PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne University Department of Athletics is mourning the loss of former men's basketball coach John Cinicola who passed away on August 14 - his 85th birthday.

Cinicola, who graduated from Duquesne in 1955, joined the DU coaching staff as an assistant under Red Manning in 1960. He served as an assistant for 14 seasons prior to taking over as head coach in 1974-75.

The Pittsburgh native, who led the Dukes to an Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (ECBL) tournament title and automatic NCAA Championship appearance in 1977, is one of two men's basketball coaches to lead Duquesne to a post-season championship (the other was Dudey Moore who led the Dukes to the 1955 NIT title).

To read more about Coach Cinicola's life, please visit the following links:

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review