Duquesne Dukes Poised to Rebound in 2025-2026
The Duquesne Dukes skidded in 2024-2025, but the Dukes have filled their gaps and look to bounce back in 2025-2026. Can Dru Joyce and the Dukes bounce back?
Just two years ago, the Duquesne Dukes fought their way through the A-10 tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament in Keith Dambrot’s last season at the helm as head coach. The journey from starting 0-5 in conference play to finishing 25-10 and 10-8 in the A-10 was sweetened even further as the Dukes stunned BYU in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament 71-67.
Following this incredible story, Dambrot officially retired and Dru Joyce took over as head coach. After loosing star players like Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark, Joyce had a tough ask to rebuild the roster in his first year on the job. On paper, the team looked like they could produce similar results to their prior 25-10 season, however, they couldn’t meet expectations. The Dukes finished 13-19 overall and 8-10 in the A-10, good enough for 9th place. They dug themselves a hole early as they started 0-6 on the season, but rebounded to finish .500 throughout the remainder of the year.
This season, Joyce has retained some important players from their roster last season while restocking with offensive weapons. Plus, they have two players that were out for injury last season that will become reinforcements this year. Lets dive into the Dukes roster!
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Roster Turnover
The Dukes have lost the following players:
Jahsean Corbett (Ineligible)
8.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists
Tre Dinkins III (Senior) - George Washington
12.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists
Matus Hronsky (Senior) - Portland
5.2 points, 1.9 rebounds
Kareem Rozier (Senior) - Winthrop
6.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.1 steals
Chabi Barre (Senior) - Akron
4.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks
Eli Wilborn (Junior) - James Madison
5 points, 3.5 rebounds
Lucas Perusek (Junior) - TBD
DNP
Jayden Brown (Sophomore) - TBD
DNP
The Dukes lost a couple of key pieces to their lineup including Jahsean Corbett who ran out of eligibility and Tre Dinkins who transferred inter-conference to George Washington. Dinkins transferred in from Canisius after a dominating sophomore season and he took no time to adjust to a tougher conference. He was the Dukes best offensive weapon last season as he shot 40.9% overall and 37.9% from beyond the arc. Now, he’ll be helping the Revolutionaries who are being picked as one of the top teams in the conference across the board.
Duquesne also lost several other players to the portal as the Dukes had eleven players last season that averaged at least 11.5 minutes per game. I’m still a big believer in Eli Wilborn, who I thought was going to make a larger impact. Kareem Rozier teamed up with Dinkins to handle most of the ball movement and offensive facilitation. Chabi Barre is headed to Akron where he’ll help lock the Zips down on defense.
Returning Players
The Dukes are returning the following players:
Brandon Hall (Junior)
DNP (Medical Redshirt)
Maximus Edwards (Senior)
8.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists
Cam Crawford (Senior)
8.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists
Jakub Necas (Junior)
6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists
David Dixon (Senior)
5.7 points, 5.1 rebounds
Jake DiMichele (Sophomore)
10.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1 steal
Alex Williams (Senior)
DNP (Medical Redshirt)
Seamus McDermott (Junior)
DNP
Ethan Anish (Sophomore)
DNP
Lucas Prolla (Junior)
1.3 points (3 games / 4 minutes)
Guards
Maximus Edwards (6’5)
Edwards transferred into Duquesne last season after spending two seasons with the George Washington Revolutionaries. He averaged 8.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 43.7% overall and 31% from beyond the arc. His metrics were down considerably across the board from his sophomore season at George Washington where he averaged 12.4 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting 35.8% from three-point. He technically did finish with a slightly higher offensive rating as he jumped from 99.5 to 101.2, and his defensive rebounding percentage was still strong at 18.8%. He did overcome some struggles in the non-conference as he finished shooting 64.6% from inside the arc in the A-10 and 38.5% from beyond the arc. Over the last four games of the season, he averaged 16.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. I’m still a believe in what he can contribute, and if he’s able to bounce back this season he’ll be a huge piece for Duquesne’s success.
Brandon Hall (6’4)
Hall transferred into Duquesne last season out of the JUCO Howard College, but he ultimately redshirt as he continued to rehab from a torn ACL. In the 18 games prior to his injury, he was averaging 16.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 41.9% overall and 26.6% from three-point. While there is no doubt he can probably increase from that three-point shooting percentage, however, he is a prolific scorer. Hall is incredibly athletic, and he isn’t afraid to fight through contact to get to the rim. He also has solid awareness on the court, and while he won’t be playing a point guard position on this roster, he will be able to help facilitate the offense.
