Adam Lindner | Sports Editor
June 21, 2018
Summer officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere today (Thursday, June 21), but there have already been several happenings within Duquesne’s numerous athletics programs thus far this summer break.
June 20 — Eric Harper, who worked with Keith Dambrot for five seasons at Akron prior to a one-year stint with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks in 2017-18, has been named the men’s basketball team’s new Director of Player Development/Video Coordinator. Harper replaces Desmond Young, who accepted a position as Assistant to the Head Coach with Michigan State’s women’s basketball team earlier this month.
Harper originally came to Duquesne last year with Dambrot’s staff before accepting a position with the Bucks as the team’s Assistant Video Coordinator.
“I’m pleased to have Eric back on the staff,” Dambrot said in a team press release. “He’s a young, talented person with a great work ethic, combined with a skill set that will greatly benefit our coaching staff and players.”
June 18 — The Duquesne women’s basketball team shared a special moment Monday, when it awarded unsuspecting walk-on player Kiersten Elliott a scholarship.
June 13 — On June 13, the Atlantic 10 announced its schedule pairings for the 2018-19 men’s basketball season. While the exact dates of the games are yet to be determined, Duquesne will play home-and-home sets versus Dayton, Fordham, George Washington, St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis. Additionally, it will host Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s and VCU, and travel to face Davidson, George Mason, La Salle and Richmond.
The Dukes will play host to two of the A-10’s three NCAA tournament teams in 2018-19 in St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island, while facing the other (Davidson) on the road.
June 10 — The men’s basketball team’s eight freshmen arrived on campus for the summer on June 10, and promptly began team workouts on June 11.
Check out the Duquesne men’s basketball team’s Twitter profile for behind-the-scenes looks at the team.
June 8 — The Atlantic 10 announced its 2017-18 Commissioner’s Honor Roll List, with 231 Dukes on the list of 3,168 student-athletes. To qualify, a student-athlete must have a cumulative 3.0 GPA in a A-10-sponsored sport.
The average number of student-athletes selected per school was 226.
June 7 — It was announced on June 7 that Duquesne’s men’s basketball team will headline the 2018 Gotham Classic alongside Notre Dame. The Dukes will host William & Mary on Nov. 10, University of Illinois at Chicago on Nov. 12 and 2018 NCAA participant Radford Nov. 17 before heading for South Bend, where it will face the Fighting Irish on Nov. 20 for the first time since 1995.
Speaking of schedules, the volleyball team and both the men’s and women’s soccer squads released their full 2018-19 schedules on June 7, as well.
The men’s soccer team begins its season Aug. 24 at Marshall, and will host Northern Kentucky on Aug. 31 and Detroit Mercy on Sept. 2 at Rooney Field in the Duquesne/Robert Morris Tournament. The team will play area rival Robert Morris at home on Sept. 19, and begins conference play Sept. 29 against Saint Joseph’s.
The women’s soccer squad will open its season Aug. 17 against Arkansas at Penn State before facing the Big Ten-champion Nittany Lions on Aug. 19 in Happy Valley. It will open home play Aug. 24 versus Jacksonville, with other notable non-league games including Ohio State (Aug. 26 in Columbus) and Pitt on Sept. 6 in Oakland. Atlantic 10 play begins Sept. 20 at Massachusetts for the women’s team.
The volleyball team’s season begins Aug. 24 at Lehigh, and will play its first match at Palumbo Center Aug. 31 vs. Bowling Green in the Duquesne Invitational. Bowling Green, UNLV and Youngstown State will compete in the annual DU Invitational. The Dukes begin their conference slate Sept. 20 at Davidson.
The teams’ full schedules can be seen here.
June 21 — The 2018 NBA draft takes place June 21 at 7 p.m. in Brooklyn, New York. The draft will be broadcast on ESPN. The Phoenix Suns hold the first overall pick in the 60-selection draft, with the Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks rounding out the top three. Top prospects include Arizona freshman center Deandre Ayton, Duke freshman forward Marvin Bagley III, 19-year-old Slovenian guard Luka Doncic (Real Madrid), and Michigan State freshman forward Jaren Jackson Jr.
No Duquesne players are expected to be selected. The A-10 player with the best hopes of being drafted is St. Bonaventure guard Jaylen Adams, who is projected to be either a late second-round pick, or go undrafted.
Last updated June 21, 2018, at 5:26 p.m.
