Like many a basketball fan, LeBron James will be tuned in for March Madness.
And while the Lakers star skipped past college straight to the NBA, he does have a rooting interest. Two of his friends are trawling the sidelines in southwest Pennsylvania and hoping to lead their team to postseason glory.
Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot and associate head coach Dru Joyce III were part of James' high school team while at St. Vincent–St. Mary — Dambrot as the Irish's head coach, Joyce as the point guard.
Dambrot and Joyce are leading the No. 11 seed Dukes into their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1977. And when they take the floor against No. 6 seed BYU, they'll do so with one of sport's biggest names offering up his support.
Here's what you need to know about the intertwined histories of James, Dambrot and Joyce.
THE BEST!!!!!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 https://t.co/KFRubsuOfL
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 18, 2024
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LeBron James' relationship with Duquesne coaches, explained
James, Dambrot and Joyce all are tied to Akron, Ohio, even if they occupy opposite time zones in the present.
James' affiliation with the city is well-established, as he brought it into the global consciousness over the course of his glittering playing career.
James and Joyce — AAU teammates and friends since childhood — played at the same Akron high school. And Dambrot not only coached at St. Vincent–St. Mary, he grew up in the area as well before playing for the University of Akron baseball team.
Dambrot started his career an assistant basketball coach at his alma mater. He joined the Division I head coaching ranks at Central Michigan in 1991, but in his second season, he was fired for using a racial slur in front of his team. (He asked permission from the players on his team to use the term, but he later admitted: "I want everyone to understand that I was wrong.")
After five years without a head coaching position, he took the helm at St. Vincent–St. Mary. James and Joyce joined the team in his second season, and he coached the duo from 1999-2001.
MORE: Why LeBron James celebrated Duquesne making March Madness
The trio led St. Vincent-St. Mary to back-to-back state titles. Irish home games were held at Rhodes Arena, home of the University of Akron's basketball team. The reason? There was a major demand to watch James, Joyce and St. Vincent-St. Mary grace the floor.
Dambrot left the program after the 2000-01 season to join Akron's coaching staff as an assistant. He was promoted to the role of head coach in 2004.
By that point, Joyce — a diminutive but fearless floor general — had enrolled at Akron as well. He starred on Dambrot's team before embarking on a 12-year professional odyssey of his own.
Soon enough, Dambrot and Joyce's paths would converge again.
Joyce became a coach in his own right shortly after the end of his playing career. First, he made the rounds as an assistant at Cleveland State. After a three-year spell with the Vikings, Joyce looked elsewhere. His location of choice? Duquesne, the program that his former head coach Dambrot had been leading since 2017.
James, meanwhile, became one of the greatest basketball players in history.
HISTORY OF UPSETS BY SEED:
16 vs. 1 | 15 vs. 2 | 14 vs. 3 | 13 vs. 4 | 12 vs. 5
Despite the vastly different journeys of James, Joyce and Dambrot, the three are inextricably linked due to their histories. So it's little surprise that the Dukes' postseason success draws vociferous applause from James. He even gifted pairs of his signature shoe to Duquesne players prior to their first-round game.
Yessir!! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 Best of luck guys!! https://t.co/ngxGghmCd7
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 21, 2024
Dambrot is set to retire following the conclusion of the Dukes' season, the program announced ahead of the tournament. Many — including Dambrot himself — believe Joyce is deserving of the head coaching reins.
"We’ve been kind of grooming Coach Dru to take over for me,” Dambrot said, per The Duquesne Duke's Spencer Thomas. “Obviously, I’m biased but I think the program wouldn’t miss a beat if he gets the job.”
Joyce is more than willing to take up the responsibility if the opportunity were to open up. He's gotten quite an education from one of the best in the game, he says.
“Even since I was 12 and 13 years old, [Dambrot] has been building me for an opportunity to be a head coach,” Joyce said. “He’s always understood that it was a dream of mine to do it, so I think he took full advantage of knowing what I wanted to do.”
If Joyce were to get such a position, it's hard to imagine that James' support would diminish. In fact, given the nature of his and Joyce's relationship, it doesn't seem all that far-fetched to believe that the King would take a seat at some Dukes games going forward.