Duquesne's Drame twins know about improbable runs

There they stood, inside empty UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Drame twins, side-by-side. Quiet. Respectful. Unassuming.

Don’t be deceived. These African-born brothers — they hail from Bamako, Mali — are a tenacious pair, anything but usual. They tend to unite in a sort of brotherly love manner.

Spotting the Drames, Jimmy Clark III, the Atlantic 10 leader in steals, flashed a smile as he swung by long enough to fist-tap the two.

Not a word was uttered on either end.

“This group this year is phenomenal,” said Fousseyni Drame (pronounced Foo-see-nee Draw-may), leaning against a railing designed to cordon off fans from the court. Hassan remained upright to his brother’s left. He walked with a limp, signaling the recent knee surgery to repair a nagging injury that played a part in his reduced minutes this season.

Both Drames attended Our Savior New American School in the Long Island community of Centereach, N.Y., before helping Mali win the 2018 FIBA U-18 Africa championship and later reaching the 2019 FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup Championship game.

By now, with the annual March Madness phenomenon upon them, the Drames had become fixtures at Duquesne, their third college stop, where they intended on leaving their indelible mark.

“We believe we’ve got one more story to write,” Fousseyni Drame said.

Known simply around Duquesne’s campus as “The Twins,” the Drames appeared at ease on the eve of a trip to “The Big Apple” — New York City — just across the Hudson River from St. Peter’s University, the tiny New Jersey school that in 2022 shook the college basketball world with its methodical march to the Elite Eight.

The Drames, you may recall, were main players for that strutting bunch of Peacocks, who were a 15th seed in the East Region before taking down No. 2-seed Kentucky, No. 7 Murray State and No. 3 Purdue to earn a date with another blue blood program, North Carolina, in the round of eight.

Two years later, they say they’re on a mission again — this time with unheralded Duquesne, a sixth seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, which got underway Tuesday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn with a trio of first-round games.

The Dukes (20-11) will face 14-seed Saint Louis in a second-round game Wednesday night.

“Fousseyni and Hassan talked to the guys after (Saturday’s 67-65 victory over George Washington) about how that experience can change their lives,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said. “It’s something you can never get taken away from you. My dad (Sid Dambrot) played in the national championship game here (for Duquesne), which at the time was the NIT, and that was something nobody could ever take away from them. ‘The Twins’ hit hard on that and what you have to do.”

Fousseyni Drame, who originally was committed to Oregon, averaged 7.0 points and 6.4 rebounds for that Elite Eight-bound team two seasons ago, and Hassan, a one-time Creighton recruit, chipped in averages of 6.0 points and 5.3 rebounds.

“We wanted to help put that school on the map,” said Fousseyni Drame, who explained the brothers had a change of heart about their college destinations after realizing they’d be playing basketball apart from one another. St. Peters, he said, was the best option they could find to remain as a package.

After knocking off three heavy favorites, the Drames and St. Peter’s finally bowed out of the NCAA Tournament that year with a 20-point loss to No. 8-seed North Carolina.

Following the season — the twins’ third at St. Peter’s — they entered the transfer portal and landed at La Salle, which eliminated Duquesne from the A-10 Tournament a year ago.

“They beat us during the season. They were very good, actually,” Fousseyni Drame said of Duquesne. “My brother and I called ‘Chabi’ (Duquesne’s Halil Barre, another African-born player from Cotonou, Benin) about that and to say, ‘Hey, look, when we play in the tournament, we know what it’s like to play in March.’ ”

Both players contributed eight points apiece with Hassan Drame finishing with nine rebounds in the Explorers’ 81-70 second-round victory.

The Drames, sensing the Dukes — their third team now after they had spent just one year at La Salle — are facing a similar scenario, were hoping to rally their teammates to make a run at a possible A-10 championship, which would earn Duquesne its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1977.

“We believe — me and him — that in our last year, something good is going to happen,” Fousseyni Drame said. “We know. We have the feeling. We always knew something good would be happening (at St. Peter’s). My brother might not be playing now, but basketball is about a team. My teammates love him.”

One glorious chapter already is in the books.

“Referring back to St. Peter’s,” Fousseyni Drame said. “The oldest guy on the team — who was the leader of the team, too — he had one saying that he used to say when we huddled. He used to tell our players, ‘It’s not about the school name of the jersey, it’s not about how big the school is, it’s not how much money they have, it’s not how big their name is. At the end of the day, it’s a game of basketball. Five vs. five. One ball. Two baskets.’ ”

Likewise, Hassan Drame referred back in time, but to a much more recent day. It was just Saturday at Cooper Center that Duquesne’s Dae Dae Grant dove for a loose ball that ultimately resulted in two points against GW and sent momentum the Dukes’ way.

Moments later, Clark stole the ball near midcourt and raced towards the Duquesne basket for a rim-rattling dunk, igniting the Cooper Fieldhouse home crowd.

“Dae Dae dove on the floor, got the ball and passed it to ‘Foo,’ ” Hassan Drame said, referring to his brother. “Dae Dae followed him and finished the play. Because of that, it’s like electric shock. Then, the guy (A-10 blocks leader Babatunde Akingbola) tried to come down for a layup, and Dave Dixon got a block. And the next move, (Clark) got the steal and we scored there.

“The season can change in one action, and maybe that action is all it takes for the season to turn around. And then, we head to the tournament. We’re packing for two weeks. It’s March. Anything can happen. We’re not going there thinking that we’re going for two or three days. From one player to 15 players, everybody knows we’re going there for two weeks, and our season will be over in probably three weeks from now, at the end of March.”

Hassan Drame then glanced at his brother Fousseyni Drame, who was watching intently.

“That’s the mentality we are going through,” Hassan Drame said with a nod.