Duquesne Dukes men's basketball

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.

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. 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.

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, 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).

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).

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).

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.

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]

All-time coaches

Coach	Years	Win-Loss	Win %	Conference Titles	NCAA Tourn. Appearances	NIT Titles	NCAA Titles	CBI Appearances
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	83-75	.525	-	-	-	-	2

Players

Duquesne men's basketball current roster

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	Hometown (High School)
0	marAndre Marhold	F/C	7-6	305	1So.	Charlotte, N.C. (Mecklenburg)
1	robMike Talley	G	5-10	170	2Fr.	Detroit, Mich. (Academy for Business and Technology in Melvindale)
3	evaEric Evans	G	5-11	200	2Jr.	Detroit, Mich. (Northwestern)
4	fauSalim Fauras	G	5-10	160	1Fr.	Geneva, Switzerland (Bishop Ireton)
20	johSean Johnson	G	6-2	175	1So.	Queens, N.Y. (Christ the King)
22	theDavid Theis	F	6-7	230	3Sr.	Pittsburgh, Pa. (Vincentian Academy / Mercersburg Prep)
25	sauDamian Saunders	F	6-7	210	3Sr.	Waterbury, Conn. (Crosby / Notre Dame Prep)
30	claBill Clark	G / F	6-5	205	3Sr.	Redondo Beach, Calif. (Oak Hill Academy / Worcester Academy)
32	monB.J. Monteiro	G / F	6-5	195	2Jr.	Waterbury, Conn. (Crosby)
33	pegRodrigo Peggau	F/C	6-8	235	1So.	São Paulo, Brazil (The Patterson School)
55	newLucas Newton	G	5-10	165	3Jr.	Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Westminster Academy)

Notable players

Duquesne 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

Yearly results

Season	Coach	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 [but Midwestern Collegiate Conference members in 1992-93])
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 (MCC)	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
2008–2009	Ron Everhart	21-14	9-7	T-5th	NIT Round of 32
2009–2010	Ron Everhart	16-16	7-9	8th	CBI First Round
2010-2011	Ron Everhart	19-13	10-6	4th	CBI Second Round
Ron Everhart:		83-75	39-41
Total:		1256-943
National Champion         Conference Regular Season Champion         Conference Tournament Champion       Conference Regular Season & Conference Tournament Champion       Conference Division Champion

References

• Rishel, Joseph F. (1997). The Spirit that Gives Life. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Duquesne University Press. ISBN 0-8207-0268-4. 

1. ^ ^{a b} "Retired Jerseys". Duquesne University Men's Basketball History. Duquesne University Athletics. http://goduquesne.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/111202aaa.html. Retrieved 2007-09-17. 

External links

• Dukes Chat
• Duquesne Dukes Men's Basketball Official Web Site
• Head Coach Ron Everhart Official Web Site