The Jim Ferry era is over at Duquesne.
The school announced on Monday that Ferry has been fired after five seasons as the Dukes’ men’s basketball coach.
Ferry, who received a contract extension in June 2015, was 60-97 during his five-year tenure. The Dukes went 21-65 in the Atlantic 10 over that span. They finished 10-22 overall this season, losing Wednesday in the A-10 tournament against St. Louis, 72-71.
On Monday afternoon, athletic director Dave Harper applauded Ferry’s character and commitment to working with players but said Duquesne’s struggles on the court prompted the firing.
“He’s a great person, and days like this are never easy,” Harper said. “However, the success on the court wasn’t where we’d like it to be, and we decided to make a change.”
Harper said the school will conduct a “national search” to find Ferry’s replacement. Harper said he had been in touch with the team and its recruits Monday.
“They’re going to have all kinds of things running through their heads, all kinds of people flying at them. What I told them is we’re here to support them,” he said. “Just relax. The process will carry itself out, and when there’s a new coach in place, they’ll be able to meet that individual and make decisions accordingly.”
Duquesne has three players signed in its 2017-18 recruiting class — Lewis Djonkam, John Walker III and Jamari Wheeler.
When reached Monday evening, Walker said he had spoken with Djonkam and the pair was surprised by the news of Ferry’s firing.
“Definitely didn’t see it coming,” Walker said on Twitter via direct message. “I thought we had some great [freshmen], plus my recruiting class coming in would definitely make an impact.”
Walker said he and Djonkam were still committed to Duquesne, and Harper told him he would let him know as soon as the school found a replacement for Ferry.
“We’re still 100 percent committed as of now,” Walker said. “We’re just going to talk it over with our parents and see the next step.”
Duquesne has seen its fair share of talent leave the program early, including a wave of four players in April 2013, after Ferry’s 8-22 start. L.G. Gill, the team’s third-leading scorer in 2015-16, decided to transfer in April.
Freshman Mike Lewis II, who led the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game this season, said earlier this month that loyalty to Ferry was a reason why he was committed to the program. Freshman Isiaha Mike, who started all 32 games and averaged 11.3 points, also said he wanted to continue with the rebuilding process next year.
That, of course, was prior to Ferry’s departure.
“Coach Ferry took a chance on us,” Lewis II said earlier this month. “We both didn’t have a lot of offers coming out of high school, so I think it’s not fair that you come here and kind of blow up and leave the people that actually believed in you before anybody even knew you.”
Ferry’s contract ran through the 2018-19 season. His best season at Duquesne was 2015-16, when the Dukes finished 17-17 and beat Omaha in the College Basketball Invitational. They finished tied for 10th in the Atlantic 10.
Ferry, who could not be reached Monday, was hired in 2012 after a 10-year stint at LIU Brooklyn, where he went 150-149 and led the team to back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament in 2011 and 2012. At Duquesne, he followed Ron Everhart, who led the Dukes to a 99-89 record from 2006-2012.
Sarah K. Spencer: sspencer@post-gazette.com and Twitter: @sarah_k_spence.
First Published: March 13, 2017, 7:07 p.m.
Updated: March 13, 2017, 11:42 p.m.
