Duquesne Basketball
Duquesne Men’s Basketball Hires Pair of Assistant Coaches
The Duquesne men’s basketball program has a different look than it did two years ago.
Gone are longtime assistants Charles and Carl Thomas with Dru Joyce joining Keith Dambrot’s staff last season. Today, two more new coaches were hired to the staff.
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Dambrot announced the additions of Steve Wright and Ari Stern to his 2023-24 coaching staff.
Wright joins Duquesne after spending the last three years at Bowling Green. Stern returns to Duquesne after serving as director of operations last season at the University of Denver. Prior to that, Stern was with Duquesne for three seasons, performing various roles.
“We actually recruited Steve out of high school, so we know him very well,” said Dambrot. “Dru also worked with him at Cleveland State, so there is another level of familiarity. Steve has always been a hard worker. He had a good pro career and is only scratching the surface of his second career as a coach. We think Steve has a lot to offer our program.”
Aside from his time at Bowling Green, Wright spent one year at Cleveland State as video coordinator, head coach at Princeton High School in Cincinnati, assistant coach at Columbus State Community College and head coach on the AAU circuit.
Stern returns to the Duquesne staff after one season as Director of Operations at University of Denver (D1). He spent three years with the Dukes prior to his time in Colorado, working as a graduate assistant for two years and then Assistant AD/Basketball Administration in his third year. Stern earned his master’s degree in leadership in 2020.
“Ari has proven to us that his work ethic is second-to-none,” said Dambrot. “He is good at everything he does, from administrative responsibilities to handling basketball duties on the floor. We look forward to having him back on our staff.”
Stern played for four seasons at Wooster College before joining the Dallas Mavericks as a player development intern.
Duquesne Coach Ari Stern (White shirt) passes the ball to a player during practice in 2021. Photo: George Michalowski/PSN
