Duquesne Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for Dukes

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 08: Eric James #2 of the Duquesne Dukes and Chas Brown #0 of the Duquesne Dukes rebound against the Richmond Spiders during the first half in the Second Round of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

3 of 5

Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images /

Duquesne’s new faces could play an important role

While there aren’t many new faces for Duquesne this season, just five in total, but some of them could be quite impactful. First and foremost is Steele who played previously at Utah Valley where the big man averaged eight points and seven rebounds last season, but showed the ability to be a more dominant force, posting seven double-doubles. The addition of Steele will allow the Dukes to play him alongside Hughes and give them some serious bulk upfront.

The three freshmen are all guards and due to injuries, Maceo Austin, a 6’5 native of Pennsylvania got valuable minutes, starting both games on their trip to the Bahamas, scoring 16 points in the finale against Abaco Elite. The other three freshmen are 6’5 Ashton Miller from New Jersey, who didn’t take part on the trip due to injury, Evan Buckley who averaged nearly 23 points per game and handed out over eight assists as a senior in Virginia and Jake Harper who at 6’3 grabbed six rebounds per game as a senior in Pennsylvania.

The final newcomer for Dambrot isn’t exactly new, James Ellis is a redshirt-freshman center who sat out last season. The 6’11 230lb. Pittsburgh native scored 21 points, snatched 12 rebounds and turned away 7.6 blocks as a senior at Westinghouse High School.

Home/Atlantic 10