THE 2018 DUQUESNE BASKETBALL DUKE ISSUE Dukes, Pitt Women’s Football both resurging team 3-3 team wins Dambrot, Pros & cons in DU captures Capel to thank early games first-ever FCS playoff W - A2 - - A3 - - 7 - A2 2018-2019 Duquesne Basketball Preview A tale of two resurgent city basketball programs Eight months ago, Keith Dambrot had just ended his first season at the helm of Duquesne’s program, while Pitt was urgently searching for a replacement for Kevin Stallings. Now, Jeff Capel leads the Panthers into the most exciting City Game that the city has seen in years. Jacob Hebda second losing season of this century. One A promising class of freshmen has only have responded shockingly well to a num- staff writer was excited about the prospect of making augmented expectations, with some im- ber of critical questions about their outlook. the NCAA Tournament soon, while one pressive showings early on. Following a winless campaign in ACC play, Following the close of the 2017-18 college was struggling to cope with the reality that Freshman point guard Sincere Carry has Pitt fired Stallings in early March. basketball season, Duquesne and Pitt were it would likely be a long time before they nearly half of the team’s assists (33) through Stallings was only in Oakland for two heading in very different directions. would return to the tourney — something five games. In his first game in a Duquesne years, but in that short time, the Panthers The Dukes had wrapped up a season that, that had once been a regularity. uniform, first-year big man Austin Rotroff encountered some historic lows. despite ending with a 1-7 stretch from Feb- posted 17 points and went 3-3 from behind Stallings began his tenure with an under- ruary on, was surprisingly inspiring. the three-point line. Lamar Norman Jr. was whelming 16-17 record. In year two, though, Duquesne was once an elite program, but 4-4 from the field and made some clutch it turned ugly. The Panthers finished 8-24 that was back in the 1960s. The Dukes have shots late in a comeback win against UIC. overall and 0-18 in the ACC. not qualified for the NCAA Tournament Fellow freshmen Amari Kelly, Brandon In the latter season, the average atten- since 1977. Wade and Gavin Bizeau have had limited dance at the Petersen Events Center, which The program has had some encouraging minutes, but they’ve flashed their potential seats 12,508 people, was 4,117. That’s its spurts here and there, but the past few de- when they’ve played. lowest mark since 1982. cades could be broadly defined as mediocre. Lewis is off to a bit of a slow start, but With all this considered, there was practi- However, new Head Coach Keith Dambrot Williams has continued to shine as the cally no reason for hope in Oakland. Thanks was able to generate excitement and mo- sophomore swingman leads the Dukes in to such poor play on the court and atten- mentum during his first season on the Bluff. scoring and rebounding. dance woes, Stallings was understandably Now, for the first time in recent years, the All of this is to say that Duquesne fans on the hot seat. With four conference wins Dukes have genuine reason to be feeling should feel confident in the future, as this in two years and a dearth of talent on the optimistic. roster is loaded with young talent. Lewis is roster, many figured his time in Pittsburgh The Pitt Panthers, meanwhile, appeared actually the only upperclassman to take to might be short-lived. to be entrenched in the beginning stages the floor so far this season. Stallings was indeed fired shortly after of a long rebuild. Head Coach Kevin Stall- While there will be inevitable ebbs and the season ended. His struggles were clear, ings had failed to produce much of anything flows for such an inexperienced collec- but there was still controversy surround- since his hiring in 2016, and the team was Courtesy of The Pitt News tion of players, it is obvious that the buzz ing the decision. Some believed Stallings sitting firmly in the cellar of not merely the Freshman Pitt guard Xavier Johnson dunks around the team is justified. Duquesne’s needed more time to develop, while others Atlantic Coast Conference, but all of college during an exhibition game versus Pitt-John- depth chart is full of promise, which is why claimed a coach with such an abysmal re- basketball at large. stown. Through seven games, Johnson leads so many are looking forward to what is yet cord simply could not be retained. Making the dilemma all the more shock- the Panthers in scoring with 16.9 points/game. to come. Compounding this debate was concern ing was the fact that a few years earlier, Pitt It also doesn’t hurt