Duquesne Basketball: Guards Dae Dae Grant and Tevin Brewer leads the rebuild effort
Duquesne Basketball landed a pair of key guards for the upcoming season in Tevin Brewer and Dae Dae Grant. What will be their impact on the Dukes?
After a 6-24 overall season and losing the team’s final 17 games to head into the offseason, there was no question that major changes were coming for Duquesne Basketball. Head coach Keith Dambrot was coming back for many players on the roster weren’t, as six opted to enter the transfer portal. That included literally all of the perimeter players, including most notably, freshmen Jackie Johnson and Primo Spears.
To some degree, it wasn’t a bad loss to completely revamp the backcourt. As a team, the Dukes ranked 350th nationally in assists (10 apg), 324th in three-point shooting (31%), and 356th in three-point defense (37%). Those are arguably the most important categories so being the worst in the country would explain losing 24 of 30 games in a season.
If you want to offer an excuse, the guards for Duquesne were literally the youngest in the country, with all of them having three years of eligibility left. So had they all stayed together, maybe it could’ve improved. But in this era where changes can be made quickly, guys leaving were expected.
Duquesne did a good job rebuilding the backcourt early on in the offseason, landing JUCO transfers, Tre Clark (Northwest Florida State College), and Quincy McGriff (Salt Lake CC). They also were able to land three-star guard Devin Carney, a former Elon commit. But as solid as they look, they don’t have much-proven production at the D-I level so the staff had to continue working the portal. And turns out, they landed a pair of key newcomers to the roster.
Tevin Brewer – Florida International
2021-22 stats: 15.2 ppg, 5.6 apg, 43% FG, 40% 3PT
Point guard is Brewer’s position, mainly because that’s the only one he can play at 5’8. But what he lacks in size he makes up for in heart and talent, because Brewer is a quality passer and playmaker. He had three games of double-digit assists this past season, including another seven with at least seven with the Panthers.
Brewer also is a good shooter, with a career 39% shot from deep in 66 games at FIU, at over five attempts a game. The efficiency makes him a great option to have at the one, as he can pass or keep opposing defenses honest on the perimeter. He has 1-2 years of eligibility left and gives the team an experienced point guard to run the offense.
Dae Dae Grant – Miami (OH)
2021-22 stats: 17.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.1 apg, 42% FG, 34% 3PT
The 6’2 guard has improved his scoring production by around four points each year and is coming off an All-MAC campaign, leading the Redhawks in both points and assists. Grant was in double figures in all but two games last season and had 20+ points 12 times. He also can produce against the better competition, including 20 points against Clemson and 15 versus Georgia Tech in the non-conference.
Grant is a quality shot-maker and capable of playing off the ball. And he’s already familiar with 5’8 guards after working with Mekhi Lairy at Miami (OH) for the past three years. So he and Brewer in the same backcourt would have little issue and the combined six years of D-I experience alone was more than last year’s core for the Dukes this past season.
A-10 comparison
Can Grant and Brewer be the backcourt that leads Duquesne towards the middle tier of the Atlantic 10? The hope would be that they have the same kind of impact that Darius Quisenberry and Antoino Daye Jr. had for half a season at Fordham last year. Both of those guards averaged over 16 ppg and were 2-0 in league play before Daye left the program.
The Rams still managed to finish 16-16 overall and 8-10 (8th) in league play and that’s where Duquesne will be hoping to land, assuming everything goes well. After a season with nothing but underclassmen guards, the Dukes rebuilt the backcourt with veterans and guys capable of shooting and defending.
Next. Updated WTE top-25 rankings for 2022-23. dark
Duquesne Basketball will be flying under the radar all offseason but based on what’s happened in the past couple of months, A-10 fans should be aware of an impressive haul of guards from the city of Pittsburgh.