Duquesne Dukes Basketball Season Preview
The college hoops season is right around the corner, and Busting Brackets is here to whet your basketball-starved appetite. Over the next five weeks, we are publishing season previews team by team, conference by conference, to offer a glimpse into the upcoming season. Busting Brackets is giving you the lowdown on the biggest storylines, offseason changes and x-factors for each team and each league as we roll into the 2012-13 season. Our complete season preview archive can be accessed here. Buckle up, peeps.
Duquesne Dukes
| Last Season | 16-15 (7-9 A-10) Lost in first round of A-10 tournament to UMass |
| Key Returning Players: | Sean Johnson, G Andre Marhold, F/C Kadeem Pantophlet, F Mamadou Datt, F |
| Key Additions: | Jeremiah Jones, G (Northwestern Military Academy) Quevyn Winters, F (Training Academy, N.C.) Derrick Colter, G (Largo HS) |
| Key Losses: | B.J. Monteiro, G/F T.J. McConnell, G (Transferred to Arizona) Eric Evans, G Mike Talley, G (Transferred to Eastern Michigan) |
| Top Non-Conference Games: | Nov. 11 @ Georgetown Nov. 20 vs. North Dakota State Dec. 5 @ Pittsburgh Dec. 11 vs. West Virginia Dec. 15 @ Robert Morris Dec. 29 @ Penn State |
| Top Conference Games: | Jan. 12 vs. Saint Joseph’s Jan. 19 vs. VCU Jan. 23 vs. Saint Louis Feb. 9 vs. Xavier Feb. 14 @ Temple |
| Breakout Player: | Andre Marhold. The junior big man led the Dukes in blocks (40) and rebounds per 40 minutes (7.44) last season despite only starting in 22 games. In what figures to be a pronounced role in 2012-13, Marhold should build on his expanded role from last season and will likely lead the team, along with returning guard Sean Johnson. Although Duquesne loves to run an up-tempo offense, the Dukes lost the bulk of their backcourt from last season and hence must rely on Marhold to hold down the fort down low. Expect Marhold to get an increase in touches in 2012-13 while patrolling the paint on the defensive end as well. Duquesne traditionally loves its guards. But they’ll have to love their big men (namely #0) this season as well to avoid a last place finish. |
| X-Factor: | Rebounding. Once again, rebounding should be an issue for yet another undersized Duquesne team. The Dukes were the second worst rebounding team in the A-10 last season, averaging just 0.5 rebounds per game more (30.8) than the league’s worst rebounding team, Richmond (30.3). Andre Marhold will need to transition seamlessly into an expanded role as a go-to player for the Dukes down low. His production on the offensive end and on the glass will go a long way in determining how much the Dukes struggle next season. First-year head coach Jim Ferry could also use contributions from 7-foot-1 Latvian project Martins Abele, a former Radford transfer, but the team isn’t holding its breath. If rebounding doesn’t ultimately do in the Dukes, flimsy post defense almost certainly will. |
| Best Case: | Sean Johnson stabilizes a backcourt decimated by losses (via transfer and graduation) over the offseason. Jeremiah Jones is an instant impact recruit, adding a much needed guard to coach Ferry’s backcourt rotation. Martins Abele and Derrick Martin provide [unexpectedly] valuable minutes down low. Marhold has a breakout senior season. Kadeem Pantophlet and Mamadous Datt build on solid freshman seasons and emerge as viable options for Ferry as mature sophomores. The Dukes are less vulnerable on the glass and in the post on defense. Duquesne upsets one of Saint Louis, Saint Joseph’s or VCU on its home floor, giving the fans something to hang their hat on. A young Dukes squad avoids the cellar, finishing 13th in the conference. |
| Worst Case: | Abele and Martin aren’t ready to contribute. Marhold, strapped with the frontcourt to himself, is weighed down by the great burden. The rebounding woes continue and the Dukes are exploited inside by an A-10 rife with frontcourt talent. The school’s normally stout backcourt, meanwhile, is incapable of picking up the slack. The freshman Jones is not ready to contribute immediately. Johnson, while good, is not the star-type talent the Dukes need him to be. Duquesne, having lost more backcourt pieces than any other team in the A-10, struggle mightily from the perimeter. TheIn his first season at the school, Ferry finishes last in a conference sans an easy foe. |
| Projected Finish: | 13-18 (3-13 Atlantic-10) Lose in first round of A-10 Tourney |