PITTSBURGH – Duquesne University Director of Athletics Dave Harper announced today that head women’s swimming coach Dave Sheets has received a five-year contract extension.
Sheets, who is in his 16th season at DU, led the Dukes to a program-best second place finish at the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship. He was named A-10 Coach of the Year after guiding DU to a then program-best third place finish in 2015.
Under Sheets’ direction, the women’s program has broken every school record and established a tradition of academic success, as highlighted by multiple team Scholar Academic All-American honors from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.
“When I attended the A-10 Championship last spring I was so impressed to see Dave leading our team of highly competitive swimmers,” said Harper. “In addition, this team is just as competitive in the classroom and comport themselves on our campus and in the community in a first class fashion.
“The culture in our swimming program is truly unique and Dave is the leader and coach who assures mission-based values are entrenched in his program. We are very pleased Dave has committed to leading our swim program at Duquesne for the next five years.”
In his tenure at Duquesne, Sheets has taken a program that traditionally finished near the bottom of the conference to one that is regularly in the hunt for the conference championship. Over the past 11 seasons, he has led the Dukes to its highest finishes in school history at the A-10 Championship, including last year’s second place finish and third place showings in 2008, 2009 and 2015.
“I would like to thank President Gormley, the Board of Trustees, Dave Harper and the Duquesne community for supporting women’s swimming and instilling their confidence in my ability to lead this program,” said Sheets. “When I started at Duquesne in 2001, I could never have imagined the positive impact this University would have on my personal and professional life.
“The student-athletes and coaches I have had the privilege of working with over the past 15 years have built a brand that exemplifies the Duquesne mission. The student-athletes have made my work fulfilling and continue to impress me year after year. As a group, we are challenged every day to make our team more successful. With the support of the University around our program, its future is on solid ground.”
This is courtesy of Duquesne University.
Dave is a true leader and a great coach. The reason his team is getting faster, is that Dave is a technical doctor of the swimming stroke. It would be great to see a men’s team at Duquesne. Congratulations Coach Dave.
Dave is well deserving of this. Heck, he should be looked at by many major D1 schools in the Power 5. This guy gets the job done with the resources provided. Would love to see what he could do with a Power 5 name behind him. Keep up the great work Dave!
He’s not the best at correcting technique for strokes. Just long sets. He’s very old school
You’re not going to find a more deserving coach! What Dave has done with limited resources, facilities and no diving program has been remarkable. Proud to be an alum of this great university and swimming program. Thanks for all you’ve done and continue to do, Dave. The future is bright for the Lady Dukes!
He recruited a swimmer of ours. Never made any contact with any of the coaches. Swimmer bailed after 2 seasons. Had he asked, he would have found this swimmer had finished their swimming career after their sophomore season in high school. The swimmer took the money because he offered. Hard to believe they finished 2nd with these recruiting practices.
They have some fast girls- I think the “recruiting practices” that you find so distasteful must have been an anomaly, Because they have some fast girls. You sound like you might be OUT OF TOUCH, since you are talking about someone who bailed.
There are many variables that could go into this. Perhaps the recruiting coach knew the club/high school coach and personally felt that the coach couldn’t contribute anything. Perhaps the swimmer quit because she hated the environment or the coach. Perhaps there were financial issues with the family. Many college coaches have been burned by club coaches that present a swimmer to their program, and then they get burned. These days, most DI programs simply look at time progressions and geography. They understand if a kid can swim, he’ll show it in the meet. They also want to keep the kid close to his family unit as well. When you’re a school like Duquense, you have to get creative. Maybe he… Read more »
No I have had the same issue. I’m not sure if he still does the recruiting for them but it isn’t the best
No I had the same recruiting issue. It’s really not very good.
Also just looking at previous rosters he has seemed to have an abnormally high turnover in the number of swimmers who don’t stick with his program and transfer out
So get a men’s team also!