Duquesne men's basketball head coach Keith Dambrot retiring at end of season
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Duquesne University's men's basketball coach is retiring at the end of the season.
Keith Dambrot announced his retirement at a press conference on Monday. The announcement comes after Duquesne men's basketball earned an NCAA tournament bid for the first time since 1977 after defeating VCU 57-51 on Sunday in the finals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.
"I just decided before the season that this is going to be it for me, and so, at this point, this is it for me," he said.
Dambrot has led the Dukes to a 115-95 record in his seven years with the team. In his 26 years as a head coach, he has an overall record of 528-304.
Dambrot became emotional during the press conference, joking, "I don't know what the hell I'm going to do because I really don't have any hobbies."
He thanked everyone for the opportunity to coach and thanked his players as well as the athletics department.
"I'm sure as hell not going to do anything around the house so I might be coming to all y'alls games all the time because I don't know what else I'm going to do, but I think it's time."
Duquesne earned the No. 11 seed in the Selection Sunday special, and they will face off against the No. 6 seed BYU Cougars (23-10) in a first-round matchup in Omaha, Nebraska, on March 21.
The big win even caught the attention of LeBron James, who on social media congratulated Duquesne, Dambrot and associate head coach Dru Joyce III. Dambrot coached James at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Ohio.