Duquesne Dukes Men's Basketball
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Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...
in
college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
. The team, which started in 1914, has only ever played in
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
and has had six appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The Dukes play in the
Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...
, of which they have been members since 1976 (minus the 1992–93 season in which the Dukes were single-season members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference). Their head basketball coach is Dru Joyce III. 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 The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...
championship in 1955. Duquesne also emerged victorious in the 1976–77 Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (the forerunner to the Eastern Athletic Association, now known as the
Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...
) tournament and 2024 Atlantic 10 tournament. The Dukes were also 1979–80 and 1980–81 Eastern Athletic Association regular-season co-champions. The Associated Press ranked Duquesne as the No. 1 college basketball team in the country for two consecutive weeks during the 1953–54 season. They also have gone through lean years, as Duquesne went 47 years between appearances in the NCAA Division I Tournament (which was the eighth-longest active streak) after winning their first Atlantic 10 title in 1977. They reached (and lost) the A10 tournament final in
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
and
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
before finally winning the conference tournament in 2024 and snapping the 47-year appearance drought in the NCAA tournament. Duquesne is the only school to have back-to-back first overall picks in the
National Basketball Association draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947, in which the teams in the league can draft players who declare for the draft and that are eligible to join their organization. The current NBA cons ...
( Dick Ricketts by the Saint Louis Hawks in 1955 and Sihugo Green by the
Rochester Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...
in
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
). The Dukes men's basketball program can also claim the first African-American player selected in an
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
draft ( Chuck Cooper by the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
in
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...
). 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. Duquesne has had the most Atlantic 10 scoring champions in conference history.


History


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 The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
,
Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...
, Adrian College, Elmhurst College, Alfred State College, John Carroll University,
American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
,
Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univers ...
,
Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...
,
St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858. In ath ...
,
Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...
,
Manhattan College Manhattan University (previously Manhattan College) is a private, Catholic university in New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools) as an academy fo ...
, and the City College of New York. Davies, immensely popular, coached Duquesne basketball until 1948 (Rishel 40–41).


World War II era

The university tried to hold on to basketball during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, 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. During the 1946–1947 season Davies led the Dukes to 19 straight victories before a loss to
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
. In that same season, Duquesne received its third invitation to the NIT, losing by one point to the
University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...
, the eventual champion, which it had defeated during the regular season (Rishel 101). During this first postwar season, the
University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
refused to play a scheduled game against Duquesne at the McKeesport (PA) Vocational High School because the Dukes had a black player-- Chuck Cooper. The December 23, 1946, 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. In 1950, Cooper became the first African-American drafted to play professional basketball when he joined the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
(Rishel 101).


Mid-century success

Dukes Basketball continued to impress with a new coach in the 1948–49 season-- Donald "Dudey" Moore, who had also played for Duquesne. In the 1949–50 season, Moore's team achieved a 17–5 record in the 1948–49 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 McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. A suburb of Pittsburgh, it is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela River, Monongahela and Youghiogheny River, Youghiogheny rivers. The population was 17,727 as of the ...
or the
Duquesne Gardens The Duquesne Gardens (officially Duquesne Garden until 1940 and The Gardens afterward) was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the first half of the 20th century. Built in 1890, the building originally served as a tr ...
in
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
. Even at this point, daily practice was held at
North Catholic High School North Catholic High School is a private Catholic Church, Catholic high school located in Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania. The school's mascot is the Troy, Trojan, and its colors are scarlet and gold. History North Catholic High S ...
(Rishel 102). The 1950s marked an age of immense success for Dukes Basketball, with Moore leading his team to six NIT bids (
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...
,
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...
,
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
,
1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
, 1955,
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
). The team went 21–1 during the 1951–52 regular season and was the top seed in the tournament. Moore was named "Coach of the Year" by the New York Basketball Writers Association. 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 The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...
, 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
Duquesne Gardens The Duquesne Gardens (officially Duquesne Garden until 1940 and The Gardens afterward) was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the first half of the 20th century. Built in 1890, the building originally served as a tr ...
, 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 The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
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 postseason play, ending up in the Final Four in the 1962 NIT tournament, with further appearances in the NIT in
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
,
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
, and
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
, plus appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 1969 and
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
. 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).


1970s to 1990s

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: Red 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 Norman Ellard Nixon (born October 11, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played with Scav ...
(Rishel 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 (Rishel 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.


21st century

The Dukes have had mixed success in the 21st century, reaching one NCAA Tournament (reaching the second round in
2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
), one NIT Tournament (eliminated in the first round in
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
) and four College Basketball Invitational tournaments (twice making the second round). Despite coming off a second straight winning season and losing to Temple in the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Game in
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
, coach Ron Everhart was fired after the 2011–2012 season; the university cited a lack of postseason success as the main reason for the firing. Jim Ferry was hired but failed to improve the team's performance and was fired in 2017 with an overall record of 60-97. Keith Dambrot was hired away from
Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...
and coached the team to a bid in the 2024 NCAA Tournament as an 11 seed after winning the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament for the second time. They defeated the 6th-seeded
BYU Cougars The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the Big 12 C ...
in the first round 71-67, their first NCAA tournament win in 55 years.


Postseason


NCAA tournament results

The Dukes have appeared in the NCAA Tournament six times. Their combined record is 5–6.


NIT results

The Dukes have appeared in the
National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...
(NIT) 17 times. Their combined record is 17–19. They were NIT champions in 1955.


CBI results

The Dukes have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) four times. Their combined record is 2–4.


National Campus Basketball Tournament results

The Dukes appeared in the only National Campus Basketball Tournament. Their record is 0–1.


Retired numbers

On January 27, 2001, during the halftime of a game against
Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...
, the Duquesne University Department of Athletics retired the jersey numbers of five of its all-time greatest players: Chuck Cooper, Sihugo Green,
Norm Nixon Norman Ellard Nixon (born October 11, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played with Scav ...
, Dick Ricketts and Willie Somerset. Mike James' number 13 was retired in 2017.


All-time coaches


Notable players

All-Americans *1935 – Paul Birch *1936 – Herb Bonn, Walter Miller *1940 – Ed Milkovich, Paul Widowitz *1941 – Moe Becker, Paul Widowitz *1950 – Chuck Cooper *1952 – Jim Tucker *1953 – Dick Ricketts *1954 – Sihugo Green, Dick Ricketts *1955 – Sihugo Green, Dick Ricketts *1956 – Sihugo Green *1965 – Willie Somerset *1973 –
Norm Nixon Norman Ellard Nixon (born October 11, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played with Scav ...
Professional * Shawn James (born 1983), Guyanese-American basketball player * T.J. McConnell (born 1992), American basketball player


References

*


External links

* {{Pittsburgh sports