On Tuesday morning, Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot addressed the media, and addressed one of the questions that he gets asked every single year.
“Are you guys going to play Pitt?”
Dambrot and the Dukes have not played Pitt since November of 2018, when the two met at a neutral site, PPG Paints Arena. Since then, the two schools have struggled to come to terms.
“I would not count on it,” Dambrot said. “No, I haven’t [talked to Pitt recently]. We talked earlier in the year and the terms weren’t amiable for us at that point. I really don’t know where it stands right now.”
Dambrot continued, talking about the proposed terms to the deal.
“I think they wanted us to go there every year,” he said. “Which, we are not going to do that.”
Dambrot also added that Pitt is ok with playing against Duquesne, but the issue is that it would have to be at the Petersen Events Center.
“Just to be clear, everybody at Robert Morris, at Pitt, and Duquesne have to do what is in the best interest at their program,” said Dambrot. “So I really don’t have any problem if Coach Capel really doesn’t want to play or if Coach Toole doesn’t want to play or if we don’t want to play. I don’t really have any issue with that. They have to make those determinations because coaches are getting fired left and right. Programs are turning around. I really have no issue with it. I doubt Pitt and Duquesne will play as long as Coach Capel and Coach Dambrot are the coaches. I would be surprised if we played.”
“I am not going to go play at Pitt every year,” he continued. “Somebody else might, but I am not. I am old and stubborn. I am not doing that. Again, how many years did they play before us? They didn’t play at Pitt every year.”
After that statement, Dambrot clarified that he does not necessarily know the exact terms and what the schools were asking for.
“I guess we could go to Pitt every year, but I think they should treat it like a guaranteed game and pay like they do for everybody else that comes in there….I don’t think they were paying, I could be wrong. I don’t want to misspeak, I just coach basketball. The contractual details I am not really too far into.”
Dambrot said that the Dukes have about four games left to book on their non-conference schedule.
Pitt insisting on 100% home games in vs. Duquesne in football makes sense.
However, insisting on 100% home games in basketball, when PPG Arena is 2 miles from away the Pete, makes Pitt look like a bunch of- no pun intended- hoopies.