YSU opened its season at the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic with a 74-50 win over Central Michigan on Nov. 8 followed by an 86-61 loss to host Michigan State the following evening.
DU will have seven scholarship players available for the YSU game.
OPEN EARLY
The Youngstown State game marks the second-earliest start in the 90 year history of Duquesne basketball. The only time DU opened earlier was when the Dukes played Santa Clara in the opening round of the NABC Classic at Albuquerque, N.M. on Nov. 12, 2004.
DUKES AND PENGUINS
Duquesne leads the all-time series 8-2, with the first meeting coming on Dec. 12, 1941 (a 43-22 DU win) ... the two met five more times between 1946-51, with all five games at Youngstown ... last year, in Duquesne’s first appearance at Youngstown since Dec. 29, 1951, YSU handed the Dukes a 72-51 defeat ... four year’s ago DU defeated YSU 61-56 at Pittsburgh and in 2004-05 the Dukes defeated the Penguins 78-54 on New Year’s Eve at the Palumbo Center ... YSU ended a six-game Duquesne series win streak with a 76-70 win over the Dukes at the Palumbo Center on Nov. 29, 1997 ... the Penguins caught the Dukes between a Nov. 21-23 trip to the Top of the World Classic (at Fairbanks, Alaska) and a Dec. 2 trip to Gainesville to face Florida ... this is just the fifth meeting between the Dukes and Penguins since 1951.
A FRESH START ...
This is the first game at Duquesne for head coach Ron Everhart who was hired on March 29. Everhart, who is beginning his 13th season as a head coach (174-172, .503), turned around programs at McNeese State and Northeastern prior to accepting the Duquesne job. Everhart inherited a program coming off a 3-24 season (ranked 308 in the final RPI). Everhart brought his entire Northeastern coaching staff with him: assistant coaches Kim Lewis, Richard Pitino and Daryn Freedman along with director of basketball operations Anthony Serro. In addition to the new staff, Everhart also retooled the DU roster, bringing in a total of 14 new players (including transfers and preferred walk-ons) in his first five months on the job.
... AND FRESHMEN WILL START
Duquesne’s projected starting lineup features three true freshmen in forwards Robert Mitchell, Stephen Wood and Scott Grote. Since NCAA bylaws were changed to grant freshman eligibility prior to the 1972-73 season, Duquesne has never opened with three freshmen in the starting lineup. In fact, since 1972-73, the Dukes have opened the season with two freshman starters on just four occasions. Oddly enough, three of the times coincided with a head coach’s first game at Duquesne: the Nov. 18, 2001 game vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore was Danny Nee’s first; the Nov. 28, 1982 game vs. Indiana, Pa. was Jim Satalin’s first and the Nov. 30, 1978 game vs. Indiana, Pa. was Mike Rice’s first on the Bluff:
MOST SEASON-OPENING FRESHMAN STARTERS
since freshman granted eligibility in 1972-73
1978-79 Doug Arnold & Bruce Atkins vs. Indiana, Pa.
1982-83 Emmett Sellers & Fitzgerald Bobo vs. Indiana, Pa.
1986-87 Tony Petrarca & Kevin McCarthy vs. Indiana, Pa.
2001-02 Simplice Njoya & Aly Samabaly vs. MD-ES
You don’t have to go far to find the last true freshman to open a season as a starter: sophomore guard Aaron Jackson started and scored five points in last year’s opener vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
FOUR IN A ROW AT PALUMBO
This is just the third time in the past 30 years that a Duquesne team will open the season with four consecutive home games (2003-04 and 1986-87 were the others). After facing Youngstown State, UNC Asheville, Northern Illinois and Oakland at the Palumbo Center, the Dukes will pack their bags as eight of the next nine will be on the road. In the seven-week span between Nov. 22 and Jan. 10, DU will have just one home game (Dec. 9 vs. West Virginia).
