Quoting Coach Dambrot
"I'm excited about our team. In the first two years, we focused on improving our talent level and now we've moved toward working on creating a winning culture and a winning mentality. I feel we're in a good place to do that. We've had a good spring and summer and the team has done a good job of buying in to what we need to do to take that next step.

"Last year we showed toughness at times, but we have to learn to be more consistent ... more consistent on the defensive end and more consistent shooting the ball. We need to be better with the ball and better at sharing the ball. We had moments where we were a very good team, and at other times we were a little up-and-down which put us in holes.

"Every play, every day is kind of my motto. If you get after it every play on every day then you have a much better chance to be consistent. You also have to get a little bit 'old' to develop more consistency. The more you can stay 'old,' the better you can be over time. This is kind of our time where we're a little bit older and a little more mature. We're a little bigger and stronger and I think we'll be a little more consistent because of that."

2019-20 Quick Hits

• The Dukes are entering their third season under head coach Keith Dambrot. Dambrot, who inherited a 10-22 team in 2017-18, posted a 16-16 record in 2018 and guided a 2019 team - with a roster that saw 97 percent of its points come from freshmen and sophomores - to 19 wins (19-13) and a 10-8 Atlantic 10 finish (T6th). The Dukes, who were picked to finish 11th in last year's A-10 preseason poll, tied the school record for conference wins and posted the school's highest win total since 2011.
• Duquesne returns four starters - 2019 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team member 6-1 So. G Sincere Carry (12.1, 3.6, 161 assists, 68 steals), 6-4 Jr. G Frankie Hughes (8.9, 2.2, 71 3-pointers), 6-8 Jr. C Michael Hughes (11.2, 6.5, 66 blocks) and 6-5 Jr. F Marcus Weathers (10.0, 6.4).
• Additional key returnees include 2019 Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year 5-8 Jr. G Tavian Dunn-Martin (7.8, 1.4, 81 assists, 47 3-pointers), 6-3 So., G Lamar Norman Jr. (4.8, 1.6), 6-10 So. F Austin Rotroff (4.2, 2.4) and 6-9 So. F Amari Kelly (2.1, 2.1). Rotroff and Kelly are both coming off season-ending ACL injuries suffered in separate games vs. Saint Louis last season (Rotroff on Jan. 23 in Pittsburgh and Kelly on Mar. 6 in St. Louis). Caleb Davis (seven career games played), DU's lone senior, is also back.
• The Dukes welcome six newcomers including 6-5 Fr. G Maceo Austin (Sharon, Pa.), 6-1 Fr. G Evan Buckley (Ashburn, Va.), 6-11 Fr. C James Ellis (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 6-3 Fr. G Jake Harper (Dayton, Ohio), 6-5 Fr. G Ashton Miller (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and 6-11 Gr. C Baylee Steele (Norwalk, Iowa/Utah Valley University). Ellis, who was part of the 2018-19 recruiting class, sat out last season. He is Duquesne's first player from Pittsburgh's City League since Jack Higgins (Schenley) transferred in from Cleveland State (at DU from 2004-06). Ellis is the first City League basketball player signed out of high school by Duquesne since Courtney Wallace (1998-01) who attended Perry Traditional Academy. Steele, who began his career at Des Moines Area Community College, spent one year at Eastern Michigan (4.4, 4.1 in 2016-17) before transferring to Utah Valley University, where he was one of two players to start all 35 games for the 25-10 CBI second round Wolverines (8.5, 7.2 in 2018-19). The fourth graduate transfer in Duquesne basketball history has played in 68 Division I games with a team-high 57 career starts.
• Duquesne returns over 75 percent of its scoring from a team the led the Atlantic 10 with a 73.5 ppg. average. Seven of DU's top eight point producers from last season are back. All but two of DU's 1,295 points scored in conference play last season (99.8%) were scored by freshmen and sophomores.

