LeBron James’ generous gift to Duquesne University men’s basketball team

March Madness is here! Across the nation, dozens of college basketball programs are vying for the men’s NCAA championship, and the first round of the tournament took place on Thursday.

Duquesne University has never really been a basketball powerhouse. The Dukes last made the tournament in 1977, back when they were led by Norm Nixon, a speedster point guard who would be drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers just a few months later.

But they’re back at it this year, and they’re being guided by head coach Keith Dambrot, who happened to coach LeBron James for two seasons at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.

Before Duquesne began the tournament with a contest versus Brigham Young University, James outfitted its players with pairs of his Nike sneakers, and those players were clearly stoked.

The Dukes then went out and defeated BYU 71-67, and James took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express his delight.

Was it the shoes?

Story originally appeared on LeBron Wire