Local Team Previews
Duquesne Dukes
By Joe Giardina

When Ron Everhart took over the Duquesne program this past year he looked to reshape the whole identity of a team that finished just 3-24 overall and 1-15 in conference play in 2005-06. Returning only two starters, Everhart and his staff brought in the largest recruiting class in NCAA division I basketball and he immediately took to molding them into a team.

But on September 17, four of those new players-Sam Ashaolu, Stuard Baldonado, Kojo Mensah and Shawn James-as well as Aaron Jackson, one of the returning members of last years team, were victims of a shooting. Four of the five have since left the hospital and are back on campus, but Ashaolu remains hospitalized, although he is making progress.

As much as the Dukes would like to put the terrible incident behind them, it will be tough. The shooting leaves them with one of the smallest, guard oriented lineups in the NCAA, and other injuries are starting to take their toll as well. The Dukes have only one healthy player above 6'6" and that is 6'10" Kieron Achara who missed most of last season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. This off-season he has rehabbed and lost 20 pounds to help find the form that made him the 2004-05 Atlantic 10 most improved player. But Achara is more of a forward then a center. Their true center, newcomer Almamy Thiero, had off-season knee surgery and will not be at full strength by the beginning of the season.

"There's no question from a basketball perspective we've taken a major blow," Everhart recently told ESPN.com. "It's going to be a major obstacle to overcome."

So Everhart will focus on his coaching abilities to turn around the fortunes of the Dukes. He will put emphasis on intensity and creating chaos on defense while having a quick, attacking offense, something he calls "intelligent aggressiveness."