By JERRY DIPAOLA TRIBLIVE

Dru Joyce was announced as Duquesne’s new men’s basketball head coach April 1, 2024 at Duquesne.Chaz Palla | TribLive

Trips to the Cayman Islands and Akron, Ohio, will be part of Duquesne’s 109th season of men’s basketball before the Atlantic 10 season begins New Year’s Eve. Duquesne released its 2024-25 schedule Tuesday. 

Duquesne will play three games in three days in the Cayman Islands Classic, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 24 against South Dakota State. 

The annual nonconference game at Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School is scheduled for Dec. 14 when the Dukes meet Towson at LeBron James Arena. Duquesne is 5-0 in neutral site games in Akron. Duquesne coach Dru Joyce III, entering his first season after replacing retired Keith Dambrot, was James’ teammate at St. Vincent-St. Mary. 

The Dukes will open the season Nov. 4 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse against Lipscomb, the first of seven nonconference home games. The others are Milwaukee (Nov. 19), Saint Peter’s (Dec. 3), Delaware (Dec. 6), Maine (Dec. 11), UC Irvine (Dec. 21) and Cleary (Dec. 27). 

Duquesne travels to Trenton, N.J., on Nov. 8, to play Princeton as part of the Deborah Heart and Lung Center Jersey Jam. It is part of a doubleheader at CURE Insurance Arena, with Temple facing Monmouth in the other game. 

The first road game is Nov. 15, at DePaul. The Dukes defeated the Blue Demons two years ago, marking their first victory against a Big East program since 2002. 

The first Atlantic 10 game is Dec. 31 against Rhode Island at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The first conference road game will be Jan. 4 at Davidson. 

Four of Duquesne’s A-10 games will be nationally televised, including two at home on CBS Sports Network. 

• The Dukes travel to the Bronx, N.Y., on Jan. 26, for a 12:30 p.m. start against Fordham on the USA Network. 

• The game at Dayton on Feb. 15 also will be on the USA Network. 

• The home games on CBS Sports Network are scheduled for Feb. 8 against Loyola Chicago and a rematch of the 2024 Atlantic 10 championship game March 4 vs. VCU. 

In other Atlantic 10 games, the Dukes welcome Saint Joseph’s (Jan. 8), St. Bonaventure (Jan. 18), Dayton (Jan. 21), Massachusetts (Feb. 1), Fordham (Feb. 19) and George Mason (March 1) to the Cooper Fieldhouse. 

Duquesne will visit George Washington (Jan. 15), Saint Joseph’s (Jan. 29), Richmond (Feb. 5), Dayton (Feb. 15), St. Bonaventure (Feb. 22) and La Salle (Feb. 26). The regular-season finale is March 8 at Saint Louis. 

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The Dukes will defend their 2024 Atlantic 10 Tournament championship March 12-15 at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. 

Note: Duquesne announced earlier this month the hiring of Darik Artis as director of basketball operations. The 2019 Ohio State grad was an assistant coach at Orangeville Prep Academy in Mono, Ontario last season after spending time on the staffs at Alderson Broaddus and Cleveland State. 

Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at [email protected].

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