DAVE DUKE NAMED MEN'S BASKETBALL ASSISTANT COACH

Dave Duke, who served the past eight seasons as a member of Penn men’s basketball staff, will join new Temple head coach Fran Dunphy as an assistant coach for the Owls. Duke reunites with Dunphy and former Quaker assistants Matt Langel and Shawn Trice to round out the 2006-07 Temple men’s basketball coaching staff.
“Dave is a veteran coach who not only has a keen eye for evaluating talent, but also developing it,’ Dunphy said. “We are fortunate that he is able and willing to make the move to Temple.”
At Penn, Duke played an instrumental part of the development of six Ivy League championship basketball teams. He assisted in the preparation of practices, primarily in the advanced film scouting of the Quakers’ opponents. Duke also played a major part in the Quakers’ recruiting efforts, as well as developing the team’s perimeter players.
Prior to his arrival at Penn in 1998, Duke served three seasons as an assistant basketball coach and director of player personnel of the Atlantic City Seagulls of the United States Basketball League (USBL). He played a key role in the program’s back-to-back USBL championship seasons (1997 and 1998), as he was responsible for evaluating players and scouting the talent of the CBA, college basketball and Europe.
At the college level, Duke spent eight seasons as the head coach at Lehigh University. At the time of his departure in 1996, he was the school’s second all-time winningest coach with 90 wins. When Duke took over the Lehigh program in 1989, he earned a reputation for maximizing his team’s talent. Lehigh had lost two of its top scorers to graduation, but he quickly rebuilt the team. Picked to finish seventh in the preseason coaches’ poll, he guided Lehigh to an 18-12 record in the 1989-90 season and a place in the ECC championship game. In 1991, his first season in the Patriot League, Duke’s squad finished 19-10 in the regular season and 12-2 in league play. In 1989-90 he earned East Coast Conference and NABC Area Coach of the Year honors while in 1990-91 he led LU to an ECC regular season championship.
Off the court, Duke established the Lehigh Athletic Department’s academic monitoring program, with his program boasting a 100 percent graduation rate. Duke recruited and coached eight 1,000-point career scorers and developed five of the top 10 leading scorers in Mountain Hawk basketball history. Duke began his collegiate coaching career at Lehigh as an assistant coach (1985-88). In his last season as an assistant, he was an integral part in Lehigh earning a bid to the 1988 NCAA Tournament with an East Coast Championship and the most wins in 98 years (21). Duke also served as the coordinator of the Lehigh basketball camps and Fall Clinic.
A 1974 graduate of Villanova, Duke went to Lehigh from St. John Neumann High School in Philadelphia, where he served as the head basketball coach for five seasons. He directed Neumann to the Philadelphia Catholic League championship in 1984-85, and was honored by the Philadelphia Inquirer as the Coach of the Year. In his last two seasons at Neumann, Duke’s teams were 50-14. Duke also coached in the 1993 McDonald’s East-West High School All-Star game in Atlanta, and the Philadelphia Catholic All-Star Games in 1982 and 1983.
Duke is the father of two daughters, Christine and Kelly Ann, and resides in Springfield, Pa.

NCAA sends out warning

The NCAA is trimming the gray area from eligibility rules for underclassmen entering the NBA draft.
However, player-agent Bill Neff said that's a futile exercise, with many in his profession cutting under-the-table deals with players.
The NCAA recently distributed a four-page memo, reminding schools what underclassmen can and cannot do to test their NBA marketability. The memo warns underclassmen not to accept travel expenses from NBA basketball teams, though that's been common practice in the past.
One of the authors of that memo said its purpose is heading off trouble and, potentially, holding rule-breakers accountable.
"It's fair to say we've had multiple student-athletes facing possible violations of NCAA rules," said Rachel Newman Baker, the NCAA's director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities. "We're trying to avoid (those problems), so we're not dealing with it next semester."
The NCAA now requires underclassmen in the draft to sign forms, stating they know the rules and understand the risk to their eligibility.
"We want it very clear up front," Newman Baker said, "if we do get into investigating a case, the `I-didn't-know' answer will not work."
The NCAA dealt with messy situations the past few years, involving former Connecticut forward Charlie Villanueva and current Kentucky center Randolph Morris. Each turned pro and had contact with an agent, only to pull out of the draft and seek to play college basketball.
In both cases, the NCAA ultimately granted eligibility.
The situation is complex. For instance, the NCAA allows the NBA to cover expenses for an underclassman to attend the pre-draft camp. But an individual NBA team cannot pay to fly in an underclassman for a workout without jeopardizing that player's eligibility.
Charlotte Bobcats coach-general manager Bernie Bickerstaff didn't know the NCAA draws that distinction. Jon Fagg, assistant athletics director for compliance services at N.C. State, said that rule is frequently disregarded, similar to how people absent-mindedly exceed the speed limit.
"If you drive to work, I guarantee there's a place where you speed a little every day," Fagg said of athletes accepting expenses they shouldn't. "Do you drive to the police station and turn yourself in? No."
That's why Fagg is glad the NCAA distributed this memo, eliminating any gray areas for underclassmen looking to preserve eligibility. N.C. State has already used it to guide sophomore center Cedric Simmons through the process.

