Weiss: Joyce III Finding Clear Voice As Duquesne MBB Coach

The temperature outside approached 100 degrees, but the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse was reaching a fever pitch during a Duquesne Men’s Basketball summer workout and coach Dru Joyce III was working his whistle controlling the action.

Minutes earlier, Joyce opened the workout telling everyone they would get in teams of three and emulate the 3v3 games seen during the Olympics.

Graduate assistant Will Swartz had video ready so the players could understand what was about to transpire.

Word quickly spread in the building of Joyce’s drill and multiple women’s basketball coaches went into the gym to see how it worked and if it could fit their team, smiles spread across their faces.

From there, it came down to the competitive juices during round-robin play. Before it concluded, Joyce, who was sitting at halfcourt, got up and blew his whistle, unhappy with what he saw.

It was not the play, but it was complaining about the assistant coaches who were acting as officials as two games were simultaneously contested.

Joyce immediately commanded the huddle and chastised multiple players for arguing with officials, the message clear.

When the huddle broke, he told them to run to their courts as they had jogged into that meeting.

Having observed multiple practices, Joyce is unafraid to stop at any point if he sees something he does not like, but mixes that with the ability to have fun.

The 3v3 drill is a perfect example of this as it forced players to play and communicate together if they want to achieve success.

This team is composed in a similar manner to the past couple of seasons, players who are good-natured, willing to come up unprompted, introduce themselves and shake your hand, but be intense when it is time to work.

There is a clear belief in the team that Joyce has his voice, what he likes to do and that it jives with the players.

Some of the drills he has conducted are similar to those Keith Dambrot ran before him.

This includes a one-more drill where players line up on the three-point line and feed each other an extra pass and they all shoot, or having a group shoot until a certain amount of makes are achieved and when that is hit, they go to the other side of the floor.

Joyce has plenty of ideas which are different and raise the competition levels, while forcing trust and commitment across the team in order to succeed.

Throughout a practice, he divided the team in half to compete against each other in a variety of exercises which extended to workouts on the track.

The competition concluded in the 90-degree heat with a three-inning game of kickball where players kicked with their non-dominant foot and threw with their off hand.

When the game was over, everyone was trash talking each other in good fun and the team named Rick’s Tired (after assistant coach Rick McFadden) won.

Nothing has to be said regarding what the team expects from itself. The returning players have experienced success at levels not reached in 47 years and now is hungry for more.

Those new to the program share similar aspirations and there is a drive on the court that is challenging everyone to push to that next level.

This extends to the coaching staff who have all settled in and found voices and roles within the team.

It is hard to “win the summer” given nothing counts in the record books, but perhaps the best way to judge is Dambrot’s classic Energy Generated Behaviors and while there is plenty of work to do, these Dukes are doing things the right way.