“STIX” AND “STICKS”
In addition to sharing New York City roots, freshmen Stephen Wood and Robert Mitchell share matching nicknames. Wood, a 6-3, 180-pounder from South Jamaica Queens, has been called “Stix” for years - same goes for 6-6, 175-pound Brooklyn native Mitchell. The only difference? Mitchell goes with the conventional spelling of “Sticks.” Both nicknames were derived from the slight builds of both Wood and Mitchell. “Hopefully after some more trips to the weight room, ‘Stix’ and ‘Sticks’ will be things of the past,” said DU head coach Ron Everhart. In deference to Wood, Mitchell has adopted “Melo” (short for Carmelo Anthony) as his adopted Pittsburgh nickname.
Both Mitchell and Wood showed promise during DU’s two preseason exhibition games. Mitchell tied for team high with 15 points versus Millersville and followed that with 16 against Mercyhurst. Wood, who once scored 50 points in a high school game while at Monsignor McClancy, scored 14 of his 16 points versus Mercyhurst in the first half. Wood, who has been slowed by tendinitis in his knee in the preseason, hit 6-of-10 3-point attempts and shot 53.3 percent from the field in DU’s two exhibition games.
NEW YORK DUKES
The addition of Wood (Queens) and Mitchell (Brooklyn) gives the Dukes two New York City products on the active roster, marking the first time since 1996-97 (Devone Stephenson/Manhattan Seward Park & Rob Johnson/Bronx Rice) Duquesne has had two NYC high school players. When you combine Wood and Mitchell with Brooklyn natives Shawn James and Kojo Mensah - who are both sitting out following their transfers from Northeastern and Siena respectively - Duquesne could have an all-time high of four players from the Big Apple on next year’s roster. You have to go all the way back to the glory years of the 1950s to find a DU roster with the current most New York City high school products.
The 1953-54, NIT runner-up had three NYC high school grads on the roster in Sid Dambrot (South Bronx William Taft), Sihugo Green (Brooklyn Boys) and Marty Schwemmer (Bronx DeWitt Clinton). Green, a two-time consensus All-American for the Dukes from 1954-56, and Lionel Billingy (Bronx Our Savior Lutheran), who posted a school record 13.7 career rpg. average between 1972-74, are considered to be the top two New York City products to ever play for Duquesne.
DUQUESNE TENTATIVE STARTERS VS YOUNGSTOWN STATE
| # | P | B>Name | Ht | Yr | Pts | Reb | G/GS | Hometown | Quick Facts
| 23 | F | Robert Mitchell | 6-6 | Fr. | --- | --- | 0/0 | Brooklyn, N.Y. | Scored 15 & 16 points in DU’s two exhibition games
| | 30 | F | Scott Grote | 6-6 | Fr. | --- | --- | 0/0 | Centerville, Ohio
| Shot 57.1% in exhib. play (12-of-21, 5-of-10 from “3”)
| | 31 | F | Stephen Wood | 6-3 | Fr. | --- | --- | 0/0 | S. Jamaica Queens, N.Y. | Went 6-of-10 from 3-point arc in exhibition play
| | 1 | G | Aaron Jackson | 6-2 | So. | 6.8 | 3.1 | 27/21 | Hartford, Conn. | Led DU in assists (11) & rebounds (8.5 rpg.) in exhib.
| | 3 | G | Reggie Jackson | 5-10 | Jr. | --- | --- | 0/0 | Hogansville, Ga. | Eight assists and four steals in two exhibition games
| |
OFF THE BENCH
| 20 | G | Phillip Fayne | 6-2 | So. | --- | --- | 0/0 | Carbondale, Ill. | Came off bench to score game-high 25 vs. Mercyhurst
|
| 50 | C | Almamy Thiero | 6-9 | Gr. | --- | --- | 0/0 | Mali, West Africa | Returning from Oct. 9 arthroscopic (left) knee surgery
|
| 4 | G | Jimmy Sherwood | 6-1 | Fr. | --- | --- | 0/0 | Sharon, Mass. | Preferred walk-on played eight min. in two exhib. games
|
| 2 | F | Kieron Achara | 6-10 | Jr. | 6.0 | 3.7 | 3/2 | Stirling, Scotland | Out indefinitely with stress fractures in left foot
|