Duquesne coach Dru Joyce III talks Akron roots, relationship with LeBron

A few weeks ago, Duquesne head coach Dru Joyce III sent a text message to a lifelong friend.

That friend quickly responded, which is the norm for most long-term friendships but extraordinary when you consider that friend is Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.

“I just hit him the other day about a weak-side defense question, just to pick his brain on how he would play it,” Joyce told ESPN about his former high school teammate. “And he got back to me just with a bunch of confidence and said, ‘No, I think you’re going about it the right way.’ So we get to share in those basketball moments.”

On Saturday, Joyce will celebrate the legacy of James and the rest of their high school team with a matchup against Northeastern on LeBron James Court at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio, their hometown. The game is free to attend. More than 20 years ago, James, Joyce and their teammates led the school to a state title in Ohio. Now Joyce will play his second consecutive game at his alma mater.

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“This one is close to the heart, man. It is special,” he said. “I still approach it just like every game, but from the emotional side, man, I’m back home. I’m amongst my family and friends. This is the city that raised me. A lot of my journey happened, from a basketball standpoint, and just an overall connection with people at St. Vincent-St. Mary, and the opportunity to bring my team here to experience Akron, and I get to show them a bit of my hometown.”

To capture the full experience on Friday, Joyce took his team to the I Promise School, which was created by the LeBron James Family Foundation. The LeBron James Museum and House Three Thirty, a multiuse space also created by James’ foundation, were part of the team’s tour, too.

As they left the complex, Gloria James — the mother of the NBA superstar — came out and talked to Joyce. Some of Joyce’s players then begged him to hop off the bus so they could talk to the mother of their favorite player. That’s when a few of them learned that she and her son had watched Duquesne’s game against Villanova last weekend.

“Immediately, they were like, ‘LeBron … watched us?'” Joyce said about his team’s reaction. “What it does for our team is it elevates us.”

Joyce said he hopes Saturday’s game can help his team understand the legacy of the NBA superstar in his hometown and beyond. He said he and James have talked about his stint as a college coach who is now in his second season with the program. But they mostly talk the way friends do.

“More than anything, it’s still a loyalty, a trust and bond that we have,” he said.

That connection will be the theme on Saturday.

Joyce said family members and friends will be in attendance on Saturday. That list will include some of his former teammates.

While it seems unlikely James will be able to attend the game on Saturday — the Lakers have a road game against the Utah Jazz on Sunday — Joyce said he won’t be shocked if there are a few surprises.

“I don’t know who walks through that door on Saturday,” he said.

Overall, however, Joyce said he’s excited to extend the memory of a high school team that was led by the No. 1 pick of the 2003 NBA draft and coached by his father, Dru Joyce II, through Saturday’s matchup against Northeastern in Akron.

“It’s going to be fun,” he said.