David Duke begins his fourth year at Fordham, his second season as the Associate Head Coach, his 14th as an assistant basketball coach and his 16th season overall in the profession.
“This is a well-earned promotion for David,” said Pecora of Duke’s ascension to associate head coach in 2011. “He has done a tremendous job in helping us as we attempt to get the Fordham men’s basketball program back to where it should be. He has been a relentless recruiter and a tireless worker, both on and off the court, and deserves to be rewarded with this promotion.”
In his three years at Fordham. Duke’s recruiting efforts have elevated the talent pool considerably, leading to a resurgence of the program.
Duke started his basketball coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Hofstra University under the tutelage of now Villanova head Coach Jay Wright. He was then elevated to assistant coach after two seasons. Duke worked under Wright for one season and joined Tom Pecora’s staff at Hofstra when Pecora was named head coach in 2001.
Coach Duke was an integral member of a staff at Hofstra that became one of the top programs in the country. He has been to two NCAA tournaments (2000 and 2001) and four Postseason National Invitation Tournaments including three in a row (2005-07). During the 2005-06 seasons, the Hofstra Pride tied a school record with 26 wins and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals.
Duke, a tireless recruiter, helped bring in a number of top level recruiting classes at Hofstra including Hofstra’s all-time leading scorer and two time Haggerty Award winner Charles Jenkins, currently a member of the Golden State Warriors, and Antoine Agudio, Hofstra’s all-time leading scorer until surpassed by Jenkins who was 13th in the NCAA in scoring in 2007-08. In addition, Duke’s knack for developing talented guards was evident when he helped guide Craig “Speedy” Claxton, who was chosen in the first round of the National Basketball Association’s 2000 NBA draft and Norman Richardson, who appeared in the NBA with the Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks.
In 2003 and 2004, Coach Duke was the head coach of the Long Island’s men’s open team at the Empire State Games that won consecutive championships-the first time that Long Island has ever won back-to-back titles in the history of the Empire Games. In 2003 Duke became one of the youngest coaches ever to win the gold medal in the open men’s basketball competition. In 2004, Long Island won the championship by an average margin of victory of 33 points per game. The team also averaged 100 points per game and beat New York City on the way to the championship.
Duke earned his undergraduate degree in 1997 from SUNY Albany where he majored in communications and minored in education. In the 1997-98 season, he played on the basketball team at New York Institute of Technology.
In addition to developing talent on the court, Duke has garnered a strong reputation as an educator and mentor off the court for many of his players, ranging from walk-ons to NBA players such as Jenkins, Speedy Claxton (2000 NBA first round pick) and Norman Richardson. Duke has been invited to participate in the Villa 7 conference, a prestigious program for a select group of assistant coaches in the country.
Duke resides in New York City with his wife, Vanessa.
