Duquesne Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2021-22 season

After a season filled with ups and downs, Duquesne Basketball will be reloading after losing four starters from the team, along with a fifth in point guard Sincere Carry, who transferred out after just five games.

That includes two seniors and leading scorers in Michael Hughes and Marcus Weathers, along with outgoing transfers, Tavian Dunn-Martin and Chad Baker. After a couple of other players also departed this offseason, the Dukes needed to add several transfers to have enough depth for the upcoming season.

There are four transfers and three freshmen newcomers for Duquesne, along with a few returning underclassmen looking for more playing time. There are many possibilities in terms of potential lineups and who’ll lead the team in scoring this upcoming season and we’ll see who ends up in the first lineup once November arrives.

For now, here’s a view of how the current roster looks for Duquense Basketball for the 2021-22 campaign.

Point Guard

Starter: Jackie Johnson (26 mpg)

After losing around 85% of the team’s passing production, the Dukes were in major need of some impact freshman guards, after missing out on a veteran transfer option. The good news is that they have a high-profile three-star freshman playmaker coming in Jackie Johnson. He’s a 5’11 guard from Wichita, Kansas, and had power conference interest as well.

Throughout his high school career, Johnson was a prolific scorer, averaging at least 20 ppg in every year, including over 27 ppg at Hargrave Military Academy as a senior. He’s a quality three-point shooter as well and is a capable ball-handler as well. Whether he’s a good enough facilitator and initiator of an offense remains to be seen but his size and skillset make him a good fit at the one spot.

Bench: Amir Spears (14 mpg)

Amir “Primo” Spears is a combo guard freshman capable of playing both backcourt positions. He’s also a former football player as well and will bring the toughness element that head coach Keith Dambrot likes for his team. Spears is 6’3 and has plenty of size, while also having experience of being a starting point guard as well.

Including reserve guard Michael Bekelja, there are effectively five guards on the roster. Johnson and Spears are the best ball-handlers of the group and Duquesne hopes that they both can have a big impact as freshmen, similar to what Sincere Carry did years ago. If not, this team will be in big trouble in the backcourt.