Duquesne basketball predicted to be at bottom of Atlantic 10

The Duquesne Dukes have a new head coach, but an inexperienced squad is expected to finish at the bottom of the Atlantic 10 conference.

The preseason poll of the league's coaches and media picked Jim Ferry's team to finish 16th out of 16 without any players on the three all-Conference teams, the all-defensive team, or all-rookie team.

Ferry has a lot to do after the departure of Ron Everhart, whose highest finish in six seasons was fourth place in 2011, and whose teams only won one game in a postseason tournament -- a first-round matchup in the third-tier CBI that same year. The team loses four of its top five scorers, with senior guard Sean Johnson expected to carry the majority of the load for a team with nine players who are sophomores or younger.

"This isn’t the type of league you’re going to come into, say, ‘Bang!’ and get it done," said (Ferry), a two-time NEC Coach of the Year. "The first thing we have to do is establish a foundation.

Ferry comes to Duquesne after leading the Long Island Blackbirds to back-to-back Northeast Conference titles and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.