Duquesne VP of Athletics Dave Harper Officially Declares Opt In During Q&A

While a lot of Duquesne’s athletics programs are in their respective offseasons, perhaps the busiest time of year is now, especially in the everchanging landscape of college athletics.

Between the growing number of transfers across college sports, the challenging landscape of composing schedules and the questions surrounding the outstanding House v. NCAA settlement, there is a lot for Duquesne’s Vice President of Athletics Dave Harper to digest.

As he explained it, the variable change by day, but he credits his staff and those around him.

In terms of teams deciding whether or not to opt in, it is known from earlier in the basketball season both Saint Louis and VCU decided to opt in.

During a Wednesday afternoon phone call, Harper officially confirmed that Duquesne opted in as well, offering an explanation for said decision.

“It was important to look at it short and long term,” he assessed. “As an institution there are a number of different things that are affecting us with the enrollment challenges, new projects and new things, so the board was involved with this decision, obviously the president and everyone else. Given the success that we’ve had in men’s basketball recently, to continue that success, the best pathway we determined was to opt in.”

This answer regarding the current landscape of college athletics and plenty more were discussed with Harper during the interview with PSN’s Zac Weiss. Below is an edited transcript.

Zac Weiss: How much of a learning process has NIL been for you and your team and as it shifts how does it affect how you make decisions?

Dave Harper: “NIL has been in play now for really three years and the train of the RevShare and house settlement, everybody saw that coming, so we had a plan and built a budget that we feel would put us in the right spot at Duquesne. NIL is one issue but more importantly assessment of talent, recruiting the right culture of getting as much information about young men and women as possible before you make decisions. Thinking about all of the different scenarios when you have to sprint and think about roster management. We’ve been planning with these roster limits coming, having conversations with student athletes that could be affected or most likely will be affected. It’s just an ongoing process, a relentless, daily thing you have to work on and try to get right.”

ZW: Of course you are focused Duquesne, but both Saint Louis and VCU have publicly opted, how if at all do you utilize your peers to make decisions that are best for you and what was that process like coming up with your decision?

DH: “You just always get intelligence, you hear what people are doing. Relying on what agents are putting out there and what kids are saying is not always accurate, it’s more so digging real deep to find out where the truth lies in all of this. I think we’ve done a good job in doing that, and again we just have to be effective, efficient, strong evaluators and putting together the right combinations of talent to be successful in the various sports.”

ZW: Of course you have had meetings not just as a staff, but also with coaches, what was it like making sure everybody had the information so that you could unite together?

DH: “These meetings started almost a year ago because you saw what was happening. As you manage towards roster limits, you think of what you have going out the door, you think of evaluating the squad that you have very importantly you think about the handful student-athletes that are going to be affected by this and informing them in advance so they can make decisions for their future. We’ve been in that process. A lot of these student-athletes unfortunately are at Duquesne for a specific major and just want to be part of a team. That is a challenge to all of this, but we’ve just been trying to get as far out in front as we can.”

ZW: What other avenues did you go down to make this decision?

DH: “It started with the presidents in the conference, that was where the discussions originated but as far as getting information and understanding particular pieces, I spent a lot of time with colleagues I know in the power four conferences. It seems that they had an advantage of having a little more information in advance of schools that were in the A-10, so I tried to get as much intel as quickly as possible, it seemed they were getting more information around the settlement than we were.”

ZW: How important was it for President (Ken) Gormley to have and process this information?

DH: “It’s my job to educate the president on a daily basis on these issues. I got him as much intelligence from the external people that I talked to including some subject matter experts so he would have as much information going into the discussion with the other presidents as possible. That’s the process that we put together and it’s not ending because the settlement is not final. There’s issues with international students, there’s issues with a number of things that will arise once the settlement is finalized, which is likely, so there’s much more to go.”

ZW: With there being much more to go, how much of it is continuing education to as you put it win every day?

