Keith Dambrot leaves Duquesne Basketball the way he came in... a winner

After 26 seasons and another trip to the NCAA Tournament, Duquesne Basketball HC Keith Dambrot has decided to call it a career after this season.

When Keith Dambrot was hired as the head coach of Duquesne Basketball in 2017, he had the kind of resume that the Dukes program was lucky to get. In 13 years at Akron, Dambrot won over 300 games, six regular-season titles, and three appearances to the NCAA Tournament. He was looking to get one more at Duquesne, who haven't been to the Big Dance since 1977.

It was a tough job to take at a program without much winning history. But things were off to a good start, going 56-38 in his first three years. But after a 9-9 year (during the pandemic) and a 6-24 campaign a couple of years ago, there was a chance that the Dambrot era was coming to an end on bad terms.

But Coach Dambrot had one more run in him. After going 20-13 and keeping all of the key pieces around like Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark, the Dukes had plenty of expectations for the 2023-24 campaign. Yet due to injuries and inconsistent play, they started out 0-5 and were in danger of the season falling apart.

But it didn't. They won without Grant at home against rival St. Bonaventure to get on the board in league play. That started a run of 10 wins in 13 games to climb back up to a 6-seed in the conference tournament. After beating Saint Louis in the second round, they took on a Dayton squad that handled them in the past few years, including in the first two matchups.

But Duquesne found a way to survive DaRon Holmes to pull off the upset in the A-10 Tournament quarterfinals to exercise those demons. And after beating St. Bonaventure for a third time this season, they took on VCU for a chance at the title. Things looked great, having a 14-point halftime lead over the Rams.

However, the second half went as poor as possible. The team made just six total shots, with Grant going scoreless in the final 20 minutes. Making matters worse, Clark had his worst offensive game in a Dukes' uniform, going 2/17 from the field. In any other circumstance, VCU would've won the game.

Yet destiny was on Duquesne's side. A clutch 3-pointer by Jacob Necas extended the lead one final time late, allowing the Dukes to win 57-51 to get the tournament title and the NCAA Tournament apperance, taking on BYU in the 6-11 matchup on Thursday.

But was it really "destiny"? Or was it a great head coach who found a way to win? Dambrot did this countless times at Akron when it mattered so was it really a shock he did it with a team talented enough to match up with the best of the A-10? When it came down to it, both he and the team answered the call every time this past week, hence why they're going dancing.

One word to describe Duquesne Basketball before this season wouldn't be "winning". But it would be for Keith Dambrot. And what will be one of his last acts as a college basketball head coach, he made the Dukes a winner.

The best way to describe what was a chaotic A-10 Tournament was that "winners win". So in reality, should we be that surprised by what Dambrot was able to do? The last question now is whether he and the team got one more win in them.