Duquesne Dukes men's basketball

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Duquesne Dukes
Duquesne Dukes athletic logo
University Duquesne University
Conference A10
Location Pittsburgh, PA
Head Coach Ron Everhart (2nd year)
Arena A. J. Palumbo Center
(Capacity: 6,200)
Nickname Dukes
Colors Blue and Red

             
Uniforms
 
Home jersey
Home jersey
  
Home shorts
Home
 
Away jersey
Away jersey
  
Away shorts
Away
NCAA Tournament Final Four
1940
Conference Tournament Champions
1977
Conference Regular Season Champions
1980, 1981

The Duquesne Dukes represent Duquesne University in college basketball. The team, which started in 1914, has only ever played in NCAA Division I and has had five appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The Dukes play in the Atlantic 10 Conference, of which they have been members since 1976.

Contents

[edit] Overview

The Dukes men's basketball team has had great success over the years, playing twice in national championship games in the 1950s and winning the National Invitation Tournament championship in 1955. (At the time, the NIT was the premier collegiate basketball tournament in the country.) Duquesne also won the 1976–77 Eastern Collegiate Basketball League championship (the forerunner to the Eastern Athletic Association, now known as the Atlantic 10 Conference) and 1979–80 and 1980–81 Eastern Athletic Association regular season co-championships.

Duquesne is the only school to have back-to-back first overall picks in the National Basketball Association Draft (Dick Ricketts by the Saint Louis Hawks in 1955 and Sihugo Green by the Rochester Royals in 1956). The Dukes men's basketball program can also claim the first African-American player selected in an NBA draft (Chuck Cooper by the Boston Celtics in 1950). The 1939-40 Dukes basketball team finished with a 20-3 record and appeared in the Final Four of both the NIT and NCAA Tournaments.

No team has had as many Atlantic 10 men's basketball scoring champions as Duquesne.

[edit] History

[edit] Early history

The history of basketball at Duquesne University can be dated back to 1914, when the university administration established basketball as a varsity sport. The first game, against Bethany College, was won in a gym under the college chapel on January 9, 1914 (Rishel 23). The team was first coached by Alexander Hogarty, whose tenure lasted only one season. The position was filled by Father Eugene McGuigan, who was called "Father Mac" on campus and "Coach Gene Martin" in newspaper reports in order to prevent the name of a Holy Ghost father from being associated with the rowdiness of "Basket-ball". Father McGuigan coached football, baseball, and basketball until he was transferred from Duquesne University in 1923 (Rishel 38).

When a proper gymnasium was constructed in 1923, Duquesne Basketball was finally allowed to come into its own, as the previous court was in reality a stage below the chapel and was not only slanted but demarcated by a steel cage on its perimeter. Teams had previously refused to play the "Bluffites" on their home court. Coach "Chick" Davies initiated a new era in the basketball program, filling the 1,200-seat gymnasium and bringing the team into national prominence. In its first season with Davies, Duquesne tied with Waynesburg University for the Tri-State Conference championship and dominated the same conference in 1926 and 1927 before moving to a higher level of competition. The season expanded from 20 to 28 games and became more competitive in 1930 when the team faced the University of Iowa, Loyola University Chicago, Adrian College, Elmhurst College, Alfred State College, John Carroll University, American University, Catholic University, Colgate University, St. Bonaventure University, Seton Hall University, Manhattan College, and the City College of New York. Davies, immensely popular, coached Duquesne basketball until 1948 (Rishel 40-41).

[edit] World War II era

The university tried held on to basketball during World War II, having reworked the gymnasium in 1942 to seat an extra 800 spectators, but was forced to drop the sport at the end of the 1943 season (Rishel 81-82). However, the sport was reinstated in the spring of 1946, whereupon Davies led the Dukes to 19 straight victories before a loss to Georgetown University. In the same year, Duquesne received its third invitation to the NIT, losing by one point to the University of Utah, whom it had defeated in the regular season (Rishel 101).

