Duane Simpkins came from the land of floor generals—a kingdom situated not far from AU’s Bender Arena.
 
The 6-foot, former McDonald’s All-American point guard was molded through after-school pickup basketball at Boys and Girls Club No. 11 in Southeast DC. There he learned to compete by butting heads with his older brother, Sylvester, whom he only ever beat once, and came to appreciate having the ball in his hands. 
 
Simpkins admits that his new gig as the 18th head coach of the AU men’s basketball team isn’t altogether different than facilitating an offense. He flourished in that role, first at DeMatha Catholic High School—where he was just the third freshman to make the varsity squad—and later in 90 starts for the University of Maryland, where, under Naismith Hall of Fame head coach Gary Williams, he led the Terps to three NCAA appearances from 1993 to 1996. 
 
Only now, instead of dishing the ball to his teammates in 94-foot increments, Simpkins is guiding an entire program. 
 
“Being a quarterback playing football and being a point guard playing basketball, I was always in a leadership position,” he says. “I always liked that, and I knew that’s what I wanted.” 
 
The father of three and husband to Kirsten earned his first collegiate head coaching job by working his way up. After retiring from professional ball in 2004, he launched his coaching career in the DC high school ranks before moving on to Towson, UNC Greensboro, and most recently, George Mason, where he spent eight years as an assistant.
 
At AU, Simpkins has the opportunity to recruit players to a “high academic environment” with a talented pool of athletes right in his backyard. “When I looked at what would be a good fit for me as a first-time head coach, AU was one of the schools at the top, without a doubt,” he says.
 
Powered by his fiery competitiveness and penchant for teaching, Simpkins’s squad—who kicked off their season on November 6 at Villanova—boasts a fast-paced offense that runs the floor and shoots lights out from three-point land. In October, the Eagles were predicted to finish third in the 2023–24 Patriot League preseason poll.
 
But Simpkins’s game plan involves more than connecting on the court; it’s also about coaches and players bonding off the hardwood. This summer, the team took a nine-day trip to Italy, where they handed Simpkins his first (unofficial) W as an Eagle in their 84–36 wallop of a club team in Vatican City, and stayed up late talking, cracking jokes, and playing spades. Since then, the squad has enjoyed dinners, bowling nights, and college football watch parties—quality time that reminds them what they’re playing for, says guard Lincoln Ball, Kogod/BS ’24.  
 
“You want to play as hard as you can for your coaches and your brothers, and I think that’s the connection we’re building,” he says. “I feel like I’ve known [Simpkins] way longer than I actually have; that’s a testament to him wanting to be involved in our lives and getting to know us in such a short time.” 
 
For Simpkins, that’s what coaching is all about—even more than wins and losses.  
 
“I love the relationships that you build,” he says. “And from a coaching standpoint, I love being able to help develop young men and teach them things about basketball—but more importantly about life.”