PITTSBURGH
Duquesne University’s basketball team took the court Friday night without hearing the two words that have dominated any discussion about the Dukes for 13 months.
The shootings.
Since five Duquesne players were shot following a Sept. 17, 2006, on-campus social event, no practice, no game, no team meeting, no offseason workout was held without the shootings playing some sort of role.
Always, one player or another was dealing with an issue related to the shootings: a still-healing injury, a lineup spot vacated, a practice missed, a lengthy rehabilitation session required, a season delayed or ruined.
But these Dukes will begin the season Nov. 9 against Howard with a full roster, not the depleted and upperclassmen-thin one of a year ago, as the shootings become an increasingly distant memory.
“There was never a day last year when we could think only about basketball,” coach Ron Everhart said Friday. “When something like this happens, you’re always going to have those lingering effects until, somewhere down the road, you can return to a sense of normalcy. For the most part, we’re real fortunate we have returned to that. That’s a real positive.”
