| Duquesne Dukes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
 | ||||
| University | Duquesne University | |||
| Head coach | Dru Joyce III (1st season) | |||
| Conference | Atlantic 10 | |||
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |||
| Arena | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (capacity: 3,500) | |||
| Nickname | Dukes | |||
| Colors | Red and blue[1] | |||
| Uniforms | ||||
| ||||
| NCAA tournament Final Four | ||||
| 1940 | ||||
| NCAA tournament Elite Eight | ||||
| 1940, 1952 | ||||
| NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1952, 1969 | ||||
| NCAA tournament round of 32 | ||||
| 1977, 2024 | ||||
| NCAA tournament appearances | ||||
| 1940, 1952, 1969, 1971, 1977, 2024 | ||||
| Conference tournament champions | ||||
| 1977, 2024 | ||||
| Conference regular season champions | ||||
| 1980, 1981 | ||||
The Duquesne Dukes represent Duquesne University in college basketball. The team, which started in 1914, has only ever played in NCAA Division I and has had six appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The Dukes play in the Atlantic 10 Conference, of which they have been members since 1976 (minus the 1992–93 season in which the Dukes were single-season members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference). Their head basketball coach is Dru Joyce III.[2]
The Dukes men's basketball team has had great success over the years, playing twice in national championship games in the 1950s and winning the National Invitation Tournament championship in 1955. Duquesne also emerged victorious in the 1976–77 Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (the forerunner to the Eastern Athletic Association, now known as the Atlantic 10 Conference) tournament and 2024 Atlantic 10 tournament. The Dukes were also 1979–80 and 1980–81 Eastern Athletic Association regular-season co-champions. The Associated Press ranked Duquesne as the No. 1 college basketball team in the country for two consecutive weeks during the 1953–54 season.[3] They also have gone through lean years, as Duquesne went 47 years between appearances in the NCAA Division I Tournament (which was the eighth-longest active streak) after winning their first Atlantic 10 title in 1977. They reached (and lost) the A10 tournament final in 1981 and 2009 before finally winning the conference tournament in 2024 and snapping the 47-year appearance drought in the NCAA tournament.
Duquesne is the only school to have back-to-back first overall picks in the National Basketball Association draft (Dick Ricketts by the Saint Louis Hawks in 1955 and Sihugo Green by the Rochester Royals in 1956). The Dukes men's basketball program can also claim the first African-American player selected in an NBA draft (Chuck Cooper by the Boston Celtics in 1950). The 1939–40 Dukes basketball team finished with a 20–3 record and appeared in the Final Four of both the NIT and NCAA Tournaments. Duquesne has had the most Atlantic 10 scoring champions in conference history.[citation needed]
- ^ "Duquesne Athletics Visual Identity Guidelines" (PDF). October 18, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
- ^ Salerno, Cameron (March 28, 2024). "Dru Joyce III, high school teammate of LeBron James, to coach Duquesne, replacing retired Keith Dambrot". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
- ^ "Duquesne (PA) 1954 AP Men's Basketball Rankings - College Poll Archive - Historical College Football and Basketball Polls and Rankings". collegepollarchive.com.