Duquesne Hires High School Teammate of LeBron James As Head Coach

Duquesne is hiring assistant coach Dru Joyce III as its next head basketball coach, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reports .

Joyce will replace Keith Dambrot, the longtime college basketball coach who retired after the team’s loss in the NCAA tournament. Dambrot coached LeBron James at St. Vincent-St. Mary high school before becoming Akron’s head coach from 2004 to ’17, then Duquesne’s head coach from ’17 to ’24.

Duquesne went 25–12 this year, making the NCAA tournament by winning the A-10, and defeated BYU in the first round before losing to Illinois. It was Duquesne’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 1977, and its first NCAA tournament victory since 1969.

Joyce played for Dambrot at St. Vincent-St. Mary along with James, then again for three years at Akron. He spent his professional basketball career playing overseas, then returned to college as an assistant at Cleveland State in ’19. He has served as Duquesne’s associate head coach for the past three seasons.