Previewing Temple

Previewing Temple (15-10)

John Watson - Scout.com February 24, 2006 at 10:34am ET
After surviving in Atlanta, Duke returns to action on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia for a non-conference match up with Temple. Tip off is scheduled for 2:30 PM on ESPN.

Temple 57, Saint Joseph's 44

Temple's seniors can scratch "beating Saint Joseph's" off their career to-do list. Now the Owls' trio who know nothing but NITs have the NCAA tournament in their sight. Antywane Robinson scored 18 points and Mardy Collins added 11 to lead Temple to its first win over Saint Joseph's in nearly four years, 57-44 on Tuesday night.
The Owls (14-9, 7-5 Atlantic 10) snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Hawks and won for only the third time in the last 13 games against their longtime Big 5 rival.
"It's a long time coming, I'd say," Robinson said. "It took four years to do it, but, hey, better late than never."
Robinson, Collins and Nehemiah Ingram are the three seniors who have never played an NCAA tournament game, the longest drought in coach John Chaney's 24 years at Temple. The losing streak against the Hawks only added to the sting of four seasons that failed to live up to their expectations.
"If somebody's always picking on you like that, you've got to come back and defend yourself sooner or later," Robinson said.
They surely needed the win to keep alive their NCAA tournament hopes. The Owls would need at least 20 wins to even think about returning to the tournament after four straight NITs, and with two of their last five regular-season games on the road and one on Feb. 25 against No. 2 Duke, that could be a long shot.
"You want to finish a season strong," Chaney said. "Our body of work speaks for itself."
The Hall of Fame coach, however, didn't take any added satisfaction in beating the Hawks for the first time since March 3, 2002.
"Nothing gets to me but these guys shooting poorly. Nothing," he said. "That's (the media's) frenzy, not mine. Temple's the winningest basketball team in this city. Remember that, as long as you live. We should not be ashamed of that. The only other team in this city that's close is Penn."
Abdulai Jalloh scored 11 points for the Hawks (10-12, 4-7). The darlings of college basketball only two years ago and an NIT finalist last season, Phil Martelli's team has struggled to score this year and is near the bottom of the A-10. Saint Joseph's has lost four of five.
"There's going to have to be something a little bit different," Martelli said. "All your creative juices have to come into play here."
While the Hawks didn't collapse nearly as bad in the second half as they did in each of their two losses in the last week to No. 4 Villanova and No. 7 George Washington, they couldn't make any sort of run because they kept turning the ball over and couldn't find anyone to consistently score.
Mark Tyndale swiped a pass and scored on a fast break dunk and Dustin Salisbery came out of nowhere for a left-handed dunk that keyed a 9-2 stretch early in the second half that gave the Owls a nine-point lead. Robinson and Collins each hit 3-pointers that made it 45-33 and Temple stretched the lead from the foul line in the final minutes as the student section chanted, "The Hawk is dead!"
The Owls went 8-for-19 from 3-point range and the Hawks committed 19 turnovers.
The Hawks were done in the last two games by awful starts to the second half, first a 21-3 run by the Wildcats and than a 20-0 spurt by the Colonials that they could never overcome.
Martelli said those two losses knocked some of the confidence out of the Hawks.
"I did think we were a little quiet, a little tense before the game," he said.
This was the first game between the teams at Temple's Liacouras Center since last year's infamous goon game, when Chaney sent in Nehemiah Ingram to commit hard fouls that resulted in a broken arm for Saint Joseph's John Bryant.
Chaney used Ingram to "send a message" to a Hawks team he thought was using illegal screens and referred to his player as a "goon." Chaney earned a five-game suspension.
Saint Joseph's beat Temple last month, 59-57, and both coaches have insisted that last year's incident is behind them.
Robinson and Salisbery hit 3s early in the game for a 17-11 lead and Robinson's 3 right before halftime gave the Owls a 26-21 lead.

