Duquesne men's basketball picked 8th, women 6th in Atlantic 10 preseason poll

It took just two seasons for Duquesne forward David Dixon to feel the rush of winning consistently in college basketball games.

Far from satisfied, even after being part of consecutive 20-win seasons at Duquesne for the first time since 1971 and ’72, Dixon dreams of yet another run at success.

“I’m kind of addicted to winning, so I want to do it again,” said the 6-foot-9 junior forward, whose 60 blocked shots last season ranked fifth in the Atlantic 10.

It’ll take a lot to top a historic run that led to the Dukes’ first NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly a half-century and their first tournament victory since 1969.

“We have to be more than just teammates,” Dixon said. “We have to care for one another.”

With a retooled roster following the loss of six regulars, including leading scorers Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark III, from a team that went 25-12 (10-8 A-10), Duquesne will head into its first season under new coach Dru Joyce III with just two returning starters: Dixon and 6-4 sophomore guard Jake DiMichele, the former Our Lady of the Sacred Heart star.

It’s likely why the Dukes, who won their second A-10 Tournament championship a year ago, were picked to finish eighth among 15 teams in the 2024-25 A-10 preseason poll, revealed Monday at the league’s annual media day at Capital One Arena in Washington.

The Duquesne women’s team, led by senior guard Megan McConnell, was predicted to finish sixth.

McConnell, a former Chartiers Valley star and the sister of Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell — who spent his first two college seasons at Duquesne, where he was A-10 Rookie of the Year in 2010-11 — was named to the women’s preseason first team and all-defensive team by the conference’s coaches.

VCU was tabbed as the men’s favorite, garnering a league-high 14 first-place votes, and Dayton finished second. Richmond, with a high of 10 first-place votes, edged Saint Joseph’s for the top spot in the women’s poll.

Joyce, for one, was unalarmed when he learned where his team had landed in the poll.

“The expectations will be to continue to build. That’s the model for our team,” said Joyce, the Dukes associate head coach for two seasons before succeeding Keith Dambrot, who retired as coach after leading Duquesne on its historic run of a year ago.

Nine newcomers join Duquesne, which received one first-place vote. Among them are eight transfers, including junior guard Maximus Edwards, the 2022-23 A-10 Rookie of the Year at George Washington.

“We’re not so concerned about what the results are, because those things will take care of themselves,” Joyce said. “It’s more of a daily process of how we go about our work, not just what we do, but how we do it, knowing the discipline it takes each and every day to chase greatness.”

The Dukes last season beat BYU in a first-round NCAA Tournament game in Omaha, Neb. Duquesne hadn’t appeared in an NCAA Tournament since winning its first A-10 Tournament championship in 1977.

McConnell is the lone women’s starter among six returning veterans from a 21-13 (13-5 A-10) team, which included an appearance in the A-10 Tournament semifinals and a first-round overtime victory over Monmouth in the WNIT.

She was one of two Duquesne players to start all 34 games, and she led the team in nearly every statistical category. She ranked first in Division I in minutes played (38.6 per game) and finished first in the A-10 in total rebounds (294) and assists-to-turnovers ratio (2.2).

Duquesne coach Dan Burt welcomes eight newcomers, including transfers Andjela Matic, who shot 48.0% (47 for 98) from 3-point range last season at Vermont, and Gabby Hutcherson, who started seven of 26 games as a junior at Pitt.

“I’ve enjoyed going to practice more than I ever have,” said Burt, the Dukes’ all-time winningest coach with a record of 209-132 as he enters his 12th season. “That’s not slighting any of the teams in the past … but the people we were able to bring in have really bought into what we’re doing and the style of basketball that we’re playing. We’re obviously led by Megan and her leadership, and the buy-in we have had from the players from Day 1 when they got back in late-June has been nothing short of outstanding.”

Both Duquesne teams open their regular-season schedules Nov. 4 as part of a home doubleheader at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, the women’s team facing Princeton at 5 p.m. and the men’s team taking on Lipscomb at 8 p.m.

Atlantic 10 Preseason Basketball Polls

(First-Place votes in parentheses)

Men

Rank, team, points

1. VCU (14), 421

2. Dayton (6), 394

3. Saint Joseph’s (5), 376

4. Saint Louis (2), 371

5. Loyola Chicago (2), 368

6. George Mason, 262

7. Richmond, 230

8. Duquesne (1), 222

9. Massachusetts, 215

10. St. Bonaventure, 210

11. Rhode Island, 159

12. Davidson, 118

13. George Washington, 111

14. Fordham, 80

15. La Salle, 62

Women

Rank, team, points

1. Richmond (10), 216

2. Saint Joseph’s (4), 211

3. George Mason, 188

4. Davidson (1), 173

5. VCU, 153

6. Duquesne, 148

7. Saint Louis, 132

8. Rhode Island, 122

9t. Fordham, 96

9t. Loyola Chicago, 96

11. Dayton, 84

12. George Washington, 71

13. Massachusetts, 40

14. St. Bonaventure, 38

15. La Salle, 31