During this first postwar season, the University of Tennessee refused to play a scheduled game against Duquesne because the Dukes had a black player--Chuck Cooper. The December 23, 1947, game had been highly anticipated since Tennessee had two All-Americans and four other returning lettermen. As Davies refused to remove Cooper from the squad, Tennessee canceled at the last minute. That fall, Cooper became the first African-American drafted to play professional basketball when he joined the Boston Celtics (Rishel 101).

[edit] Mid-century success

Dukes Basketball continued to impress with a new coach in the 1949 season--Donald "Dudey" Moore. Moore's team achieved a 17-5 record in the '49 season, and in 1950, 23 wins and another bid to the NIT. By the 1950s, Duquesne's Locust Street gym had become inadequate to seat the team's spectators, so games were usually played in a high school gym in McKeesport or the Duquesne Gardens in Oakland. Even at this point, daily practice was held at North Catholic High School (Rishel 102).

The 1950s marked an age of immense success for Dukes Basketball, with Moore leading his team to six NIT bids, during which time Moore was named "United Press Coach of the Year" and achieved a school-record 21-1 season (1951-52). In 1953, Duquesne was rated as a preseason "best in the East" and possibly the nation. With a 23-2 record, they were top seed for the NIT that year. Although they lost to the College of the Holy Cross, they achieved a new record of 26 victories in a season. Top-seeded again in '54, Duquesne, following a 19-4 regular season, finally won the title of NIT Champions in 1955 (Rishel 137-138).

The 1956 season almost came to an early end, as the John Harris Gardens, then Duquesne's home court, was to be demolished. However, in a gesture which athletic director Doc Skender called "one of the finest acts of sportsmanship I've ever known," long-standing rival the University of Pittsburgh allowed the Dukes use of the Fitzgerald Field House for home games (Rishel 138).

Coach Red Manning, initially unpopular, soon led the Dukes to another era of NIT invitations, ending up in the Final Four in the '61-62 season, the Elite Eight in '63-64, and four more bids between 1967 and the 1970-71 season.

Notable in this decade was Willie Somerset, nicknamed by the press as "Wonderful Willie." Though only 5'11", he could jump higher than any other player on the team (Rishel 177).

[edit] 1970s to 1990s

Retired basketball jerseys[1]
Number Player Year
15 Chuck Cooper 1947-1950
11 Sihugo Green 1954-1956
10 Norm Nixon 1974-1977
12 Dick Ricketts 1952-1955
24 Willie Somerset 1962-1965

The 1970s saw the end of Manning's tenure. Duquesne had seen only four different basketball coaches in fifty years, but this decade alone saw three coaches: Manning, John Cinicola, and Mike Rice. The decade was relatively lackluster, although it saw the likes of "the greatest guard in Duquesne basketball history"--Norm Nixon (Rishell 216). The 1980s were marked by problems with many players' academic eligibility--calling into question the university's recruiting and support procedures--and are best described as "trying times" for the Dukes (Rishell 246). There were only two winning seasons in the decade--'80-81 and '85-86. Even so, the 1988 construction of the A. J. Palumbo Center--Duquesne Basketball's current home--is a notable event of this time period.

[edit] Retired jerseys

On January 27, 2001, during the halftime of a game against Xavier University (Cincinnati), the Duquesne University Department of Athletics retired the jerseys of five of its all-time greatest players: Chuck Cooper, Sihugo Green, Norm Nixon, Dick Ricketts and Willie Somerset.[1]

