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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot, who just led his team to the NCAA tournament, announced Monday that he plans to retire at the end of the season.
Dambrot, who was also LeBron James‘ high school coach, guided the Dukes to four wins in five days at the Atlantic 10 tournament last week, earning Duquesne its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1977. The Dukes earned an 11-seed and will face BYU on Thursday.
This month will mark the end of a 40-year coaching career, with 22 of those coming as a Division I head coach. Dambrot, 65, has spent the past seven seasons at Duquesne, leading the team to three 20-win seasons. He had previously been the head coach at Akron, where he guided the Zips to five regular-season division titles and three NCAA tournament appearances, leaving as the winningest coach in program history.
He was also the head coach at Central Michigan in the early 1990s for two seasons.
As a Division I head coach, he is 440-268 overall — with at least one game left to go.
Dambrot is also known for his two years as James’ high school coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. The two have remained close since then, with Duquesne becoming the first school to offer James’ son Bryce a college scholarship in 2022. One of James’ high school teammates, Dru Joyce III, went on to play for Dambrot at Akron and is now an assistant coach under him at Duquesne.
On Sunday, James posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) congratulating Dambrot, Joyce and Duquesne on reaching the NCAA tournament.
YESSIRRR!! Punch that 🎟️ to the Big Dance @DuqMBB!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Love you Coach Dambrot & @CoachDruJoyce 🤎🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 17, 2024