Cam Crawford (6’5)
Cam Crawford did about exactly what he needed to after transferring in from Marshall. He averaged 8.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.9 steals per game as he shot 44.5% overall and a strong 43.1% from three-point. He featured a 104.2 offensive rating and a 2.4% steal percentage. His ridiculous 46.5% three-point shooting percentage in the A-10 was the best in the league. Crawford took a huge leap forward as a major threat from outside and Duquesne is going to need him to do the same this season. The Dukes have added some offensive weapons, and Crawford will be serving once again as a traditional 3-and-D wing this season.
Jake DiMichele (6’4)
Jake DiMichele has an incredible story as he went from a walk-on to playing in 30 games and averaging 22.8 minutes per game his freshman season. Unfortunately, he went down with a season-ending injury after appearing in seven games last season. He was looking like a strong player for the Dukes as well as he was averaging 10.9 points, 1.6 assists, and 1.4 rebounds while shooting 50% overall and 31.8% from beyond the arc. He is a lights out offensive weapon and the Dukes severely missed him throughout the season.
Forwards
Alex Williams (6’5)
Williams was another player that missed the entire season last year as he suffered a foot injury. He transferred in after three seasons with Furman and a dominating junior season. He averaged 13.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and one assist per game while shooting 43.8% overall and 39.9% from beyond the arc. In fact, he was 177th best in the country in three point percentage and in the SoCon he finished seventh with a 43.8% clip. Notably, he also finished with a 15.2% defensive rebounding percentage and a 4% offensive rebounding percentage. He is going to be a huge weapon for the Dukes this season as I fully expect him to slide into the starting lineup.
Jakub Necas (6’10)
The Dukes have a lot of height coming in this season, but Necas provides some important experience in the system. He’s spent his first two seasons with the Dukes and he took a nice step forward last year. He averaged six points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while shooting 39.4% overall and 24.7% from three-point. He showed some glimpses of being able to be a threat from outside as a freshman as he knocked down 15-43 attempts, but last year he finished just 18-73 shots. Three-point retraction aside, he back a threat on the offensive glass. He finished with an eight percent offensive rebounding percentage, and a 3.5% blocking percentage. Notably, he also flashed some signs of being able to help with ball movement as he featured an 11.4% assist rate. I think he’s due to take another step forward this season with more offensive players surrounding him.
David Dixon (6’9)
Dixon is entering year four with the Dukes where he’s served as the type of player that’s willing to take on any role needed. Last season, he appeared in 32 games, but his scoring was down slightly from his sophomore season. He averaged 5.7 points (down from 7.2), 5.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. He shot 53.8% overall and 27.3% from beyond the arc on 22 attempts. He is one of the most underrated big men in the A-10 as he finished with an 11.7% offensive rebounding percentage, a 21.2% defensive rebounding percentage, a 2.8% steal percentage, and a ridiculous 9.3% block percentage which was 24th in the country. He’s also a strong finisher inside as he shot 66.7% from inside the arc in conference games. He’s not going to blow your mind on offense, but he is an important defender for the Dukes and he’ll be so once again this season.
Walk-ons
Seamus McDermott, Ethan Anish, and Lucas Prolla are walk-ons, so you should expect to see a similar level of production this season.
Roster Additions
The Dukes have added the following players this season:
Tarence Guinyard (Senior) - UT Martin
16.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals
John Hugley IV (Senior) - Xavier
2.9 points, 2 rebounds
Jimmie Williams (Junior) - South Florida
7.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Stef Van Bussel (Sophomore) - Charleston
DNP (Redshirt)
Arness Lawson (Freshman)
Dom Aekins (Freshman)
Lazar Milosevic (Freshman)
Frederik Jellum (Freshman)
Dimitrios Ntapsis (Freshman)
Guards
Tarence Guinyard (6’2)
The Duquesne Dukes needed to add some offense, and they found it in Tarence Guinyard. For UT Martin, he averaged 16.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting 44.4% overall and 32.7% from beyond the arc last season. He spent his first two seasons at Florida State College before making the jump to division one and making a splash. He finished with a 110 offensive rating, 14.3% defensive rebounding percentage, 16.5% assist rate, 2.7% steal percentage, and a strong 50.8% shooting percentage from inside the arc. If you are worried about him making the jump from the Ohio Valley to the A-10 you shouldn’t be as he finished with 20 points against Tennessee, 20 points against North Alabama, and 27 points against Illinois State. He even dropped 40 points against Western Illinois. Guinyard can score from all positions on the court, whether that’s him fighting through traffic to get to the rim, creating offense for himself off the dribble in the mid-range, or knocking down deep shots from outside. He’ll immediately slide into the starting lineup for the Dukes.