Duquesne (3-18) At Temple (12-9)

The Duqesne Dukes have traveled to Philadelphia for an Atlantic 10 matchup with the Temple Owls. Duquesne is just 3-18 overall and 1-9 in league play, and the squad has lost 12 of its last 13 games dating back to December. The Dukes are coming off a 79-69 setback at Rhode Island on Wednesday, and they now own a 1-8 record on the road. As for Temple, it has suffered back-to- back defeats to fall to 12-9 overall and 5-5 in conference action. On Wednesday, the Owls dropped a 66-59 decision to Charlotte, the second straight game in which they were held to fewer than 60 points. There is reason for confidence today, however, as they own an outstanding 8-1 home record. Temple owns a 34-12 advantage in the all-time series with Duquesne, and the Dukes haven't won a road game in the series in over a decade.
Duquesne possesses one of the league's most talented players in Bryant McAllister, and he poured in a career-high 36 points against Rhode Island on Wednesday. He tied a 17-year-old program record with eight three-pointers in the tilt, and he is averaging 19.4 ppg to go along with 4.9 apg. The only other double-digit scorer for the Dukes, DeVario Hudson (10.2 ppg), but missed the Rhode Island game due to sickness. His absence was evident, as McAllister seemed to be carrying the load alone. Chauncey Duke did manage 12 points and eight rebounds for Duquesne, which was outscored 17-5 from the foul line and outrebounded by a 36-24 margin, including 13-8 on the offensive glass. Defensively, the Dukes surrendered 54.9 percent shooting from the field to the Rams.
Mardy Collins is the leader of the Temple squad, as the combo guard is scoring 16.5 ppg to go along with other team highs of 79 assists and 56 steals. He has paced the club in scoring in five straight games and is averaging only two turnovers per contest despite the fact that he controls the ball for a large portion of each game. Antywane Robinson adds 12.7 ppg to the lineup for the Owls, who are also getting 11.1 ppg from Dustin Salisberry. They are scoring only 61.7 ppg through 21 outings, but they have managed to limit the opposition to 60.1 ppg. In the loss to Charlotte last time out, Collins scored 18 points and didn't commit a single turnover in 40 minutes of action. Robinson was the team's only other double-digit scorer, as he pitched in 17 points. Temple lost despite limiting the 49ers to 37.9 percent shooting from the field.
Temple has struggled with consistency this season, but the Owls are simply better than the Dukes and should be able to take care of business this afternoon. Collins will lead the way with his unselfish play.
Predicted Outcome
Temple 70, Duquesne 61

Temple makes case, flies past Maryland

PHILADELPHIA - John Chaney was only speaking about one of his Temple Owls -- sophomore guard Mark Tyndale -- when he offered another of his classic metaphors yesterday after a big win over Maryland. But he could have been referring to his entire team. That is, he likes Tyndale's energy and hellbent mentality, just not his occasional questionable decisions and lack of vision. But he has to take one to get the other: That was the ride the 74-year-old coach had yesterday. And he'd be happy to accept it the rest of the season if he's to make his first NCAA tournament in five years. The Owls' exciting 91-85 win over Maryland before a lively, near-capacity 10,025 at the Liacouras Center was essential to their brightening hopes for an at-large bid out of a lousy Atlantic 10. Mardy Collins collected 25 points (though on 6-of-19 from the field) and 12 assists and Lancaster's Dustin Salisbery added 23 points (on a tidier 9-of-13) for the Owls. Maryland, missing senior guard and top scorer Chris McCray, declared academically ineligible less than a week ago, still got perimeter scoring. Mike Jones (23 points) hit six first-half threes and seven for the game while wing forward Nik Caner-Medley went for 30 and 10 boards. But the Terrapins never got much going on forays to the lane -- their bread and butter -- against the Temple zone and that eventually won it for the Owls. "They live in the middle," said Chaney. "We forced them to take shots outside. We just didn't cover Medley and Jones. They're two pros."