In the three seasons Marcus Weathers has suited up for the Duquesne men's basketball team, he's played a home game in six different venues. It's safe to say that the last home court the senior forward played on will go down as his favorite.
After being forced to play home games on multiple college campuses, PPG Paints arena, and once even at a high school in Akron, Ohio during a 22 month construction period, the Dukes opened their new home -- the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse -- in style on Tuesday night, taking down Atlantic 10 foe Dayton by 69-64.
Weathers led the way with 20 points in a game that he says he'll remember for quite some time.
"It's kind of like a dream come true," Weathers said after the victory. "Just to be able to see the Fieldhouse and see the atmosphere with it, with a little bit of fans inside, I think 'dream come true' would be the best words to describe it."
Meanwhile, Keith Dambrot had a different way to describe the win on Tuesday night. While he serves as a full time head basketball coach, Dambrot could also make a career out of being a Duquesne basketball historian, thanks largely in part to his father having played for the Dukes in the 1950's.
The fourth year head coach said it was nice to get a win to honor the man who the new building is named after.
"My dad came right when Chuck Cooper was leaving so I know what Duquesne stood for and what they believed in," Dambrot said. "Just what Chuck Cooper has done for the city, the trailblazing-ness of what he did in the NBA, basically being the Jackie Robinson of the NBA ... that name on the building means a lot to me.
“I just want to make sure everybody understands that because again, I know the history of Duquesne better than most. So that meant a lot to me to win the first game at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.”
As we enter February, Duquesne has a new and improved look on the court, both physically with the new venue and strategically with how they are playing the game.
“I have one hundred percent confidence in our team’s ability to compete with every team each and every night," Weathers said. "It’s just about defense. We have to come in there every night and be consistent defensively.”
Defense is the primary reason the Dukes have won four of their last five contests. Duquesne is currently the second best defensive team in the Atlantic 10, only behind St. Bonaventure who is at the top of the overall standings.
What has led to the Dukes' recent success on the defensive end? Perhaps it is nothing more than a few new faces finally getting a grasp on how to play at the collegiate level.
Last week, Dambrot inserted Mike Bekelja into the starting lineup. He has become just the latest of now five freshmen that are receiving significant playing time.
Tuesday night marked the first time Duquesne had four freshman on the floor in the first half, this season. Their head coach spoke about the young group after the game, expressing how happy he was to see them continuing to improve.
"They’re getting better," Dambrot said. "They’re learning under fire in not non-league games, but conference games against good teams. They just have to stay at it, get better, mature and keep working at their game."
The opening of the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse and the result in the first game played inside of it can perhaps represent the Duquesne men's basketball team turning over a new page.
The team has a new identity, led by a new group in a new building. The year hasn't gone according to plan, but when the Dukes are playing with a confidence and swagger that they didn't have earlier in the year.
While key seniors like Weathers, Michael Hughes and Tavian Dunn-Martin will soon be gone, the future is looking bright.
For years, Duquesne was viewed as nothing more than a pair of easy wins for most of the Atlantic 10. Now, despite all of the struggles the program has faced, the team fully believes that narrative has changed.
“We’re good enough to play with anybody in the league," Dambrot said. "We can play with the blue bloods. We’re not going to win every night but we’re a little scary for people at least."
The Dukes' next match up is on Sunday against VCU, a team that is currently projected on the bubble for making the National Tournament. A win over the Rams should certainly have the rest of the conference a bit concerned about what is coming together in Uptown.