LeBron James 'proud' to announce Duquesne's hire of Dru Joyce III, his high school teammate

The Duquesne men's basketball team has a new coach.

On Thursday, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James announced his former high school teammate and Dukes associate head coach, Dru Joyce III, will succeed head coach Keith Dambrot, who retired at the end of the team's run in the NCAA Tournament. Duquesne confirmed Joyce's promotion shortly after.

"As the unquestioned source I am confirming that Dru Joyce is the new HC at Duquesne University and is meeting with the team right now!" James wrote Thursday on X. "So damn happy and proud of you my brother!"

Both James and Joyce played for Dambrot at Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School for two seasons from 1999-2001. Joyce also played under Dambrot at the University of Akron, where he set the school's career assist record (503) and was inducted into the Akron Athletics Hall of Fame alongside Dambrot in 2019.

"I've wanted to be an NCAA Division I head coach since I was 14 years old, so I'm overwhelmed with joy to be named the next head coach at Duquesne University," Joyce said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to expanding on the legacy that Keith Dambrothas built the last seven years."

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Joyce joined the Dukes as an associate head coach in May 2022 after spending three seasons as an assistant at Cleveland State. Joyce helped the Dukes to a 45-25 record in his two seasons with the team. Duquesne President Ken Gormley credited Joyce, along with Dambrot, with this year's March Madness run, which saw them win their first NCAA Tournament game since 1969.

"Dru Joyce III has proven his abundant talent as a coach," Gormley said. "He's been a key figure in the recent success of the Duquesne men's basketball program, alongside Keith Dambrot, that culminated this year in the exciting Atlantic 10 Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance, re-energizing men's basketball at Duquesne and in Pittsburgh. Dru is already a respected, valued and admired member of the Duquesne family. For that reason, this was an easy decision."

The No. 11 seed Dukes defeated No. 6 seed BYU in the first round of March Madness, but they went down to No. 3 Illinois in the second round.

James congratulated Duquesne when it clinched its spot in the tournament following its conference tournament win, but that wasn't all. Ahead of the Dukes' first-round matchup last week, the NBA's all-time leading scorer gifted the team his signature shoes in white and light blue. James then told the team good luck on social media and posted congratulations to Duquesne after its win.

Contributing: Jordan Mendoza