Duquesne’s 75-52 victory over George Mason University on Wednesday night helped head coach Keith Dambrot hit a career milestone, 500 career wins. But Dambrot’s journey to 500 has been a unique one.
For starters, he never thought he would be a head coach, let alone make a career out of it.
“I never thought I was going to coach,” Dambrot said. “I pretty much had decided I was going to go into business, and I just kind of fell into coaching. Never really thought about it.”
Dambrot was first propelled into the coaching world as a grad student at Akron University, and at the time, he was a member of the baseball team and trying to earn an MBA. Dambrot’s high school baseball coach had just become the head coach at Akron and would offer Dambrot his first assistant coaching gig.
Shortly after, Dambrot would accept his first job as a head coach at Tiffin University in 1984. Dambrot saw success almost immediately, as he led the Dragons to the most single-season wins in school history (24) in just his second season as head coach.
At Tiffin, Dambrot wasn’t just a coach; he was essentially doing everything for the team.
“At Tiffin, I would teach business classes in the morning,” Dambrot said. “Then I drove our van to the YMCA, where we practiced. I taped all the ankles. I did the laundry. I coached the game and drove the van back. I did all the financial aid. So I learned a lot. I'm pretty spoiled now compared to what I was then. It really helped me become a better coach. And I was young, too. I was 25, so some of the players were older than me.”
In 1986 Dambrot took an assistant coaching job at Eastern Michigan University, where he worked under Ben Braun, a fellow member of the 500 career wins club. In 1988, the Hurons won their first-ever MAC championship and made their first NCAA tournament appearance.
Then Dambrot became the head coach at Ashland University, a Division II school. In the two years he spent as head coach, Dambrot led the Eagles to a 48-13 overall record and their first-ever conference and regional championships.
He then returned to the MAC and accepted his first Division I head coaching job at Central Michigan. He didn’t see much success there, posting an 8-18 record in his final season.
But after a disappointing season, Dambrot took an 11-year hiatus from coaching on a collegiate level. Without any luck in the job search, Dambrot went back to his bread and butter.
“I crashed. I couldn't get a high school job, nothing,” Dambrot said. “So I went back and sold stocks and bonds. ...
“My Central Michigan debacle was a huge challenge. But I never thought I'd coach again, so I never really thought about it. I kind of made my own little coaching career because I couldn't do it the way you normally would.”
But in his struggles to find a job, Dambrot went to clinics working out high school students and stumbled upon a miracle job. He just didn’t know it yet.
A coaching job at Saint Vincent-Saint Mary’s high school gave Dambrot the motivation he needed to get back out there. Plus, coaching a rising legend like LeBron James can certainly help get your name back on the market.
Soon after, he would find himself back at his alma mater. In 2004, Dambrot became the head coach at Akron.
“Those guys at Saint V. kind of resurrected my career and gave me a lifeline,” Dambrot said. “And they were so great to coach, they were such good players.”
In his 13 seasons at Akron, Dambrot never finished worse than fourth in the conference. The Zips saw unparalleled success and dominated the MAC, making it to nine conference tournaments and winning three of them.
“We were in seven straight championship games, which in that league is really hard to do,” Dambrot said. “We had good players, man, like a lot of pros. We were always older than everybody else in the league, and I think that was kind of our recipe.”
On top of seeing success as a team, Dambrot was also named the MAC Coach of the Year in 2013, 2016, and 2017. By the time Dambrot left Akron, he had a 413-209 record in his 19-season career as a head coach.
Dambrot’s late father, Sid, played at Duquesne from 1952-1954. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave Akron after having so much success, but Dambrot took an opportunity when it presented itself.
“Every time it opened, they always came and asked if I would be interested because my dad played here,” Dambrot said. “I really wasn't going to leave Akron, but they called me at the right time. We had just lost two championship games in a row, and I was getting older. I just needed a new challenge. If it weren't for my dad playing here, I probably would have never done it.”
Dambrot’s success as a head coach comes from his unique journey as well as his compassion.
“I have a lot of empathy and compassion for people,” Dambrot said. “I think you had to be tough, but you have to be loving, as well. ...
“I have a good work ethic, too. Nothing has come easy for me; I've had to work for everything I've gotten. And I've been able to sustain the work ethic, which a lot of people can't do over time. I always felt like I had something to prove, so that kind of drives me.”
Dambrot’s unique journey as a head coach has helped him see success at all levels. Even though it got derailed during the COVID-impacted 2020 season, Dambrot was already making an impact at Duquesne. In his first season, Duquesne finished 10th in the conference, and by his third season, Duquesne finished fifth.
In recent years it has been easy to forget just how consistently good Dambrot has been throughout his career, but this season the Dukes have been a good reminder of how well he can lead a team.
Regardless of how this season plays out, Wednesday’s victory gives Dambrot and the Duquesne men’s basketball team a reason to celebrate.
“I think it'll mean a little bit more to me once I'm done,” Dambrot said. “I just want to win as many games as we can and get these guys to get what they deserve. They put a lot of time into it.”
During the George Mason game, Dambrot wore a black quarter zip with a LeBron logo across the chest. He made sure to show appreciation to the people close to him, those who allowed Dambrot to continue coaching for 25 seasons.
“I purposely wore this because, without him and all those kids that played for me at St. V, I wouldn't have been a college coach again,” Dambrot said. “So I'm paying homage to him.”
First Published: February 9, 2023, 3:43 p.m.