PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Duquesne had won three conference games in 2016-17, it was time for yet another coaching change. In an era of hiring young, sometimes inexperienced coaches, Duquesne went with a veteran.
Only once since George Bush-the older one-was President had Duquesne reached 10 conference wins. And they trusted their future to 58-year-old Akron head coach Keith Dambrot. When he was introduced in late May of 2017, he was talking of 'championship-level' teams.
He said he believed they can win here.
How many previous Duquesne coaches said the same or similar things?
Yet there was something different about Dambrot from the beginning. He was honest. When they stunk, admitted it. When they made a mistake, he didn't hide from it. Now after getting to 10 Atlantic 10 wins for a third time in the last four full seasons, he continues to deliver a quality product to victory-starved Duquesne fans.
Dambrot is the second Dukes coach since Red Manning with multiple 20-win seasons. It's the 17th 20-win season of his career and he is one win from tying the school record of 11 Atlantic 10 wins with the regular-season finale at Fordham Saturday.
The 88-79 win over UMass on Wednesday was typical Dambrot basketball using a number of players, transition offense while playing aggressive defense, even though he thought they could play better D.
The Dukes held a 23-9 edge in fast-break points. Jimmy Clark finished with a team-high 18 points on 4-5 shooting from three with eight assists and five steals. Dae Dae Grant started slow, but finished with 15 points. David Dixon 13 points, eight rebounds, four steals.
All of this from the team picked last in the Atlantic 10.
"I'm a prideful human being, so obviously I really didn't like it much," Dambrot said on 93.7 The Fan. "Maybe I understand it because we were not very good last year. It was the first time I've had a losing season since 1994. I felt like we were going to have a good team and I think our guys took effect to it as well."
"We won 20, nobody would have thought that. You wouldn't have bet your house on that."
Last year was rough, a 6-24 record, only his second losing season in his coaching career. Dambrot and his staff hit the transfer portal and reinvented the team adding key players Clark, Grant, Quincy McGriff, Tevin Brewer and Joe Reece.
"We knew that we had to get older in the backcourt and we had to become more skilled at shooting, passing and dribbling-signing Tevin Brewer and Dae-Dae Grant with Tre Clark solved all of those problems at once," Dambrot said on 93.7 The Fan. "Dae-Dae is going to score in double-figures every night and Tre Clark is a competitor. Those guys have really helped our mindset and they like to play as well. They're always in the gym, they spend a lot of time at it and they really care."
"Getting the right people in any endeavor, whether it's basketball or business, is key. We knew we weren't very good last year so we got a head start on things. We fixed most of our problems and we were right more than we were wrong, which is really the key in all of this."
One more game before the Atlantic 10 Tournament, Duquesne also tied a program record in home wins with 16.
"I have a lot invested in Duquesne, I didn't go to school here but my dad did," Dambrot told 93.7 The Fan. "I know the history of Duquesne and I know a lot about that because my dad spent a lot of time with me about how good Duquesne was, how progressive it was."
"What impressed me most about Duquesne, in 1954 in a Catholic school in a not very progressive United States, Duquesne started three African-Americans and two Jews. That meant a lot to me."
Now Dambrot is making his own history at Duquesne.
