Michael O’Grady | Sports Editor
On Monday, Nov. 4, the Duquesne community will come together at Cooper Fieldhouse to honor the 2024 men’s basketball team, the first iteration of the Dukes to reach the NCAA Tournament in nearly 50 years. An Atlantic 10 Conference Champions banner will be raised, and then the new season will tip off, leaving 2024 to history.
Most of the defending A-10 Champion roster will return, but some players from last year’s team who exhausted their eligibility will continue playing the game elsewhere, only as professionals. From Pittsburgh, four players crossed the Atlantic, and while some might be closer to home, they will be playing the same game of basketball in completely unfamiliar territory.
Tre Williams was first to sign a pro contract after three seasons with the Dukes, and opted to stay after his first season in which Duquesne finished 6-24. A high-character player credited for changing the culture of the program, the 6’7” forward was mostly used for defensive purposes in his final season. He’ll take those talents to QSTA United in the small Dutch town of Bemmel to play the best the Netherlands and Belgium have to offer. Time will tell if his father, Rick, will come along and continue his tradition of sitting courtside for Tre’s games in QSTA’s 650-seat gym.
Jimmy Clark III was instrumental to the team in his two seasons on the Bluff. The guard started 69 games, including a program record 37 out of 37 in 2023-24. He averaged 13.7 points and played stellar defense to go along with it, earning his way onto the All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team both years. Clark will be heading to Israel, where he’ll try to invigorate Bnei Herzliya of the Israeli Premier League the same way he did Duquesne.
Dusan Mahorcic moved to the U.S. before his sophomore year of high school; now, after spending time at five different NCAA schools, the Serbian will return to Europe. In his 26 games with Duquesne, his job seemed to change in every one, but he started in all four A-10 Tournament games and used his 6’10” frame to keep opponents away from the bucket. Mahorcic will be joining Enosis Neon Paralimni of Cyprus.
Andrei Savrasov’s role in his only year with the Dukes dwindled as the season went on, but he was a catalyst in the non-conference games that helped Duquesne reach 25 wins. He started out playing in his hometown of Saint Petersburg in Russia with BC Zenit in the VTB United League, before embarking to America for stints with Texas Tech, Georgia Southern and Duquesne. Now, Savrasov will return to his native country, where he’ll suit up for BC Irkut Irkutsk in Russia’s second-tier league. Even so, it’s not exactly a homecoming, as Irkutsk is farther away from Saint Petersburg than Pittsburgh is to Los Angeles.
Other graduating members of the 2024 Dukes team, such as Dae Dae Grant or the Drame twins, Fousseyni and Hassan, have yet to announce future plans despite their prolific college careers. But wherever they end up, they and the rest of their former teammates can do something no other Duquesne player who went pro could in the past 47 years: bring a championship mentality to their new teams.