Following a two week hiatus from all team activities due to a positive COVID-19 test, the Duquesne men's basketball program resumed its full practice schedule on Thursday.
The positive test came just when the Dukes were allowed to begin NCAA regulated team instruction for the start of the 2020-2021 season.
Now back into a normal routine, head coach Keith Dambrot says he and his staff are working to ensure a costly incident like this is just a one time occurrence.
“We just have to keep hitting them on making sure they social distance, they wash their hands and wear their mask," Dambrot said. "They’re not invincible. Sometimes it’s just going to happen and there is nothing you can do. You just get around somebody who just doesn’t take care of themselves or is infected and there is really nothing you can do about it. You really just have to try to reduce your risk.”
As Duquesne is just getting started, other teams are weeks ahead of them. The NCAA allows programs to have up to 30 official practices in the 42 days prior to the start of their season. The pandemic related pause will keep the Dukes six practices shy of that number.
While for some, knowing their opponent has had more time to prepare would be discouraging, Dambrot says his team is no stranger to adversity.
“We’re never going to make any excuses," Dambrot said. "We’ve been out of our arena and our practice gym for a year and a half now. We’re not going to use that as an excuse. We didn’t use it as an excuse last year. We kind of used it as a rallying cry.
"Now with this, we told our guys that we just have to turn it into a positive. We have to be in better shape. We’ve got to learn quicker and maximize our time. We can’t waste any days or moments."
Rather than choosing to go about their business as usual, Dambrot says the team is instead approaching the remainder of the preseason as if it were a pro mini-camp. They are no longer focusing on specific situations. Instead, they are preparing for everything.
"We took the eight days we were quarantined and did individual stuff where we tried to get into better shape," Dambrot said. "Now that we’re all back, we are preparing to play against anything that we may see. Like a two-three zone or a one-three-one zone, man-to-man. We may not be any good at any of it but at least we’ve seen anything that we may see. We’re prepping for all of it.”
Dambrot says his team has remained calm and focused throughout all of the obstacles they've encountered both on and off the court. The Dukes mentality during adversity is to simply grind through and get stronger, something their head coach believes has happened.
"What we did is we just kind of told them that we have to get through this with hard work," Dambrot said. "Harder work than we’ve ever put in. Longer practice periods and a higher concentration level. I think they’ve done a hell of a job, really. We still have some things we will have to overcome but they’ve done a really good job.”
One thing Duquesne can't control through hard work is finalizing its schedule. The season is less than a month away yet the Dukes still have no clue who, when and where they will be playing this year. Dambrot acknowledged that the wait for a finalized schedule is weighing on him.
“We were supposed to play Belmont this year," Dambrot said. "Their head coach, Casey Alexander, who is a coach I know well, texted me about playing them next year. I told him ‘Casey, I don’t have any games contracted for this year, you think I’m worried about next year?’ That’s the weird part. It’s October 30 and we don’t have one contracted game yet. We are very close. It’s all going to wash out and it’s all going to be fine but we don’t have one contracted game at the moment.”
Perhaps a large reason why the Dukes schedule has yet to be completed is to no fault of their own. A source close to the Duquesne athletic department tells me that they're waiting on Louisville to finish the final details on the non-conference bubble. Once the bubble is finalized the rest should fall into place. Until then, Dambrot says he and his team must simply remain patient and worry about what they can control.
“I’ve been coaching a long time and I’ve always said and believed that if you’re not willing to be flexible as a coach, this game will pass you by," Dambrot said. "What that means is handling of players, the change in how the game is played, and now how you handle covid. You just have to go with the flow and try to do things smarter. Keep it simple.”