Dambrot on the Atlantic 10 Race
"VCU has pretty much everyone back and Dayton has added some key pieces. Davidson also has a lot of people back as well. But I wouldn't count out anybody. There is a lot of talent in this league. Saint Louis came in and won the tournament over a St. Bonaventure team that had a bunch of talented freshmen who gained a lot valuable experience. Rhode Island has Fatts [Russell], [Jeff] Dowtin and [Cyril] Langevine all back, so they have a good nucleus. Richmond will be more healthy and La Salle played well down the stretch. It will be a matter of who can play together. I think it will be wide open again."

Worth Noting

• Head Coach Keith Dambrot's 35 wins are the most by a DU coach through his first two seasons. His 16 wins in 2018 were the most by a DU first-year coach since Dudey Moore went 17-5 in 1948-49. DU's 19 wins last season were its most since 2011.
• Duquesne has exceeded its preseason A-10 pick in each of its first two seasons under Dambrot. The 2018 Dukes, picked to finish last, ended up tied for 10th. Last year DU, picked 11th, ended up tied for sixth. It was the first time since 2009 (picked 12th, finished tied for fifth) that a DU team exceeded its preseason pick by five or more spots.
• Duquesne's five Atlantic 10 home-and-home opponents remain unchanged for the fourth consecutive season: Dayton, Fordham, George Washington, St. Bonaventure & Saint Louis.
• The Dukes prepared for the season with a trip to the Bahamas August 5-11. It was the third-ever foreign tour for Duquesne which traveled to Toronto to play four games in three days over Labor Day weekend in 2007 and also went to Ireland for a four-game tour in August of 2015. DU was allowed 10 practices prior to departing.
• Duquesne will return to the Bahamas Nov. 21-24 for the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini. The Dukes will face Indiana State, Air Force and Loyola Marymount in the four-day event. The Dukes will also face Marshall in the second game of the inaugural Cleveland Classic at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Dec. 29. The DU/Marshall game will be preceded by a game between Ohio State and West Virginia. The remainder of the nonconference schedule is to be announced.
• The Dukes, who broke the Palumbo Center record for wins (14) in 2018, didn't lack for drama in coming back from double-digit deficits to win eight times - including five times in conference play. DU, which was 10-8 when trailing at the half last season, erased 19-point deficits to defeat both Rhode Island at home and George Mason on the road.

Two to Watch
Sophomore guard Sincere Carry (12.1 ppg., 3.6 rpg., 161 assists, 68 steals), a member of the 2019 A-10 All-Rookie Team, led the conference in assists per game (5.8) and finished second in steals per game (2.4). Just the second person in school history to lead the A-10 in assists, Carry ranked first among the nation's freshmen in steals per game (14th overall nationally) and fifth (29th overall nationally) in assists per game. Carry was the team's second-leading scorer at 12.1 ppg. His 13.4 ppg. in conference play was second only to Eric Williams Jr.'s 13.6 ppg. Junior center Michael Hughes, came off double-shin surgery (undergone while sitting out following his transfer from Akron) to score in double-digits 17 times. His .589 field goal percentage was the sixth-highest in school history. The 240-pound center, who had never topped six points in a game as a freshman at Akron, was also a force on the defensive end, ranking 20th nationally in blocked shots per game (2.36). Hughes led the A-10 in blocks in conference games only at 2.89 per game.

What's Gone?
Six players are gone from last year's roster, including two-year starter Jr. G Eric Williams Jr. (14.0, 7.86), So. F Gavin Bizeau (1.3, 0.7), So. G Brandon Wade (1.0, 0.7), So. C Dylan Swingle (Redshirted), Sr. F Kellon Taylor (0.9, 1.2) and graduated senior Zach Snyder (eight career games played). Williams Jr., a 2017-18 A-10 All-Rookie pick who transferred to Oregon, led the Dukes in scoring and rebounding last season. He totaled 905 points and scored in double digits 45 times in his two seasons on the Bluff. Bizeau, who saw action in 20 games, transferred to Toledo and Swingle, who redshirted last season, transferred to Bowling Green. Taylor, who played in 50 games in three seasons, has elected to focus on football (a starting receiver for DU's 2018 Northeast Conference champion FCS football team, Taylor will compete as a senior this fall).