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- Today: at University of Toronto, 4 p.m.
- Tomorrow: at Ryerson University, 11 a.m. and at Sheridan College, 8 p.m.
- Monday: at University of Waterloo, noon.
TORONTO, Canada -- The Duquesne University basketball program added a prize freshman recruit to the roster yesterday, but will be without two of its key players when it plays four games in three days against college competition this Labor Day weekend.
The newest member of the Dukes is Damian Saunders, a 6-foot-8 power forward who committed to Marquette last fall, but became available when he wasn't admitted two weeks ago. Saunders called Bill Barton, a Duquesne assistant who was his coach last season at Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep. After their conversation, Saunders decided to make an unofficial visit to Duquesne's campus.
"We knew who he was and all about him," Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said of Saunders, who has been admitted to Duquesne but still must wait to become eligible through the NCAA clearinghouse so he can play this season. He will begin taking classes Tuesday. "There were a lot of big-time schools after him and we didn't really have an opportunity to recruit him. It was unforeseen he was going to become available. ... We were in the right place at the right time."
Early in his meeting with Everhart, Saunders explained what happened this past June when he was arrested for possession of an illegal substance in his hometown of Waterbury, Conn. He was never charged.
"He sat there like a man and addressed it right away," Everhart said. "He brought it up. I'm not concerned."
Saunders, who averaged 8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3 blocks last season at Notre Dame Prep, will join the Dukes in individual workouts until official practice begins Oct. 12.
The Dukes have been practicing 10 days to prepare for the school's first foreign tour that begins today against the University of Toronto, which was 26-11 last season and promises to provide their toughest competition. Toronto was 3-5 against American college teams the past two years. The games in Canada won't count on Duquesne's record or against the regular-season schedule.
The Dukes will be short-handed without 6-5 freshman Bill Clark and 6-7 Stuard Baldonado, a junior-college transfer who sat out last season to recover from bullet wounds to the elbow and lower back that occurred in a shooting incident on campus. Clark, expected to compete for a starting job, isn't with the team because he is waiting to be declared eligible through the clearinghouse. Baldonado, a Colombia native, had passport problems.
"I'm very disappointed they're not with us, but I don't think it puts them back at all," Everhart said. "They understand what we're doing and what we expect from them and they'll both fit in with us in the big picture."
Everhart also expects Saunders to make an immediate impact.
"He's the prototypical power forward," Everhart said of Saunders, who averaged 26 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks as a senior at Crosby High School in Waterbury, Conn. "No doubt he's a difference maker. He's the kind of player who can run by you and jump over you. He's strong, lean and a sprinter. What he brings, we don't have that type of guy in our program."