Jimmie Williams (6’5)
Williams also started out in the JUCO ranks for Wallace State where he averaged 22.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, five assists, and 1.7 steals per game. He jumped to South Florida last season where he averaged 7.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 46.4% overall and 40% from beyond the arc. He finished with an 111.4 offensive rating, an 11.5% defensive rebounding percentage, 3.7% steal percentage (68th in the nation), and he finished 253rd in the country in three-point shooting. Again, the Dukes needed to improve on the offensive end for a team that finished 201st in offensive efficiency and Williams will be a huge help. I love his athleticism, which expands beyond offense. He is also a tremendous defender, in which he can use to create offense and turn steals into points. Duquesne finished 206th in steal percentage last year, so both Williams and Guinyard are going to be a massive help on the defensive end.
Arness Lawson (6’2)
Lawson was listed as a three-star recruit and 314th in this season’s incoming class. He’s a highly athletic guard that is lightning quick on the floor. I love his ability to slash to the paint, but he also features a nice ability to facilitate the offense for his team. He should have an opportunity to secure a role in the rotation as a freshman this season as he’ll be needed in their point guard depth.
Lawson held offers from Murray State, Tulane, Youngstown State, Miami Ohio, Kent State, and more.
Dom Aekins (5’10)
Aekins actually committed to Duquesne in 2023, but he spent last season at Winston-Salem Christian School. He is a tremendous scorer on the court as he averaged 24.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 3.7 steals per game. Given the makeup of the roster, Aekins is most likely a redshirt candidate this season, however, keep tabs on him to see how he develops for the Dukes.
Aekins had just one other offer from Youngstown State.
Forwards
John Hugley IV (6’10)
Hugley has bounced around some of the best power conferences in college basketball. He started his career at Pittsburgh where he appeared in seven games as a freshman. His first full season saw him average 14.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for Pitt in the 2021-2022 season. He’s battled injuries, so after appearing in just eight games his junior season, he transferred to Oklahoma. For the Sooners, he averaged 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. Last season, he appeared in 34 games for Xavier, averaging 2.9 points and two rebounds while shooting 47.1% overall and 50% from three point. There is no doubt that he has an incredible amount of talent considering what he’s done in some tough leagues. While he took a step back last year, if he stays healthy, he’ll be looking to help propel the Dukes in his final season of college basketball.
Looking at that strong sophomore campaign, he finished with an 11.2% offensive rebounding percentage, a 21.8% defensive rebounding percentage, and he shot an incredible 71% on the season and 73.1% in the ACC. If he can return to even a fraction of what he did on that team, he’ll be a huge addition for the Dukes.
Lazar Milosevic (6’10)
We’ve been seeing a trend of players from Europe who played professional leagues coming over to the collegiate ranks. Milosevic played on the Spars last season in Bosnia’s Division I ranks. He averaged 12.1 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 45.3% overall and 40.2% from beyond the arc. He improved over the course of the season dramatically, in which he averaged 15 points and 6.2 rebounds over the last twelve games of the season. He is a flexible big as he has a strong shot from the outside. This will pair well with some of the traditional big men on the Dukes’ roster this season. I love his foot movement, which allows him to back defenders down and finish around the rim making him a dangerous offensive weapon. He’s got a good shot to contribute on the team this season.
Frederik Jellum (6’10)
Jellum is another international player coming over for the Dukes. He spent the 2023-2024 season with Vaerlose in the Denmark-BasketLigaen. He averaged 6.8 points and 2.9 rebounds in 28 games. He also appeared on the FIBA U18 Denmark team where he averaged 1.1 points and 1.3 rebounds in seven games. Similar to Milosevic, he can score both inside with his height, but he can also take shots from outside. He shot 30.1% overall and 51.3% from inside the arc. I think that Milosevic is a bit more polished, however, these two are an intriguing combination because if they stay and develop at Duquesne, Dru Joyce has two options where one could play outside and the other inside at the same time on the court. This would open up the ability to have two 6’10 players on the defensive end at the same time, while not sacrificing offense. While I’m not for sure how much Jellum will play this season, he is a fun long-term prospect to keep an eye on.
Centers
Stef van Bussel (6’10)
Stef van Bussel started his career off at Saint Louis, but spent his sophomore season with the Charleston Cougars. He’s consistently battled injuries throughout his first two years as he took a medical redshirt last year, while missing some time as a freshman at Saint Louis as well. During his time at SLU, he appeared in 21 games and averaged 7.7 minutes. He finished with 1.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game while shooting 57.9% overall. Van Bussel is still a raw talent, however, if he’s able to stay healthy he should be able to provide some depth with height. He has a natural ability to be a monster on the boards. In the FIBA U20 EuroBasket Tournament in 2024, he averaged 8.6 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Keep your eyes on him as he develops for the Dukes.