to have Dambrot, not about who Pitt would hire, but who was still a steady guest in the NCAA Tour- That should give a better idea of how dis- with nearly 20 years of coaching experience Pitt could hire. Given the likely transfer of nament. From 2002 to 2011, the Panthers similar these two programs are historically. and a career .645 winning percentage at the nearly the whole roster and a severely dam- qualified for every tourney. This stretch I penned a column back in March detail- college level, leading the way. aged reputation, many fans and pundits also included two No. 1 seedings. ing these circumstances — the improve- Add in the impending $45 million reno- alike worried that Athletic Director Heather It was a striking turn of events for both ment of Duquesne and decline of Pitt. I vation of A.J. Palumbo Center, soon to be Lyke would have a hard time attracting any schools. Duquesne, long a rather incon- intertwined the piece with A Tale of Two the UPMC Chuck Cooper Fieldhouse, and capable candidates. spicuous figure in the scope of college bas- Cities, the classic Charles Dickens novel. It there are even more reasons to be encour- The Panthers were thought to be a leading ketball, was on the figurative upswing. Pitt, made sense at the time, but oh, how things aged by the future of Duquesne men’s bas- candidate to hire Rhode Island Head Coach a Big East powerhouse through the greater have changed. ketball. Dan Hurley, one of the hot names available. part of the 2000s, was utterly listless. Now, here we are, mere months removed So, not too much has changed for Hurley chose Connecticut instead, even To put this situation in perspective: one from that column, and both teams are sud- Duquesne since the end of last season. The though Pitt allegedly offered a more lucra- fanbase was enthused by a 16-16 record, denly on the rise. Dukes have continued to build on their mo- tive contract than the Huskies had. while one was shattered following just its Since the conclusion of the 2017-18 col- mentum, fulfilling expectations thus far. As the coaching search continued, con- lege basketball season, the Duquesne men’s However, whereas Duquesne has not cerns grew. Other big names like Tom team has only further proven why the hype strayed from its projected path, nearly ev- surrounding this squad is warranted. erything has shifted for Pitt. The Panthers see CITY — page A3 Dambrot is in year two on the Bluff, but he has already shifted the course of the Duquesne men’s basketball entirely. Much like the hardship Pitt experienced this past season, the Dukes’ future looked bleak after canning former coach Jim Ferry in March 2017. However, with Dambrot at the helm, there is a sense of energy about basketball on campus that has not been present in quite a long time. The 2017-18 Dukes produced only the program’s second .500 record since 2012. This year, despite significant roster turn- over, returning stars Eric Williams Jr. and Mike Lewis II lead a group with little expe- rience, but plenty of potential. Dambrot’s four incoming transfers — Ta- Courtesy of Duquesne Athletics Courtesy of Pittsburgh Sports Now Freshman Dukes guard Sin Carry (35) drives past vian Dunn-Martin, Frankie Hughes, Mi- chael Hughes and Marcus Weathers — have Rookie Pitt guard Trey McGowens guards Head Coach Jeff Capel, right, in practice. Capel, who spent the a UMass Lowell defender on Nov. 25. Duquesne past seven seasons on Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s staff at Duke, took over for Kevin Stallings at Pitt this topped the River Hawks, 83-71. been instrumental in a 4-1 record so far. past March. Last season, the Panthers went 0-18 in ACC competition, going 8-24 overall. November 29, 2018 BASKETBALL November 29, 2018 Volume 99 Number 14 THE DUQUESNE DUKE www.duqsm.com PROUDLY SERVING OUR CAMPUS SINCE 1925 Scholarships Walkin’ in a winter DU opens available new exhibit to Promise wonderland at DU in library Olivia Donia alumni staff writer Laurel Wilson A new exhibit on 19th-century staff writer writer and art critic Anna Brownell & Jameson is on display for the Duquesne community on the first Gabriella DiPietro floor of the Gumberg Library. news editor The exhibit, which opened Nov. 27 in the Simon Silverman Due to financial reasons, Phenomenology Center Gallery, many individuals cannot afford is curated by Laura Engel of to go to college, let alone attend the English department and her graduate school. But local uni- graduate fellow, Angeline Mor- versities partnered with Pitts- ris. The display features several burgh Promise are attempting editions of Sacred and Legend- to change these circumstances.