Duquesne's Grant takes moment to soak in career milestone, refocuses on A-10 foes

In Lorain, Ohio, Cleveland’s sports teams rule. It is the hometown of Duquesne basketball star Dae Dae Grant, a self-proclaimed beholder of NBA superstar LeBron James, a native of nearby Akron, whose prolific professional career began in 2003 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavs and Cleveland Browns put basketball and football in the spotlight during the winter months in “The Forest City,” while the Pittsburgh Steelers are joined by the Penguins to keep “Steel City” fans entertained.

So where does Grant, who just became the 13th active Division I player to score 2,000 career points in basketball, stand on the intense rivalry between the Steelers and Browns?

“My mom is a Steelers fan. I’m a Cleveland Browns fan,” Grant said with a laugh. “But my mom is my mom, so she’s got her leeway.”

But so, too, does her son.

While football has become America’s new national pastime, according to one recent survey, Grant continues to be a basketball junkie through and through.

“I was a big LeBron fan. I played for his (youth) teams when I was growing up,” said the 6-foot-2 Grant, who has scored 840 points while in his second season at Duquesne after totaling 1,171 in three seasons at Miami (Ohio). “I wasn’t a fan so much of football or baseball, but if the Browns or Indians played, I’d root for them. Just more so now. Both have grown on me. I’m a Browns fan now, really.”

Grant said that until recently he didn’t pay close attention to much in sports outside of basketball. Maybe that’s why he’s become quite the roundball student.

“Just having him out there as a presence, it’s reassuring to all of us,” said Duquesne’s Jake DiMichele, a 6-4 freshman currently in the Dukes’ starting lineup. “He’s just so composed.”

Grant and fellow senior Jimmy Clark III remained on the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse floor to hoist 3-point shots after the conclusion of Duquesne’s final tuneup for an Atlantic 10 game Wednesday night between the Dukes (13-8, 3-5) and Davidson (12-9, 2-6).

Grant certainly was launching — and scoring — on Saturday at Rhode Island in Duquesne’s most recent outing, an 85-71 victory. He finished with 31 points — two off a career high — on 8-of-16 shooting, including 7 for 14 from 3-point range. In the process, he went over the 2,000-point mark for his career.

In his first start since returning from a concussion that held him out of three games during Duquesne’s 0-5 start in the A-10, his 15 first-half points helped the Dukes to a 41-31 halftime lead.

When he swished one of those 3-pointers with 17 minutes, 33 seconds left in the second half to push the Duquesne lead to 49-34, Grant surpassed the coveted two-grand line.

“I did not know when I was going to hit that marker,” he said. “I knew I was close. I didn’t know if it was going to be that game or even that soon into the game or what point.”

He insisted that he doesn’t pay attention to such things, even when they are as prolific as this.

“I don’t look at rankings or milestones,” he said. “I don’t go searching for the ESPN box score. I’m not looking at that stuff, whatsoever, because I’d rather it be a surprise, especially if it’s a milestone or an accolade that I’m competing for, individually. I like for those to be surprises, and when they come on, they come on.”

Not until after the Dukes had secured their fourth consecutive victory did Grant allow time to soak it all in.

“When I came out of the game, they said I just scored 2,000, but we were still in the game,” Grant said. “Somebody did congratulate me and I remember I said, ‘Thank you.’ But we still had to win the game. But, afterwards, I thought, ‘That’s nuts. That’s not easy to do as a basketball player.’ So, I was very appreciative of that.”

His prolific 3-point shooting has highlighted his career, but he’s known this season for more than that. Through Monday’s games, Grant was a fraction of a point behind the nation’s leader in free-throw percentage.

He enters the Davidson game with 23 consecutive makes and is 98 for 103 (95.15%), which trailed only DJ Davis of Butler (95.89) and Tamar Bates of Missouri (95.24).

“When he goes to the free-throw line, it’s automatic,” DiMichele said.

Grant is among an elite group of 20 active Division I players with 300 career 3-pointers (308). His 138 total at Duquesne trails only Mike Lewis II in 3-pointers made during just two seasons on The Bluff.

“You have to guard him, regardless of whether he’s making or missing,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said. “Somebody has to stand next to him, which isn’t always the case with some of the other players. He’s dangerous. He’s always a threat. And if you catch him on one of those nights where he goes wild, you’ll lose him. He’s a big presence, and he’s a good teammate.”

Duquesne has presented opposing teams with a bevy of starting lineups, as Dambrot continues to experiment with varying matchups.

But, Grant, who is averaging a team-leading 18.3 points, has been a staple in the lineup, aside from a weeklong stretch from Jan. 16-23 when he was sidelined while in the team’s concussion protocol after being injured in practice but wound up playing in a game Jan. 12 against No. 18 Dayton.

He was worked back into the rotation over the next week with a pair of performances off the bench in victories over Fordham and Chicago State.

Then came the offensive explosion Saturday in the victory at Rhode Island that sent Grant over 2,000 points and Duquesne over 69 points for the first time in more than a month.

“I really think the two weeks helped him because he freshened up,” Dambrot said. “And it helped our team in a way, because we had to turn to other people, which helps our depth.

“Dae Dae gives you somebody who can score, when you’re struggling scoring. It’s nice to have a weapon, somebody that can go in there and put the ball in the basket.”