Duquesne coach Dru Joyce says NIL matters when building a roster, but relationships do, too

Dru Joyce III insists the new world of name, image and likeness in college athletics is “not my territory.”

Yet he admits NIL is “part of our environment.”

“You have the opportunity to adapt to it or resist,” he said.

He wants to win, so he adapted.

Joyce, who is approaching three months on the job as Duquesne’s head men’s basketball coach, understands what it takes to survive. Who better than Joyce to discuss NIL, paying players and how it affects the transfer portal?

Since accepting the job only two weeks after the end of the season, he brought in seven transfers to augment two returning starters and nine total incumbents from the first Duquesne team in nearly a half-century to reach the NCAA Tournament.

When Duquesne athletic director Dave Harper decided to replace retiring head coach Keith Dambrot with Joyce, he avoided possible chaos. Hiring an outsider might have sent several Dukes rushing for the portal. After the promotion of Joyce from Dambrot’s staff, only two players left: Andy Barba and Kailon Nicholls, who totaled just 76 minutes of playing time between them last season.

Did the transfers enroll, and did the holdovers stay at least in part because of the monetary efforts of Duquesne’a NIL collective, Red and Blue?

“I’m sure it may have played a role,” Joyce said.

But there is just enough old school in Joyce, 39, for him to believe it was more than that.

“Maybe I’m throwback,” he said. “I still think the value of relationships, a dollar can’t be placed on that. I think our guys value it. Whether they decide that’s always what they value, that’s a decision that’s left to them.

“For me, when they decide to stay, it’s a belief, not only (in) who I am, but my staff, the values of our culture and what we represent. Will guys receive money and whatever else they receive out here these days? That’s a part of it, but they have to believe in you.

“Our guys had to make that decision whether to stay or go and they decided to stay. I hope it was for those reasons.”

Joyce played 12 seasons as a professional in Germany, Poland, Russia and France. He understands the importance of a paycheck.

“At 22, when I was finished playing college basketball (at Akron), I got a paycheck to play basketball. Now it so happens you’re 18, 19 and it’s in college sports. I know college sports has always been defined as amateurism. It’s not anymore, and it’s OK with me.

“If I had the opportunity during my era of college basketball, I would have loved it. I don’t think it would have changed my outlook on what I believe is part of success, what I believe in team building, what I believe in relationships and a step-by-step process. I would have just had a little bit of money in my pocket.”

With those thoughts in mind, Joyce started rebuilding the Dukes through the portal after losing senior guards Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark, who averaged double-digit points last season.

Several players returned, including:

• Former walk-on guard Jake DiMichele, a McKees Rocks native who made 21 starts last season, averaged 6.4 points per game and kept a cool head in many of the crucial moments as Duquesne won the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time. He was recently awarded a scholarship. “He earned it, as simple as that,” Joyce said. “You look at Jake after the game, both of his knees are probably bleeding.

“He’s got this stable confidence. He doesn’t know if he’s in a room with nobody or 10,000. He’s going to give you the same type of energy.”

• Guard Kareem Rozier, who has a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.5 (155 assists, 62 turnovers).

• David Dixon, a 6-foot-9 forward who is the leading returning rebounder (4.8 per game). Dixon is nearly recovered from a cleanup procedure on his knee, Joyce said.

• Forwards Halil Barre, Matus Hronsky and Jakub Necas, who logged valuable minutes, largely off the bench last season.

Among the newcomers are:

• Sophomore forward Eli Wilborn (6-foot-8), who played at St. Francis last season and was third in the Northeast Conference in rebounding (10.8 per game) and blocks (47). “He protects the rim with zero fear,” Joyce said. “He doesn’t necessarily care about the outcome. He’s willing to sacrifice his body with the idea of not giving up two points around the basket. Not everyone is willing to do that.”

• Maximus Edwards, a 6-5 junior guard who played against Duquesne at George Washington where he scored 722 points in two seasons and was the 2022-23 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. “Max has the ability to fill up the stat sheet. He’s proven he can score at this level. He should have never showed me how well he defended when he played against us. The idea of becoming a big-time, two-way player threat is something we have sat down and discussed.”

• Alex Williams, a 6-5 forward from Furman, helped the Paladins reach the 2023 NCAA Tournament, where they defeated Virginia.

• Jahsean Corbett, a 6-6 guard/forward, scored 21 points, with 11 rebounds, for Chicago State last season against Duquesne. Corbett has played point guard and center and “has a burning desire to show people he can win at this level,” Joyce said. “He’s undersized when he has (to play center), but he has a fight to him.”

• The Dukes also played against former Marshall guard Cam Crawford (6-5) last season. He scored 20 points off the bench.

• Tre Dinkins, a former point guard at Canisius, scored 15 points with three 3s against Pitt last season.

• Brandon Hall, a junior college transfer from Howard College, has a knee injury after averaging 16.4 points per game.

Somewhere in that mix of new and returning players Joyce hopes to find replacements for Clark and Grant.

“Will we do it in the style they did it? Probably not,” he said. “When it comes to how do we replace those two, I don’t quite know yet, but I do know we have enough talent and we have enough skill set in the room and it’s just going to come in different ways.”