PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Keith Dambrot said it's not about deciding to go out on top after getting Duquesne back to the NCAA Tournament, rather he had decided before the season started it was time to retire.
"I was about 80% sure I was going to retire in the Summer," Dambrot explained on Monday. "When my wife got sick, that was the crowning blow for me. I decided before the season this was it for me. So, this is it for me."
Doing better now, Dambrot's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. He missed a few practices and nearly missed a game this season to be with her. He wrestled with the importance of altering his schedule for her because of all the times she did it for him. Most notably, when she said it was ok to move to Pittsburgh after establishing a life in Akron.
A short time into his tenure as Duquesne's athletic director, Dave Harper said he was trying to sell a job where the perception was this is where coaches go to die. Harper quickly identified Dambrot with his success at Akron and his ties to Duquesne, his father played there when the Dukes were good. Harper knew Dambrot had passion for the history of Duquesne. He said he talked to Dambrot for three weeks to convince him to lead his father's alma mater.
When Dambrot called him to say he would take the job, Harper said he threw his phone he was so excited and 'hi-fived' his kids and wife.
"He is not afraid," Harper said. "He is going to attack a challenge. We both looked at each other in the eye and said we are going to try to do something that hasn't been done. And guess what, Keith, this team, the staff, everybody did that (Sunday). There are two words I can think of."
"Thank you."
"This is the day that he can say, we can say that he accomplished the shining goal that he set out to accomplish when he left that secure job at Akron and came to Duquesne," said Duquesne President Ken Gormley.
Gormley said when they hired Dambrot it was never a business transaction, it was about having a common dream and common goal. Keith has viewed this as a calling more than a job.
He said Dambrot led Duquesne to the new glory days. The Duquesne President called it the 'Dambrot Era'.
"He's a little guy," Gormley said. "A wiry guy. He is tough, tenacious and he has willed himself and this team to national prominence and excellence. I always knew this would be the case because of his character and his qualities as one of the finest, most professional people I've ever encountered."
"You are going to hard-pressed to find a game where he is out-coached," Harper said. "Underappreciated coach here, underappreciated nationally, he flew under the radar. You have to say what is the DNA of the individual and I knew it. You could see it coming."
"What I try to do is every program I leave, I try to leave it in a better place," Dambrot said. "I'm sure our next coach will take it to the next level."
That next coach now walks into an NCAA Tournament program.
Dambrot did the impossible and now has the rest of his life to enjoy and reflect on how he transformed basketball again at Duquesne. His father must be so proud.
