Grabbing Your A10tion

Duquesne Dukes

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Founded: 1878
Enrollment: 10,000
Nickname: Dukes
Colors: Red and Blue
President: Dr. Charles Dougherty
Director of Athletics: Brian Colleary
Joined the A-10: 1977 (Left in 1992; Rejoined in 1994)
Driving distance from Charlotte: 452 miles
Website: www.GoDuquesne.com
Sports in which the Dukes and the 49ers will compete: Baseball, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Men's Cross-Country, Women's Cross-Country, Men's Golf, Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer, Softball, Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis, Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field, Volleyball
Other Sports: Women's Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Men's and Women's Swimming
Recent League Titles: Men's Soccer regular-season champions (2003, 2004)

1.) A little more about Duquesne... Duquesne University, once named Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost, is located in downtown Pittsburgh, just minutes from PNC Park (the Pirates ballpark), the University of Pittsburgh, Mount Washington (offers a great view of the city), and Point State Park (where the three rivers meet, the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio). The Dukes play home basketball games in the A.J. Palumbo Center, which has a seating capacity of 6,200.

2.) The Homestead Grays... Duquesne's first recorded black athlete, Cumberland Posey (a.k.a. Charles Cumbert) went on to found and manage the fabled Homestead Grays of the Negro Baseball League.

3.) Notre Dame, Penn State, Florida State, Alabama, and Duquesne... Few know that Duquesne has had a rich and colorful football history. In fact as a competitor at the Division I level in the 1930s and '40s the Dukes appeared in and won a pair of New Year's Day bowl games. DU defeated Miami 33-7 in the 1934 Festival of Palms (later the Orange) Bowl and Mississippi State 13-12 in the 1937 Orange Bowl. In fact, from 1933-45, Duquesne had the sixth-highest winning percentage in the nation behind Alabama, Tennessee, Duke, Fordham and Notre Dame. DU was one of the first schools to cancel football to help out with the World War II effort. Duquesne currently competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Football League at the I-AA non-scholarship level. In fact, over the last six years, no I-AA has a higher winning percentage than DU (53-12, .815).

4.) Beat 'em up, beat 'em up, rah, rah, rah... Duquesne's biggest rival is one of its closest Division 1 competitors, the University of Pittsburgh. Although Pittsburgh no longer competes in the Atlantic 10 the two remain bitter rivals due to their close proximity to each other. The teams compete in most sports every year in non-conference battles to continue this heated, cross-town rivalry.

5.) Isn't Pittsburgh just a bunch of steel mills??? Hardly! Visitors and locals enjoy spending time on Pittsburgh's historic South Side, known as Pittsburgh's Boardwalk. This 10+ block stretch of the city features unique shops, galleries, restaurants, and bars. The South Side is the place to be for nightlife during any visit to the "Steel City." Many also enjoy supporting Pittsburgh's professional teams: the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. With two new stadiums, Pittsburgh is the place to go for state-of-the-art athletic facilities. Another famous landmark of the area is Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural masterpiece Fallingwater. Located in near-by Mill Run the house was designed in 1935 for the family of Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann and was turned over to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in 1963. The house sits over a waterfall and is truly an amazing piece of American architecture.

6.) Lookout Tinsel-town... Silence of the Lambs, The Deer Hunter, Flashdance, Wonder Boys, Kingpin, Gung Ho, Inspector Gadget, All the Right Moves, Night of the Living Dead and Hoffa are just a few of the movies that have been shot in the Western Pennsylvania area.

7.) I'm sooo hungry... So where should I eat when I go to Pittsburgh? Fat Heads South Shore Saloon located on the South Side (across the Monongahela River from campus) was voted best wings and beer. Primanti Brothers Restaurant (multiple locations around the city), known for its famous "cheese steak" sandwiches. It's not Philly style, but actually a burger, not shaved steak, and is listed as "the No. 2 favorite." The Primanti way of making a sandwich may not be famous world-wide, but it's certainly known citywide. Served on wax paper, meat, french-fries, tomato, and coleslaw are stuffed between two slices of Italian bread. They call it a sandwich, but it goes down like a meal.

8.) Historic Dukes... Duquesne is the only school to have back-to-back first picks in the NBA Draft (Dick Ricketts by Milwaukee in 1955 and Sihugo Green by Rochester in 1956). The 1939-40 Dukes, who finished with a 20-3 record, appeared in both the NIT (second place) and NCAA Tournament (Final Four). Former Dukes All-American Chuck Cooper (1947-50) was the first black player drafted by the NBA when the Boston Celtics chose him in the second round of the 1950 draft.

9.) Right next door... The City of Pittsburgh is located within 500 miles of more than half of the United States' population. New York is 368 miles away, Philadelphia is 295 miles and Chicago is 452 miles away. Those are three of the five largest cities in America. When you consider that Washington D.C., Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Richmond, and Indianapolis are all within 500 miles of Pittsburgh you realize that it makes an ideal traveling destination or starting point.

10.) Gentlemen, start your engines... President of Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Chip Ganassi is one of many famous alumni of Duquesne University. Ganassi's start in racing began in 1977 when he attended Bob Bondurant Driving School. In 1982 he entered his first Indy race at Phoenix, but a broken camshaft kept his from completing the race. He continued to race and succeed until he suffered serious injuries in an accident with Al Unser Jr. at the 1984 Michigan 500. Ganassi then moved to team ownership. In 1998 he purchased a part of Patrick Racing and by the following year the team won four races, including the Indy 500 and won the championship. In 1990 he gained sponsorship from Target stores to form a new racing team, Target Chip Ganassi Racing. The team has seen nothing but success winning an unprecedented four consecutive CART titles from 1996 to 1999.

11.) Famous Alums: Other famous alumni include: Dan Rooney (President, Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL Hall of Fame), Norm Nixon (Former L.A. Laker, Clipper and NBA All-Star), Robert Dickinson (President and CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines), and William Schultz (President and CEO of Fender Musical Instruments.)