DH: “A lot of this is out of our hands. Obviously, there’s the big questions of is an international student allowed to participate in a rev share? There’s a sliver of hope but there may be some classifications for students to avoid that, or are they strictly limited to passive earnings through an external NIL, so those things have to be determined. Also, the contract formulaic pieces are pretty complex, and new issues arise every day you think through it, so we want to make sure both we protect the student-athlete and the institution contracts so that both sides can have a good amicable relationship in this as they go forward.”

ZW: Obviously in terms of basketball you are members of the Atlantic 10, what support have they offered in terms of each institution’s decision to opt in or out?

DH: “The intelligence information. There’s a tremendous value to be a part of the A-10, the list in lengthy and it’s also our brand as a conference. We want to continue to pursue a high level of men’s basketball and get back to being a consistent multi-bid league. It’s tough to compete if you’re not playing in certain sandboxes, we have to be able to protect the conference and make that determination and that’s what has happened and will happen going forward.”

ZW: How would you present all of this to fans so they can digest it on a simpler basis?

DH: “The change is what I would say very quick and very fast. The days of the four-year student-athlete are going to be rare in certain sports. The ever-revolving rosters are just reality, something as simple as just yesterday (Apr. 15), Baylor basketball had zero players on their roster and that’s a national championship program. It’s just a different world and you have to adjust to it, accept it. Unfortunately, it’s becoming more transactional and less relational, that’s just reality, but Duquesne will not waver from those core academic principles and relationship building. That’s how we can differentiate ourselves in part. These are young men and women and it’s our duty and job to make sure they have wholistic support from for their success.”

ZW: How do you make sure that those relationships still maintain value?

DH: “The relationships can be strong, but there is no protection in today’s day and age. Someone can swoop in and offer a lot of money and it’s a lot of money for a young man or woman at this point in time if they want to manage it right, it could be a long-term obviously great piece for them. You have to be understanding of both sides of the coin.”

ZW: This was year one for Duquesne men’s basketball under Dru Joyce III, what kind of challenges really presented themselves and how much more informed do you think this program is in year two?

DH: “I think any time you hire an assistant coach; there’s a fine line of letting them learn lessons on their own and also supporting them. You don’t want to be too heavy handed. Any more with the way things are now, it takes a collective group to be aligned on processes for recruiting, resourcing, how we’re going to make decisions. From time to time we were hit with injuries and we will never make that an excuse, but now you’re in a new day and age as we go into year two, so how well do we take the lessons we learned from last year and flip them. Alignment is always key and that’s what I see in this offseason. I think everybody is pouring their heart and soul into this because once you get a taste of success, it’s not like you don’t want to have a taste of it again.”

ZW: How does having that understanding of that toolbox being sharpened?

DH: “When you comprise a roster, you have to analyze who you are and that’s what’s being done. So, who are we and what are we capable of doing well and what are we not and making sure we shore that up in terms of player development, schematics, analyzing decision making during games. Obviously, we didn’t shoot free throws very well, so that’s a vulnerability we absolutely have to address, that’s no hidden stat. There are some other hidden things we can do that I think can make us a little better. We’ll work on those, and Coach Joyce and I talked after the season, there were no major surprises on how we needed to get better. Now it’s just focusing on getting that talent, developing the players we have at hand and bringing in some of what we did not have.”

ZW: In your position you oversee athletics, for you personally in your time what is the line between being involved and letting them figure it out?

DH: “I think there’s no way I could be a sports program administrator for 20 sports programs, so that’s why we have many people participating. Obviously with men’s basketball, women’s basketball and football, I’ve got higher levels of engagement than I do with other programs, but when major issues crop up in those other sports, that’s where I jump in. That’s my role and help craft roles or help coaches with situations. One thing that gets lost in all of this too is there’s so many wonderful stories about student-athletes in some of the lesser-profile sports that are doing some amazing things that get lost given this environment. I never want to lose sight of that because that’s originally why a lot of us got in this business, to see people grow, succeed and be successful in life. It’s nice to go and observe some other teams where that exists.”

