Atlantic 10 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season

2. Duquesne Dukes

2022-23 season record: 20-13 (10-8)

The most improved team in Atlantic 10 Basketball last season was Duquesne, who went from last to nearly finishing in the top-4 of the standings last season. Several quality impact transfers did the trick but Coach Keith Dambrot playing as many as 12 players a night proved to work out. So despite the team losing a few rotation pieces such as Tevin Brewer, Joe Reece, RJ Gunn, and Austin Rotroff, plenty still are back.

That includes the two leading scoring guards, Jimmy “Tre” Clark and Dae Dae Grant. After coming over from Miami (OH), Grant averaged 15.5 ppg on 40% shooting from deep. And Clark has a case to make that he’s a top-3 defender in all of Atlantic 10 Basketball. Tre Williams is also one of the best frontcourt defenders, while David Dixon and Halil Barre are both healthy and coming off solid freshmen campaigns.

The frontcourt also has plenty of depth, thanks to the portal. Fousseyni and Hassan Drame are both impactful forward transfers from La Salle, while Andrei Savrasov averaged 14.3 ppg and 7.3 rpg at Georgia Southern. And while he won’t be available until December after recovering from knee surgery, NC State transfer Dusan Mahorcic, when healthy, could be a game-changer inside for a Duquesne squad that struggled in the rebounding department.

The biggest question for the Dukes is at point guard. Kareem Rozier averaged 3.9 ppg and played 16 mpg as a freshman off the bench and played very well at times. But he also shot just 38% from the field and will be tasked with running the offense, or else Grant will have to move to the one-spot. That’s certainly a concern but this is one of the best shooting teams in the league, while having maybe the best collective frontcourt in the league. If Rozier plays well, this could be their best chance to win the A-10.