The hopes of Duquesne basketball fans were given a boost Tuesday when the Dukes were picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10, according to a preseason poll of conference head coaches and media members. The preseason vote of confidence is the highest for the Dukes in the past 25 years.
The poll was released at the A-10 men’s basketball media day at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Dukes received 302 voting points in the poll. Dayton, which earned 20 first-place votes and 370 points, is the favorite to win the 2023-24 A-10 championship. VCU (321, three first-place votes) and St. Bonaventure (319, one) were chosen second and third. Saint Joseph’s (257), Saint Louis (225), Fordham (215), Loyola Chicago (177), George Washington (173) and George Mason (146) round out the top 10. Fordham also received a first-place vote.
The reason for optimism might stem from the presence of senior guards Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark III, who were named to the A-10 preseason first- and second-teams, respectively. Clark also earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team.
Grant led the Dukes in scoring last season, averaging 15.5 points (11th in the conference). He achieved double-digit scoring in 28 of 33 games, averaging 2.85 3-pointers per game. In four seasons at the NCAA Division I level, Grant has 1,682 career points, including 511 at Duquesne.
Clark led the A-10 in steals and was 11th in the nation (76) while averaging 12.2 points.
Coach Keith Dambrot, one of 28 active coaches with 500 or more victories, enters his seventh season at Duquesne. Dambrot has 504 career collegiate victories, plus 69 as a high school coach.
