Intangibles make DiMichele irreplaceable part of Duquesne's watershed season

By now, you’ve probably caught wind of it a million times, the story of Jake DiMichele, the Duquesne basketball walk-on whose inspired play has helped lead the Dukes back to the NCAA Tournament after years of futility.

What’s one more take on this feel-good vibe?

It’s universally understood that DiMichele, a 6-foot-4 guard, quickly has become a darling of college basketball in Pittsburgh, a local product from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart who helped the Class 3A Chargers to four consecutive WPIAL championships and two PIAA titles.

“What a great role model for younger people,” OLSH coach Mike Rodriguez said.

This tough, gritty McKees Rocks kid has taken his infectious drive to another level this year to become a force in Duquesne’s season of surprises that finds the 11th-seeded Dukes, who won the Atlantic 10 Tournament title, preparing for their first NCAA Tournament game in 47 years against No. 6 seed BYU on Thursday in Omaha, Neb.

“When he started to play, we started to win,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said. “He brought us unbelievable toughness, intangibles and versatility.”

If you’ve watched the Dukes play this season, you’re bound to have seen the quirky-seeming DiMichele and his scraggly beard diving on the floor, lunging at an opponent and just free-falling all over the court.

By now, his story has been told so many times that it probably can be recited by heart.

Get used to it. He’s only a freshman.

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Duquesne assistant Rick McFadden, whose persistence in recruiting DiMichele out of the prep school ranks at Franklin County’s First Love Christian at Scotland Campus, was able to convince Dambrot last year to take DiMichele, who sports a straight-A report card.

While DiMichele wasn’t scoring at nearly the clip he had been at OLSH, where he averaged 31.9 points per game as a senior and finished with 2,642 career points, he was drawing some college attention from Patriot League schools and had given Division II IUP a verbal commitment.

“I hadn’t had a chance to see him a ton at OLSH,” McFadden said. “But being that he was playing against better competition down east, you get to see how his game translates. When I went out there, I was blown away by his intangibles. There was something to him. He had a weird speed.”

By now, McFadden was shaking his head in midthought. He began to smile ever so slightly with his eyes fixed ahead of him.

After a pause, McFadden’s thoughts came back into focus.

“People don’t realize how fast Jake is,” he said before adding with emphasis: “And that funky stroke scares people away.

“He’s just got some weird stuff to him that it’s hard to bring it to a head coach. Because it’s a risk. You just don’t know.”

McFadden said he told Dambrot that if they were back at Akron, where the two men previously coached, “I would offer him. He’s our type of guy.”

It was enough for Dambrot. McFadden convinced his boss to take a chance on DiMichele, who has started 19 of the 28 games in which he has appeared, is averaging 6.4 points and 2.6 rebounds and shoots 45.8%.

Duquesne (24-11) takes a season-high eight-game winning streak into Thursday’s game, and the Dukes, like most any team, rely heavily on their star power, in their case a dangerous backcourt tandem of Dae Dae Grant (16.7 ppg) and Jimmy Clark III (15.1), their top two scorers.

DiMichele, like other players, serves a role.

You could say DiMichele’s role is indispensable.

“I’m telling you,” McFadden said, “It’s his intangibles. His blood pressure never rises. He’s smart, coachable, unflappable. From Day 1, when we put him in the game at Loyola Chicago, all I can say is, ‘tremendous.’

Don’t misunderstand him, if that’s possible, but DiMichele’s reaction to all the attention he is getting usually turns into a loud yawn.

“God is working in my life,” he said. “Being here, growing up, watching Duquesne, it’s just a blessing to represent my city. Hopefully, it can bring us some more championships in the future.”

Hearing DiMichele’s name mentioned, sophomore point guard Kareem Rozier, a compelling story in his own right as the Dukes’ prime inspirational leader, turned and stopped in his tracks.

“Jake?” Rozier said at the mention of DiMichele’s name. “He’s a key part of what we’re doing. I’m proud of him. Everything he’s getting right now, he deserves.

“Everyone in that locker room loves him. We wouldn’t be the same without him, I’ll tell you that.”

Rodriguez, DiMichele’s high school coach, has watched Duquesne’s games religiously. Of course, his eyes are on his former star.

“He’s a gamer. He’s a competitor. When he plays and he gets in the moment, his competitive juices take over,” Rodriguez said before someone asked, “Are you surprised by what he’s doing?”

“Am I surprised by what he’s doing?” Rodriquez said, repeating the question. He thought for moment, then seemingly mimicked DiMichele’s simple manner of speech.

“No,” Rodriguez deadpanned. “I’m not.”