With less than two months remaining until the start of the college basketball season, the Duquesne men’s basketball program has lost another key member of its roster.
After two seasons, Maceo Austin recently left the team, according to Mike Vukovcan of Pittsburgh Sports Now. Per Vukovcan, Austin is still enrolled at the university.
Austin was a highly-coveted prospect coming out of high school, per 247Sports. He chose to play for Head Coach Keith Dambrot and Duquesne despite being offered a scholarship from power-conference programs such as Northwestern, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Virginia.
The native of nearby Sharon, Pa., played in 29 of the Dukes’ 30 games (starting on those 29 occasions) during the 2019-20 season that was cut short by the outbreak of Covid-19. An illness prevented Austin from playing in a Feb. 16 road contest against Fordham.
Perhaps Austin’s most emotional — and memorable — game during his Duquesne tenure came in a Jan. 15, 2020, home game against Fordham. Despite losing his sister just days earlier, Austin chose to play in the game.
He scored six points and added three assists in the Dukes’ overtime victory over the Rams, helping Duquesne earn its fifth consecutive win to begin Atlantic 10 Conference play.
During his first year at Duquesne, Austin scored in double figures eight times, ultimately averaging seven points per game.
Austin was absent for a portion of the 2020-21 season due to personal reasons, missing each of the Dukes’ eight games between Jan. 5 and Feb. 20.
Arguably his best performance of the shortened season came on Jan. 3, when he scored 11 points, dished out two assists and grabbed three rebounds in a loss at George Washignton.
Austin ended up playing in just nine of Duquesne’s 18 contests during his second season, averaging 2.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
Across his two seasons with the Dukes, Austin averaged 6.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
Austin joins a handful of well-known names who have either stepped away or transferred from the program since the beginning of last season.
Sincere Carry and Lamar Norman Jr. transferred to Kent State and Western Michigan, respectively, during last season.
Chad Baker (San Diego State), Tavian Dunn-Martin (Florida Gulf Coast) and Marcus Weathers (Southern Methodist) have also found new homes since season’s end.
Duquesne begins its 2021-22 season on Nov. 9, when it welcomes Rider to town.
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