[edit] All-time coaches

Coach Years Win-Loss Win % Conference
Titles		 NCAA Tourn.
Appearances		 NIT Titles NCAA Titles
Alexander Hogarty 1914 7-2 .778 - - - -
Rev. E. N. McGuigan 1915-1920, 1922-1923 66-35 .653 - - - -
Ben Lubic 1921 11-6 .647 - - - -
Bill Campbell 1924 8-6 .571 - - - -
Chick Davies 1925-1948 314-106 .667 - 1 - -
Dudey Moore 1948-1958 191-70 .732 - 1 1 -
Red Manning 1958-1974 247-138 .642 - 2 - -
John Cinicola 1974-1978 52-56 .481 1 1 - -
Mike Rice 1978-1982 62-49 .559 - - - -
Jim Satalin 1982-1989 85-120 .415 - - - -
John Carroll 1990-1995 73-98 .427 - - - -
Scott Edgar 1995-1998 29-55 .345 - - - -
Darelle Porter 1998-2001 23-64 .264 - - - -
Danny Nee 2001-2006 42-102 .292 - - - -
Ron Everhart 2006-Present 27-32 .458 - - - -

[edit] Players

[edit] Duquesne men's basketball current roster

Duquesne Men's Basketball
Current Roster
Head Coach: Ron Everhart
F/C 2 Kieron Achara Graduate 6-10, 240 lb (Stirling, Scotland)
G/F 30 Bill Clark Freshman 6-5, 205 lb (Redondo Beach, CA)
G 13 Jason Duty Sophomore 6-0, 170 lb (Cranberry Township, PA)
G 20 Phillip Fayne Junior 6-3, 220 lb (Carbondale, IL)
F/C 42 Brandon Harris Freshman 6-9, 230 lb (Akron, OH)
G 1 Aaron Jackson Junior 6-4, 180 lb (Hartford, CT)
G 3 Reggie Jackson Senior 5-11, 170 lb (Hogansville, GA)
F/C 21 Shawn James Junior (RS) 6-10, 225 lb (Brooklyn, NY)
G 33 Kojo Mensah Junior (RS) 6-1, 180 lb (Brooklyn, NY)
G 55 Lucas Newton Freshman 5-10, 165 lb (Weston, FL)
F 32 Damian Saunders Freshman 6-7, 205 lb (Waterbury, CT)
F 4 Jimmy Sherwood Sophomore 6-2, 190 lb (Sharon, MA)
F 5 David Theis Freshman 6-8, 215 lb (Pittsburgh, PA)
G 22 Gary Tucker Senior 6-1, 185 lb (Pensacola, FL)
G/F 31 Stephen Wood Sophomore 6-4, 185 lb (Queens, NY)

