Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot, who simply led his staff to the NCAA match, introduced Monday that he plans to retire on the finish of the season.
Dambrot, who was additionally LeBron James’ highschool coach, guided the Dukes to 4 wins in 5 days on the Atlantic 10 match final week, incomes Duquesne its first NCAA match look since 1977. The Dukes earned an 11-seed and can face BYU on Thursday.
This month will mark the top of a 40-year teaching profession, with 22 of these coming as a Division I head coach. Dambrot, 65, has spent the previous seven seasons at Duquesne, main the staff to 3 20-win seasons. He had beforehand been the top coach at Akron, the place he guided the Zips to 5 regular-season division titles and three NCAA match appearances, leaving because the winningest coach in program historical past.
He was additionally the top coach at Central Michigan within the early Nineteen Nineties for 2 seasons.
As a Division I head coach, he’s 440-268 general — with a minimum of one recreation left to go.
Dambrot can also be identified for his two years as James’ highschool coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary Excessive College in Akron, Ohio. The 2 have remained shut since then, with Duquesne turning into the primary faculty to supply James’ son Bryce a university scholarship in 2022. Certainly one of James’ highschool teammates, Dru Joyce III, went on to play for Dambrot at Akron and is now an assistant coach underneath him at Duquesne.
On Sunday, James posted a message on X (previously Twitter) congratulating Dambrot, Joyce and Duquesne on reaching the NCAA match.
YESSIRRR!! Punch that 🎟️ to the Huge Dance @DuqMBB!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Love you Coach Dambrot & @CoachDruJoyce 🤎🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 17, 2024