Duquesne stars from yesteryear celebrate Dukes' return to NCAA Tournament

The voice on the other end of the line was faint, and there was a dinging sound in the background.

“Oh, wait, I need to buckle up my seat belt.”

It was Penn Hills resident Moe Barr, the Duquesne basketball star from yesteryear, multi-tasking while talking on his cell phone.

“There we go. Got it,” said Barr, who was heading home Sunday evening after having officiated an AAU girls volleyball tournament at Pitt-Johnstown.

“So, Moe, what’d you think of those Dukes today? Something else, huh?” Barr was asked.

The reception on his cell phone at times faded as he traversed west through the hills of Cambria County. But his message was clear, and his voice became more affable at the mention of Duquesne’s stunning run through the Atlantic 10 Tournament, culminating with Sunday’s 57-51 victory over VCU in the championship game.

The Dukes earned their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1977 and will face No. 21 BYU in the first round Thursday in Omaha, Neb.

“Obviously, I couldn’t watch it,” said Barr, who averaged 15.0 points in three years at Duquesne before playing in 31 NBA games for the Cincinnati Royals during the 1970-71 season.

“My son would text me every so often to let me know how they were doing. One of the cheerleaders from my day texted me and said, ‘This is just like 1969.’

“This is great. I’m really happy.”

Duquesne finished that season ranked No. 9 in the final Associated Press poll after taking third place in the NCAA Tournament East Region with a 75-72 victory over St. John’s.

Barr said he received comments from other former Duquesne players, too, including former teammate Barry Nelson.

So did Baron “B.B.” Flenory, the flashy guard from Valley High School who came along nearly a decade after Barr.

“My phone was blowing up with text messages from everywhere,” Flenory said. “I was actually crying because I’m very involved in the Duquesne program. Prior to covid, I always ended up at alumni events.

“All the players came back: Willie Somerset, Norm Nixon … I’ve been involved so much so that when they were 0-5 (to start the A-10 schedule), coach Dambrot called me to come and talk to the team.”

What Keith Dambrot observed was a team that responded to another voice. He texted Flenory on Saturday after the Dukes’ 70-60 victory over St. Bonaventure in the semifinals, suggesting Flenory was the team’s good-luck charm.

“I told them to play for each other and their families and that jersey,” said Flenory, 66, who averaged 15.7 points over a four-year span, including 20.4 as a junior. He was a freshman on Duquesne’s most recent NCAA Tournament team in 1976-77.

“I know my speech didn’t turn them around, but it feels good that I might have played a small part.”

Duquesne (24-11) nearly lost the lead to VCU late in Sunday’s game, causing some anxious moments for Dukes alumni and fans alike.

“At that particular time, there were a lot of people saying, obviously, ‘Same old Dukes,’ ” Flenory said.

“Well, they turned it around.”

Barr, who officiates volleyball matches primarily at the high school and college levels, said he’d “go nuts” if he wasn’t able to keep officiating.

“I feel the same way everybody else does who cares about Duquesne,” explained the 79-year-old.

After Sunday’s outcome for Duquesne, Barr was about to “go nuts” in a different way.

“We have never had this feeling for 47 years,” he said. “We just thought, ‘This is going to end badly.’ Lo and behold, it didn’t.”