Duquesne Dukes Selected 11th In Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll
By Larry Snyder
The Duquesne University men’s basketball team embarks on its 100th season this November. The outlook for head coach Jim Ferry‘s squad was bleak Tuesday at the Atlantic 10 Conference‘s media day. The Red and Blue came in 11th out of 14 programs in the league’s annual preseason poll.
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The Dukes were also overlooked by the coaches as they elected not to include any Duquesne player on the A-10’s preseason first, second, third and all-defensive teams.
The Dayton Flyers was selected as the preseason No. 1 team, followed by, in order, the Rhode Island Rams, the Davidson Wildcats, and the George Washington Colonials. Each of the four teams received at least one No. 1 vote.
The poll continued with the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams, the Richmond Spiders, the Saint Joseph’s Hawks, the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, the La Salle Explorers, and the Massachusetts Minutemen all ahead of Duquesne.
The school endured its third straight losing campaign last season under Ferry with a 12-19 mark. It is true they owned a 6-12 record in conference contests, but they did manage to claim victory in six of their final 12 match-ups including a 61-55 win over Saint Louis in A-10 Championship tournament.
There is good news for this season. The Dukes have their top two scorers back from last season in senior guards Derrick Colter and Micah Mason. Ferry also has returning starters in senior guard Jeremiah Jones and junior center Darius Lewis.
The Red and Blue added a pair of transfers to the mix that will be eligible this season in sophomore guard Rene Castro from Butler and freshman swingman Mar’Qywell Jackson from UTEP. Duquesne brought in two scholarship freshmen. They are forward Nakye Sanders and guard Josh Steel.
The 2015-16 men’s basketball season concludes with the 2016 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. It is the fourth consecutive year for the event to be held in New York. It begins Wednesday, March 9 and crowns its 2016 champion on March 13, which is Selection Sunday.
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