Pittsburgh, Pa. – Duquesne University head men's basketball coach Dru Joyce III announced Thursday that Derrick Allen has joined the staff as assistant coach, while Darik Artis, who spent the last two seasons as director of basketball operations for the Dukes, has been promoted to assistant coach and director of player development.

Allen, a native of Gadsden, Ala., joins the Duquesne staff after spending the 2025-26 season as an assistant coach with Coviran Granada, a member of Liga ACB, in Granada, Spain. Allen's position with Coviran Granada is part of a wealth of international coaching experience since he retired from playing professionally in 2019. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach with SC Rasta Vechta out of Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and spent two years as an assistant before being promoted to head coach with the club for the 2020-21 campaign.

Also owning coaching experience in the NBA G League, Allen spent the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach with Capital City Go-Go, which is based out of Washington, D.C., and is affiliated with the Washington Wizards. Allen also spent two seasons (2023-24, 2024-25) as an assistant coach with Capitanes de la Ciudad de Mexico, which became a member of the NBA G League in 2021. In between his two years as an assistant with Capitanes de la Ciudad de Mexico, Allen was the head coach of Venados de Mazatlán, a member of CIBACOPA, an 11-team professional basketball league based in Mexico.

"We're excited to add Derrick to our staff," Joyce III said. "He comes from a great coaching background, having served as both an assistant coach as well as in the chair of head coach, not only in Europe but in the G League. He's not only had to coach his team but build his roster, and he has a beautiful mind on both sides of the basketball. The most unique and important thing about who Derrick is, though, is his character. His leadership skills and commitment to service in being there for his players with a mindset not only to enhance the players and help them along their journey but his commitment to a coaching staff is special. He embodies those characteristics and it's a home run to have him join our staff."

Allen was named the 2000 Alabama Junior Community College Conference (AJCCC) Player of the Year before spending two seasons with Ole Miss out of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In two years with the Rebels, Allen averaged 8.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per came while shooting 51.5 percent (185-for-359) from the field and 71.3 percent (144-for-202) at the free-throw line. In both of his seasons at Ole Miss, Allen ranked in the top 20 in the conference in offensive rebounds.

Following his collegiate career, Allen spent 16 years playing professionally overseas. His first season came with Keflavík, which claimed the Icelandic championship as well as Icelandic Cup in 2004. During the 2006-07 campaign, Allen paced Basketball Bundesliga, the highest level of basketball in Germany, in scoring with an average of 16.5 points per game for Bayer Giants Leverkusen. Joyce III and Allen spent two seasons as teammates playing professionally in Europe, including their final year of professional basketball with Science City Jena in the Basketball Bundesliga.

Artis, a native of Columbus, Ohio, who joined the program in September of 2024 as director of basketball operations, moves into his role as assistant coach and director of player development for his third year with the Dukes in 2026-27.

"We're excited to give Darik a promotion to assistant coach," Joyce III said. "I've followed his journey from his time as a graduate assistant to this point now and have watched as he's continued to develop. He's more than ready for this opportunity, and we're excited to be able to give him his chance. He'll play a huge role as director of player development in how we continue to help our players grow both on and off the court. It's a huge concept that we believe within our basketball program at Duquesne University, and he's the perfect coach to continue to pioneer that part of our program."

Artis began his coaching career in 2019-20 as an assistant coach with Columbus Africentric Early College High School in Columbus, Ohio, before taking a role as video coordinator and assistant director of basketball operations at UC Davis during the 2020-21 season. He has also served as a graduate assistant at Cleveland State (2021-22) and assistant coach at both Alderson Broaddus (2022-23) and Orangeville Prep Academy (2023-24) in Mono, Ontario.

Led by Joyce III, in his second as head coach of the Dukes in 2025-26, Duquesne posted an overall record of 18-15 (.545), including a 9-9 (.500) mark in the Atlantic 10. The Dukes advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2026 Atlantic 10 Championship in logging their third winning season in the last four years. The Atlantic 10, meanwhile, recently announced its conference pairings, with Duquesne having five home-and-home series.

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