Duquesne Basketball has announced that head coach Jim Ferry has been fired. The news was expected by many, as there has been speculation regarding Ferry’s future with the program since the beginning of the season. Ferry leaves Duquesne with a record of 60-97 during his five year tenure with the university.
— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) March 13, 2017
Duquesne finished with a 10-22 record this season, and was 3-15 in conference play. The team closed out the season with a first round loss to St. Louis in the Atlantic 10 tournament, a game which they led by 18 at one point.
When Duquesne brought in Jim Ferry to replace Ron Everhart prior to the 2012-13 season, he took control of a mess. The team was barely meeting NCAA academic standards, and hadn’t seen any real success in decades. Ferry came to Duquesne after 10 seasons with Long Island, and led LIU to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2011 and 2012. It took Ferry seven seasons at Long Island to finish a season above .500, and some Duquesne fans have argued that with how Ferry has been able to fix the program’s issues off the court and with the success of the 2016 recruiting class, Ferry should’ve been given more time to finish what he started at the university.
Ferry’s departure leaves one big question. Will the young talent he recruited stay with the program? All-Rookie Team selections Mike Lewis II and Isiaha Mike have formed a solid foundation for a basketball team that has been stuck in a never ending rebuild, and Duquesne’s 2017 recruiting class is highlighted by recruits Jamari Wheeler and John Walker III. Duquesne has struggled to keep players within the program for years and with the team finally appearing to have a glimmer of hope, the Dukes can’t afford to say goodbye to their young core.
