Duquesne Basketball: Dusan Mahorcic gives Dukes best A-10 frontcourt for 2023-24

Dusan Mahorcic is the latest transfer pickup for Duquesne Basketball this offseason, giving them arguably the best frontcourt in the A-10 next season.

Although Ace Baldwin Jr. was the A-10 Player of the Year this past season, one could argue that the league was decided by the frontcourts throughout the league. Looking at the top six teams, there were plenty of forward and center starts. Dayton had Toumani Camara and DaRon Holmes, VCU had Jamir Watkins and Jalen Deloach, Saint Louis had Francis Okoro, George Mason had Josh Oduro and Fordham had Khalid Moore.

Duquesne Basketball, who finished in a surprising 6th place, didn’t have one frontcourt player that averaged in double figures but had plenty of depth to cause problems for 40 minutes. Joe Reece was the double-digit scoring threat, Austin Rotroff was the rebounding machine off the bench, RJ Gunn was the stretch forward, and Tre Williams was the lockdown defender at the four-spot.

Of that group of veterans, only Williams is set to return. And with freshman center Halil Barre injured, he might not be 100% to start next season. So the Dukes got busy in the transfer portal and added four quality frontcourt additions. The first was the brother duo of Hassan and Fousseyni Drame, a pair of 6’7 combo forwards from La Salle. The next was 6’7 forward Andrei Savrasov, who averaged 14.3 ppg and 7.3 rpg at Georgia Southern.

The latest commitment for Duquesne is its best in Dusan Mahorcic. He’s a 6’10 and 230-pound center from Serbia that has traveled a bit, playing at the JUCO level, Illinois State, Utah, and NC State last season. He has a career of 8.3 ppg and 6.2 rpg at the D-I level and is a bruising big man that can defend.

Mahorcic is a power conference talent that the Dukes were able to steal but a reason is the season-ending injury he suffered this past season. He may not be 100% to start the season and could miss some time but if you’re Duquesne, with so many seniors on the roster, this is an all-in move you make to win the A-10 Tournament and get back to the NCAA Tournament.

With a healthy Mahorcic, you have a veteran frontcourt with various skillsets that’ll allow Coach Keith Dambrot to use a number of different lineups depending on the opponent. And with so many quality bigs in the A-10 now gone (odds are good that Holmes of Dayton will remain in the NBA Draft), it’s hard to see a current roster in the league with a better set of bigs than the Dukes.