Duquesne's Robert Mitchell showed up a couple minutes late for a 6 a.m. basketball practice Tuesday. He spent the next hour or so running the track at the Palumbo Center before joining his teammates.

That afternoon, he went upstairs to coach Ron Everhart's office and told him, "I think it would be best for me to leave Duquesne."

Everhart answered, "I agree."

Mitchell, a 6-foot-6, 180-pound sophomore forward who led the team in scoring last season with a 16.4 average and was the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year, has left school and plans to transfer.

"He mentioned Seton Hall to me," Everhart said of Mitchell, the ninth-leading freshman scorer in Division I last season and the first Duquesne player to be A-10 rookie of the year since Bruce Atkins in 1978-79. "I would help Rob if that's what he wants to do. He's a good kid. I won't say anything bad about him.

"[Leaving] wasn't really unexpected. It didn't take me by surprise. But in the big picture I'm more excited about our basketball team and the depth and talent we have than I am disappointed about anyone going."

Asked what changes he might make in his game plan because of the loss of Mitchell, Everhart answered without hesitation, "None."

Mitchell didn't always agree with Everhart's demanding coaching style. Mitchell was thrown out of a number of practices last season and was suspended for a game against Saint Louis.

"We hold all our players to the same level of accountability," Everhart said. "Everybody has to know we're all in this together."

Duquesne, which has been practicing the past nine days, will leave tomorrow for Toronto for a four-game series against college competition over Labor Day weekend.

"I didn't see it coming. This came out of the blue," forward/center Kieron Achara said of Mitchell's defection. "He was working hard, but he knew things were going to change because we have a lot more depth and more talent. If he thinks this is best for him, I wish him luck."

So does junior guard Aaron Jackson.

"You feel bad, but you wish him the best. You don't look at it negatively," he said. "This was a real shock. I thought he wanted to be part of this team, part of the winning. It's like the team lost a friend."

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mitchell chose Duquesne over Cincinnati, UTEP and Wichita State when he graduated from Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep, where he played for current Duquesne assistant Bill Barton.

Mitchell will have to sit out the 2007-08 season under NCAA rules if he transfers to another Division I school and would have three years of eligibility starting in 2008-09. He could play immediately this season if he transfers to a Division II or III program or an NAIA school.

Mitchell was unavailable for comment.

Mitchell is the second player who started on last season's 10-19 team to leave the Duquesne program. Scott Grote, a 6-6 forward who averaged 9.9 points, transferred to Wright State and will sit out this season.

The Dukes also will be without 6-7, 210-pound Ricky Jackson, a transfer from Cloud County (Kan.) Community College who was denied admission by Duquesne and has been released from his national letter of intent.

Mitchell's loss leaves the Dukes without a true small forward who can join 6-10 Shawn James and Achara (6-10) on the front line, but Everhart appears to have a couple available options.

Everhart could go big and replace him with Stuard Baldonado, a powerful 6-7, 225-pound junior whose forte is rebounding and defense. Or the Dukes could go with a conventional unit of a center, two forwards and two guards. It might not take long for 6-5 freshman Bill Clark to work his way into that lineup. Clark, an athletic player who has been impressive in workouts, is waiting to become eligible through the NCAA clearinghouse. Clark, who grew up in Redondo Beach, Calif., averaged 20.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game last season at Worcester (Mass.) Academy.

Or Everhart could go small, with 6-4 Aaron Jackson up front with a backcourt of Reggie Jackson and KoJo Mensah.

"We could go a lot of ways," Everhart said. "We have a lot of guys who can play basketball."