Pittsburgh, Pa. – A pair of Duquesne University men's basketball student-athletes were honored with Atlantic 10 postseason honors Tuesday, as senior guards
Jimmy Clark III and
Dae Dae Grant were each named to the 2024 All-Atlantic 10 Second Team. In addition, Clark III garnered a spot on the 2024 All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team for the second consecutive year.
The only member of the Dukes to start all 31 games entering the
2024 Atlantic 10 Championship, Clark III has produced averages of 15.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 42.2 percent (163-for-386) from the field. He leads Duquesne in double-figure scoring games (27) and has also dished out at least seven assists in six games this year, with the Dukes a perfect 6-0 in those contests.
In earning his second consecutive All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team accolade, Clark III joins former DU forward Damian Saunders (2007-11) as the only two student-athletes in program history to earn multiple defensive team plaudits from the A-10. Clark III enters the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship atop the leaderboard in steals per game (2.39) thanks to 74 thefts after leading the conference in steals per game (2.30) last season.
Clark III saved one of his
best performances for Senior Day this past Saturday at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, hitting a pair of free throws with 2.1 seconds to play to lift the Dukes to a 67-65 win over George Washington. The first free throw that gave Duquesne the lead for Clark III helped him reach the 1,000-point plateau, his four assists pushed his NCAA Division I career total to 200 and his trio of steals helped him crack the top 10 in program history with 150.
The duo of Clark III and Grant are the fourth in school history to occupy spots on the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team. They join Ronnie Mixon and John Moore (1981), Derrick Alston and James Hargrove, Jr. (1992) and Bill Clark and Damian Saunders (2011).
Grant enters the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship pacing Duquesne in scoring at 16.7 points per game, which ranks sixth in the A-10, and has scored in double figures on 23 occasions. In eight of those games he has scored at least 20 points, including three reaching the 30-point plateau. Grant is the first student-athlete for the Dukes to score at least 30 points in a game on three occasions in a season since former guard Aaron Jackson (2006-09) in 2008-09.
Having scored a
career-high 32 points against Santa Clara at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., Grant owns the last 30-point performance for the Dukes on a neutral court, at home and on the road. In an
85-71 win at Rhode Island, Grant led the way with 31 points and in the process eclipsed 2,000 career points at the NCAA Division I level. He also paced the Dukes in an
81-66 home win over Saint Louis with 31 points.
Over the last five seasons, Grant owns career totals of 2,150 points, 568 rebounds, 394 assists and 128 steals. He is just 21 points shy of becoming the 40th player in Duquesne school history to score at least 1,000 points on the Bluff, a number that Clark III needed entering the 2023-24 regular-season finale against the Revolutionaries.
Arguably the most impressive aspect of Grant's final year has been his work at the free-throw line. He owns streaks of 43, 29 and 46 consecutive free throws made and overall this season at the stripe is shooting 95.7 percent (132-for-138). Not only does that total lead the Atlantic 10 but it ranks second in NCAA Division I. Grant is on pace to establish both Duquesne single-season and career records for free-throw percentage, as in two years with the Dukes he has shot 92.1 percent (221-for-240) at the line.
Grant broke a school record that had stood for over 60 years with his 43 consecutive free throws, which broke the mark of 42 that was held by Dave Ricketts (1954-57). It took Grant less than three months to establish a new mark with 46 straight. He enters Wednesday's game in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Championship having converted nine consecutive free throws as well as 127 of his last 130 (97.7%) opportunities.
Led by seventh-year head coach
Keith Dambrot, the Dukes have posted an overall record of 20-11 (.645) in 2023-24, marking the first time since Duquesne has registered back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1971 and 1972. The Dukes also finished sixth in the A-10 standings with a record of 10-8 (.556) after opening league play 0-5.
As the No. 6 seed, Duquesne will face the winner of game three of the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship between No. 11 seed Rhode Island and No. 14 seed Saint Louis, which is set to tip at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the Barclays Center. The Dukes will square off with either the Rams or Billikens Wednesday, March 13, in a 7:30 p.m. tip that can be seen live on the USA Network.
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