an offensive machine and Johnson might become Duquesne's 'enforcer'.

They all still have their senior HS seasons to finish so let's see what happens.

**Posted by levon1975** 11/19/2018 5:01 pm

Would like to see some video on Precious Johnson. Could her father be the same Stew Johnson that was a long-time solid player in the ABA, and spent some time in town with the Pipers/Condors? If so, I hope precious has his scoring touch. I thought he was from NYC not Clairton?

**Posted by VBC** 11/19/2018 5:25 pm

levon1975 wrote:
Would like to see some video on Precious Johnson. Could her father be the same Stew Johnson that was a long-time solid player in the ABA, and spent some time in town with the Pipers/Condors? If so, I hope precious has his scoring touch. I thought he was from NYC not Clairton?

It is indeed that Stew Johnson. Dan told me the other day that Stew played professionally in Sweden until he was in his 50s and that he still owns a home in Clairton where a relative currently resides.

**Posted by levon1975** 11/26/2018 2:28 pm

Thanks, VBC for the info on Stew Johnson. I was just doing the math and figured that he must have been in his fifties when Precious was born. So, congratulations to Stew and to Precious. Looking forward to seeing her on the Bluff!

**Posted by HookShot** 11/26/2018 7:48 pm

I am glad to see some size in this class. Frankly, with 15 scholarships, there should be at least six 6’3” or taller players. Personally, being old school, I think that teams are much stronger when they play three forwards rather than three guards. The big swing player (a la the men’s Eric Williams) to go along with two bigs would wreck havoc on the A10 which is a guard’s league.

**Posted by sperlman** 11/27/2018 10:42 am

Couldn't agree with you more. Coach Burt knows so much more about his team and their capabilities than I will ever know, but (when I look @ other teams across the country), many of them are quite successful putting 2 and sometimes 3 'Bigs' on the floor at the same time. Duquesne has traditionally not gone that route. Since rebounding and consistent scoring by the posts has been a chronic problem, I don't understand why the Dukes play 3 and sometimes even 4 guards at a time.

**Posted by HookShot** 11/27/2018 11:33 am

Traditionally, it is easier to recruit the 5’10” guard and plug them into the three spot. But, a 6” three who can shoot and play defense would make match-up problems that no A10 team could match, even Dayton. I think North Catholic has that type of player in the 2020 Lewandowski kid. Three bigs requires a change in philosophy. Dambrot is well on the way there. I hope Dan looks into it.