Why LeBron James will (probably) be rooting against BYU in the NCAA Tournament

When the BYU Cougars men’s basketball team faces the Duquesne Dukes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, one of the most legendary hoops players of all time will probably be rooting against them quite vocally.

That player would be LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers. What does he care about a team from Pennsylvania (he is from Ohio) that hasn’t been to the Big Dance before now since 1977?

The Dukes’ head coach is Keith Dambrot, who was James’ head coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, for James’ first two years of high school before leaving in 2001.

Additionally, Duquesne associate head coach Dru Joyce III also played at SVSM at the same time as James (his father, Dru Joyce II, replaced Dambrot as the head coach at SVSM and is still in that post).

After Duquesne earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament Sunday afternoon by winning the Atlantic 10 tournament but before the bracket was announced, James posted a tweet that said, “YESSIRRR!! Punch that 🎟️ to the Big Dance @DuqMBB!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Love you Coach Dambrot & @CoachDruJoyce 🤎🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾”