PITTSBURGH – Duquesne University head men's basketball coach Keith Dambrot announced today that graduate transfer Baylee Steele (Norwalk, Iowa/Utah Valley) has signed a financial aid agreement and will be part of the men's basketball program this fall.

Steele, who has played in 68 Division I games with 57 starts, will be eligible immediately.

The 6-11, 245-pound center, who began his career at Des Moines Area Community College, spent one year each at Eastern Michigan and Utah Valley University. He averaged 8.5 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game as a redshirt junior for 25-10 Utah Valley last season. He was one of two players to start all 35 games for the Wolverines, who advanced to the CBI second round.

Steele, who led the team with 122 free throw attempts (.754), scored in double digits 13 times and posted seven double-doubles. He pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds in 24 minutes at BYU.

"The things that jump out to me about Baylee are his work ethic and will to win," said Dambrot. "Having the experience of starting at center for a 25-win team is invaluable. Baylee is a big man who can run. He's agile, he can shoot the ball from the perimeter and, most importantly, he wants to get better. We had to beat some high majors to get him, and it says a lot about what he was looking for in a program that he chose Duquesne."

Steele played in all 33 games with 22 starts as a sophomore for Eastern Michigan in 2016-17, where he averaged 4.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. A .549 career shooter, Steele has made .767 of his free throw attempts.    

Steele joins incoming freshmen Maceo Austin, Evan Buckley and Ashton Miller, as well as James Ellis, who was part of the 2018-19 recruiting class, as newcomers to the 2019-20 roster.