The NCAA Tournament Tournament is one of the few sporting events where nearly everyone, regardless of their interest in the regular season of college basketball, tunes in to see how their bracket goes. But NBA superstar LeBron James was interested in the tournament for an entirely different reason.
James has some deep ties to the Duquesne basketball program. No, he didn’t go to college there. But his old high school head coach, Keith Dambrot, is the head coach of the team.
For much of the season, Duquesne didn’t appear to be a team likely to make the NCAA Tournament. But a miraculous run in the A-10 Tournament found them getting into the Big Dance. And they certainly did not waste their opportunity.
Duquesne, the No. 11 seed in the East Region, took on the No. 6 seeded BYU Cougars, where again they were not expected to come away with the win as 9.5 point underdogs on most sportsbooks.
But as everyone knows, anything can happen in the big dance. And Duquesne was able to pull off the first big upset of the tournament, pulling away in the final minute for a 71-67 victory.
🚨NCAA TOURNAMENT UPSET ALERT🚨
DUQUESNE TAKES DOWN BYU IN THE FIRST ROUND!
The Dukes were 9.5-point underdogs. 🏀🔥 #MarchMadnesspic.twitter.com/rwUQPmizt3
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 21, 2024
Naturally, LeBron James was quite excited to see his former head coach come away with the upset victory, taking to social media to congratulate both him and Duquesne assistant coach Dru Joyce III, his former high school teammate.
AYYYYYYYEEEEE!!! First tournament win in 55 years! @CoachDambrot 🐐 @DuqMBB 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾. Keep it going
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 21, 2024
YEAAAAHHHH @DruOnDemand LFG!!!! Go Dukes @DuqMBB
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 21, 2024
Duquesne very much looked like they belonged in this game for its entirety. Only time will tell whether they can be a true “Cinderella” team throughout the tournament. But they certainly busted a lot of brackets early on, which LeBron loved to see.