ZW: With women’s basketball, Megan McConnell was signed to a training camp invitation by the Phoenix Mercury, how amazing of an accomplishment is that and to see her progress as a Duquesne Duke?

DH: “Megan has worked extremely hard, is a fierce competitor and has always had a focus. If anyone deserves the opportunity, she has earned it. She’s truly truly earned that and couldn’t be happier for her because she’s done so much to get the opportunity and now hopefully she can take it a step further.”

ZW: How proud are you of the way the three newest programs (acrobatics & tumbling, women’s golf and triathlon) have been building?

DH: “It’s been tremendous. There’s such a demand for what I would say are new and emerging sports, from traditional sports and so we’ve had great success bringing in student-athletes to build the initial culture that will give us a foundation for success across the board both competitively and academically. The three head coaches have done a tremendous job there and now it’s about now that the foundation has been made, how much can we layer on top of it? I certainly couldn’t have asked for a better effort from those head coaches.”

ZW: At this time last year we were talking about a lot of success, this season there may not have been as many trophies but how successful and healthy do you feel Duquesne Athletics is across the board?

DH: “We’re going to have to adapt to bring home trophies and get the rings. We were extremely close in a couple of situations and sometimes things fall in your favor and sometimes they don’t. You just have to put yourself within range, that’s what we’re always going to focus on. I think if you have that within range mentality, that game, or that play, that situation that goes in your favor, it’s a good thing but if not, you’re not that far away from it. You celebrate that success for 24 hours and then it’s getting back after it, that’s the way life works.”

ZW: With football of course the big news was that football is playing Pitt at Acrisure Stadium, what has the conversation you have heard about that game?

DH: “It’s an exciting game no doubt, and I look at it differently. I’m pleased fans have the opportunity to get together and tailgate, enjoy the game and everything. For me it’s about giving the kids an experience to play at a stadium that’s right across the river in a nationally recognized venue. It’s going to be a great opportunity for them and for Jerry (Schmitt), he’s got a significant roster turnover with some key positions, so it’s going to be learning about that. Certainly, we want to go in and compete, and obviously they have a much higher number of scholarships, they’re in a power four conference, but let’s go in there and see what we can do and ensure we learn what we need to learn and accommodate the enjoyment for the fans, alums and everyone else.”

ZW: This game has not been outside of the norm, football has traveled to D-I football programs, how unique of an opportunity has that been over the years?

DH: We took this approach the first big leap was the Hawaii game and other games followed. When we went to Hawaii at the time they were top 30 and we got out to a 14-0 lead and tried to hold on, but just couldn’t. It kind of said to us these might be opportunities that make sense. The coaches and teams you play have an understanding of the challenge for us but they want to learn a lot about their team too. I think it sets up for good opportunities for us.

ZW: This is more of a curiosity question, but scheduling in general is a very tight rope. In your position, you have a handle of what goes into a schedule, in today’s day in age, what goes into coming up with a schedule and how creative sometimes do you have to be?

DH: “I would say that not all schedules are created equal. Football is done so far in advance it has a tendency to be a little bit easier, sometimes you are scheduling games out for five or six years, so you have a little more certainty. The biggest challenge we have are probably the basketballs simply because if you’re trying to put yourself in a position to build a resume to be considered for the postseason, those games are harder than ever to get, they’re being monopolized and so you have to look at your approach and it’s all about the NET number, so when you schedule you’re looking at someone’s NET constantly, what the outcome has to be in that game and if you can get to that outcome win or lose, so you protect the NET for our conference as well. It’s extremely challenging and I think the model will change because so many of these games are just not there and exempt tournaments are becoming tougher, so I think we’re going to have to make some hard decisions about do we go on the road and play and hope to steal a victory, what that looks like and when and where. Those are just the questions that are down the line.”

ZW: Is there anything else that you would like to add?

DH: “As they say, it’s chaotic but this where we are. You just have to sprint and think, that’s where you have to be and that layers over longer-term planning which can change also. That’s where we are, we just have to adapt and that’s why we’re here.”