[edit] Notable players

Duquesne All-Americans

[edit] Yearly results

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Duquesne (1913 — 1976)
1913–1914 Duquesne 7-2
1914–1915 Duquesne 12-2
1915–1916 Duquesne 7-2
1916–1917 Duquesne 7-3
1917–1918 Duquesne 4-4
1918-1919 Duquesne 4-6
1919–1920 Duquesne 6-10
1920–1921 Duquesne 11-6
1921–1922 Duquesne 10-6
1922–1923 Duquesne 16-2
1923–1924 Duquesne 8-6
1924–1925 Duquesne 11-7
1925–1926 Duquesne 15-3
1926–1927 Duquesne 16-4
1927–1928 Duquesne 15-7
1928–1929 Duquesne 12-8
1929–1930 Duquesne 18-10
1930–1931 Duquesne 12-6
1931–1932 Duquesne 14-6
1932–1933 Duquesne 15-1
1933–1934 Duquesne 19-2
1934–1935 Duquesne 18-1
1935–1936 Duquesne 14-3
1936–1937 Duquesne 13-6
1937–1938 Duquesne 6-11
1938–1939 Duquesne 14-4
1939–1940 Duquesne 20-3 NCAA Final Four
NIT Runner-up
1940–1941 Duquesne 17-3 declined NCAA
NIT Elite Eight
1941–1942 Duquesne 15-6
1942–1943 Duquesne 12-7
1946–1947 Duquesne 21-2 declined NCAA
NIT Elite Eight
1947–1948 Duquesne 17-6
1948-1949 Duquesne 17-5
1949–1950 Duquesne 23-6 NIT Fourth Place
1950–1951 Duquesne 16-11
1951–1952 Duquesne 23-4 NCAA Final Eight
NIT Fourth Place
1952–1953 Duquesne 21-8 NIT Third Place
1953–1954 Duquesne 23-6 NIT Runner-up
1954–1955 Duquesne 22-4 NIT Champion
1955–1956 Duquesne 17-10 NIT Elite Eight
1956–1957 Duquesne 16-7
1957–1958 Duquesne 10-12
1958–1959 Duquesne 13-11
1959–1960 Duquesne 8-15
1960–1961 Duquesne 15-7
1961–1962 Duquesne 22-7 NIT Fourth Place
1962–1963 Duquesne 13-9
1963–1964 Duquesne 16-7 NIT Elite Eight
1964–1965 Duquesne 14-10
1965–1966 Duquesne 14-9
1966–1967 Duquesne 7-15
1967–1968 Duquesne 18-7 NIT Sweet Sixteen
1968–1969 Duquesne 21-5 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1969–1970 Duquesne 17-7 NIT Sweet Sixteen
1970–1971 Duquesne 21-4 NCAA First Round
1971–1972 Duquesne 20-5
1972–1973 Duquesne 16-8
1973–1974 Duquesne 12-12
1974–1975 Duquesne 14-11
1975–1976 Duquesne 12-13
Duquesne (Atlantic 10 Conference) (1976 — present)
1976–1977 Duquesne 15-15 3-7 3rd-West NCAA First Round
1977–1978 Duquesne 11-17 5-5 T-3rd
1978–1979 Duquesne 13-13 2-8 7th
1979–1980 Duquesne 18-10 7-3 T-1st NIT Sweet Sixteen
1980–1981 Duquesne 20-10 10-3 T-1st NIT First Round
1981–1982 Duquesne 11-16 5-9 6th
1982–1983 Duquesne 12-16 6-8 4th-West
1983–1984 Duquesne 10-18 8-10 T-6th
1984–1985 Duquesne 12-18 6-12 8th
1985–1986 Duquesne 15-14 9-9 5th
1986–1987 Duquesne 12-17 7-11 T-6th
1987–1988 Duquesne 11-21 6-12 8th
1988–1989 Duquesne 13-16 7-11 T-6th
1989–1990 Duquesne 7-22 5-13 T-8th
1990–1991 Duquesne 13-15 10-8 T-3rd
1991–1992 Duquesne 13-15 6-10 T-6th
1992–1993 Duquesne 13-15 5-9 T-5th
1993–1994 Duquesne 17-13 8-8 T-3rd NIT Sweet Sixteen
1994–1995 Duquesne 10-18 5-11 8th
1995–1996 Duquesne 9-18 3-13 T-5th-West
1996–1997 Duquesne 9-18 5-11 T-5th-West
1997–1998 Duquesne 11-19 5-11 T-4th-West
1998–1999 Duquesne 5-23 1-15 6th-West
1999–2000 Duquesne 9-20 4-12 6th-West
2000–2001 Duquesne 9-21 3-13 10th
2001–2002 Danny Nee 9-19 4-12 6th-West
2002–2003 Danny Nee 10-20 4-12 6th-West
2003–2004 Danny Nee 12-17 6-10 5th-West
2004–2005 Danny Nee 8-22 5-11 5th-West
2005–2006 Danny Nee 3-24 1-15 14th
2006–2007 Ron Everhart 10-19 6-10 T-10th
2007–2008 Ron Everhart 17-13 7-9 10th
Ron Everhart: 27-32 13-19
Total: 1227-919

      National Champion         Conference Champion         Conference Tournament Champion


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Retired Jerseys. Duquesne University Men's Basketball History. Duquesne University Athletics. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.

[edit] External links

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