Fordham University assistant men’s basketball coach Dave Duke has been promoted to associate head basketball coach it was announced today by head coach Tom Pecora. Duke will begin his third year on the Fordham staff in 2012-13, his 12th as a member of Pecora’s staff and his 15th overall in the profession.
Duke started his basketball coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Hofstra University under the tutelage of now Villanova head Coach Jay Wright. He was then elevated to assistant coach after two seasons. Duke worked under Wright for one season and joined Tom Pecora’s staff at Hofstra when Pecora was named head coach in 2001.
Coach Duke was an integral member of a staff at Hofstra that became one of the top programs in the country. He has been to two NCAA tournaments (2000 and 2001) and four Postseason National Invitation Tournaments including three in a row (2005-07). During the 2005-06 seasons, the Hofstra Pride tied a school record with 26 wins and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals.
At Hofstra, in addition to his coaching duties, Duke was responsible for the program’s budgeting and purchasing, defensive execution, supervision of team managers, scouting reports and the athlete’s academic progress.
Duke, a tireless recruiter, helped bring in a number of top level recruiting classes at Hofstra including Hofstra’s all-time leading scorer Antoine Agudio and two time Haggerty Award winner Charles Jenkins. In addition, Duke’s knack for developing talented guards was evident when he helped guide Craig "Speedy" Claxton, who was chosen in the first round of the National Basketball Association’s 2000 NBA draft.
In 2003 and 2004, Coach Duke was the head coach of the Long Island’s men’s open team at the Empire State Games that won consecutive championships-the first time that Long Island has ever won back-to-back titles in the history of the Empire Games. In 2003 Duke became one of the youngest coaches ever to win the gold medal in the open men’s basketball competition. In 2004, Long Island won the championship by an average margin of victory of 33 points per game. The team also averaged 100 points per game and beat New York City on the way to the championship.
Duke earned his undergraduate in 1997 from SUNY Albany where he majored in communications and minored in education. In the 1997-98 season, he played on the basketball team at New York Institute of Technology. At Cardozo High School in Bayside, New York, Duke was a four-year starter and teamed up in the backcourt with current NBA star Rafer Alston.
In addition to his college coaching experience, Duke has served as both a coach and administrator at numerous camps including the Jay Wright Basketball Camp, The Hofstra Team Camp, the Westchester Rising Stars Camp and the Tom Pecora Basketball Camp. Coach Duke has also been a guest clinician at the YES Clinics at the Final Four, Town of Hempstead Parks and Recreation, Nassau County Police Athletic League and several schools throughout the New York metropolitan area.
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