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Expectations
Two things stood out from last season:
The Dukes lacked offense, which did improve as the season went on
The Dukes lacked depth with height
Dru Joyce has done a great job of addressing what in my opinion were the two most glaring holes from last year. Picking up Terrance Guinyard while retaining players like Maximus Edwards and Cam Crawford are huge. That doesn’t include the fact that you should have Alex Williams coming back off an injury ridden season. Lets look at what a potential starting lineup could look like:
Tarence Guinyard
Cam Crawford / Maximus Edwards
Alex Williams
John Hugley IV / Jakub Necas
David Dixon / Jakub Necas
Tarence Guinyard is a lock in the starting lineup, Alex Williams (as long as he is healthy) and one of David Dixon or Jakub Necas should be locks as well. Williams is going to be a huge offensive boost for the lineup and he’s worked with Joyce’s system for an entire year now. Guinyard was brought in to increase their offense, and Dixon is an elite defender while Necas is more well-rounded. At the shooting guard position, I think Joyce has a couple of different options with Cam Crawford and Maximus Edwards. Edwards started in 10 games last year and Crawford started in 22. Crawford is a much better three-point shooter, but outside of that they nearly mirror one another. It’ll completely depend if Dru Joyce wants a sharpshooter in the starting lineup, or save him to come off the bench and provide a spark as a leader of the secondary unit. Then at power forward, I like moving Hugley in as the starter because he has a ton of experience at the power conference level and success to back that up. However, Jakub Necas took another step forward last year and is entering year three with the Dukes, so he could slot in as the starting four as he did start in 21 games last year. Joyce could get interesting and start Hugley with Necas, then bring Dixon off the bench as well.
Looking at the secondary unit, you’ll have one of either Edwards or Crawford being the leader. Then you’ll have Arness Lawson who will be able to provide some minutes at point guard. Where things get interesting is, Jimmie Williams, Jake DiMichelle, Brandon Hall, and whoever falls out of the starting five between Hugley, Necas, and Dixon. Williams actually dropped 21 points in the exhibition against Virginia Tech, so perhaps he slides into the starting rotation as well. You also have the additional newcomers with significant height in Stef van Bussell, Lazar Milesevic, Frederik Jellum, and Dimitrios Ntapsis. Judging off my scouting prior to this article, I think Stef van Bussell and Milosevic have the best chances to break the rotation this season, especially if Joyce runs a deep rotation similar to what he did last season.
My largest concern on this team is the lack of a true point guard. Tarence Guinyard is an offensive first player, but their back up “traditional” point guard would be Arness Lawson who hasn’t played a single college basketball game yet. Brandon Hall has some experience helping facilitating offense, but outside of those three, the Dukes are going to have to rely on elite ball movement and a shared workload in creating offensive opportunities for one another. If the team can play well with one another, which considering they are returning several players from last season I think they can overcome this lack of depth. If this were an entirely new roster like many other programs are facing, then I’d feel stronger about this gap.
I like what the Dukes did with their non-conference schedule this season. It’s not particularly strong, but I think they could use the bounce back. However, they didn’t necessarily schedule all sub-300 KenPom teams either. They have games against Queens, Villanova, William & Mary, Boise State, and Nevada. Looking at Queens and William & Mary, that’s two solid traditional mid-major programs, then you have a road game against Nova, and two strong Mountain West teams. It’s a nice blend of games that the Dukes should win and games that I think will give them the practice and challenge they need to prepare for the Atlantic-10.
Okay, last year I said this in my offseason review of the Dukes:
I see a potential top-6 finish for the Dukes in the A-10. As mentioned the A-10 is always an excellent conference with a ton of talent, so this won’t be a walk in the park. However, Dru Joyce has built off the momentum in the portal and this Duquesne team is going to be fun to watch next season.
I was definitely way off, but on paper this team is simply far better than last year, at least in my opinion. With Alex Williams, Brandon Hall, and Jack DiMichelle back, on top of additions like Terrance Guinyard, the Dukes are going to have a much improved offense. The A-10 is going to be a gauntlet this season with five teams that could all arguably win the conference. However, this is an important year for Dru Joyce and the Dukes. They need to bounce back after disappointing results last season, and I believe this is the roster to do it. Coming into the season I would rank them seventh or eighth in the conference, but I think they could easily surprise some people if this team gels well. Keep your eyes on the Dukes this season.