The Duquesne University football program will undergo a major face-lift next season -- on and off the playing field.

In addition to joining the Northeast Conference and offering athletic scholarships for the first time, Duquesne will be playing in a refurbished home field. Construction of permanent grandstand seating on the Bluff Street side of Arthur J. Rooney Field is scheduled to begin at the conclusion of this season and is expected to be completed in time for the 2008 season.

The grandstand will replace the temporary bleachers that have been used since the opening of the field in 1993.

On the Academic Walk side of the field, the temporary bleachers will be eliminated and replaced by additional concrete seating.

Permanent concession stands and restrooms will be added to the south side of the field.

The fieldhouse, located at the east end of the field, will be remodeled and expanded following the 2008 season to provide an area for a new football locker room, a football coaches suite and additional locker room space for the soccer, lacrosse and swim teams.

"This is yet another sign of the university's commitment to the football program," athletic director Greg Amodio said. "This is another piece of the puzzle for us to move the entire athletic program forward. We're taking a field to a new level."

Duquesne is completing its final season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, which allows financial aid based solely on need.

Basketball buzz

Expectations are rising for the Dukes, who are receiving more national publicity and preseason buzz than at any time in the past three decades.

A picture of Kieron Achara above a headline Puttin' up the Dukes graces the cover of the October issue of Basketball Times, a national publication. Duquesne is highlighted in a three-page story as the magazine's first "Under the Radar Team." In the past, the feature was always titled "Under the Radar Guys" for under-publicized players who were predicted to make a splash that season.

Editor John Akers writes: "These guys [Duquesne] could become quite a story come next March. Just remember where you read about them first."

More buzz

ESPN The Magazine tentatively is scheduled to run Gare Joyce's story on the revitalization of Duquesne's basketball program following a shooting incident on campus 12 months ago in an issue later this month. ... SI KIDS plans to profile Duquesne's 6-foot-10 Shawn James in a story and photo spread in the Teen section of the magazine in the December/January issue. Well-known staff photographer Heinz Kluetmeier and writer Gary Gramling will be on campus this week. ... The Dukes, whose RPI has been somewhere between 250 and 300 the past decade, is ranked 77th in the CollegeHoops.net preseason poll and sixth in the Atlantic 10 Conference. ... A spokesman in the Duquesne athletic department said season ticket sales are up 26 percent to nearly 700. ... All of Duquesne's games will be broadcast live on KQV-AM (1410).

Hall inductees

B.J. Barnes (baseball 1997-99), Beth Friday (basketball 2000-03) and John Rosato (current football assistant) make up the 2007-08 Duquesne University Sports Hall of Fame class that will be introduced at halftime of the men's basketball season opener at 8 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Palumbo Center against Howard.

Recruit gives verbal

Johnny Higgins, a 6-2 point guard who averaged 15.5 points last season at Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep, gave coach Ron Everhart a verbal commitment during his visit to Duquesne's campus this past weekend. He can't sign a binding national letter of intent until Nov. 14.

Higgins, who scored 28 points in a 114-94 win against Bridgton (Maine) Academy in the Prep School National Championship game, will rejoin Billy Barton, his coach at Notre Dame Prep, now an assistant at Duquesne.

Higgins averaged 27.8 points, 6.8 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 3.2 steals two years ago as a junior while leading Randallstown High School to the Maryland Class AA state championship. Because he left Randallstown after his junior year, he spent two years at Notre Dame Prep. He also was being recruited by Virginia Tech and Missouri.