Duquesne women’s basketball coaching staff has strong ties to Washington County
Duquesne University
By John Sacco
For the Observer-Reporter
About eight years ago, Frank Ferraro stood on the basketball court at the University of Virginia, looking up and staring at an enormous scoreboard at midcourt.
Dan Burt, the head basketball coach for the Duquesne University’s women’s team, walked over to his new assistant coach, and said: “We’re not at Burgettstown anymore, Frank.”
“We had a good laugh at that,” Burt said, referring to one of the many stops along the way for Ferraro, who at one time was the Blue Devils’ boys coach.
Coaching NCAA Division I basketball is no laughing matter. But for Burt, Ferraro and Rick Bell, who spent a lot of time coaching boys basketball in Washington County at Peters Township and Canon-McMillan, coaching that level makes them smile.
Burt, a Washington native, has been at Duquesne for 18 years, the last 12 as the head coach, savors what Ferraro and Bell bring to the program.
“Frank and I were talking, and he was still coaching at Penn State Beaver,” said Burt, a Trinity High School and West Liberty University graduate. “I could see the fire was still in his belly. I wanted to give him the chance to try something different and that’s to coach women’s basketball, which Frank had not done.
“Any time you can get someone who has 40-plus years of experience, who has that love for his alma mater, it’s just like hitting a home run.”
Ferraro’s place on Burt’s staff is clearly defined.
“He’s my sensei,” Burt said. “Frank does our substitution patterns. We’re subbing every two minutes and that is an important, vital role within our program. Frank is the guy who has been in this role for 48 years and he knows when there’s a time to push and when there’s a time to pull back. He’s not looking to take your job. He’s just trying to be the best assistant coach he can be.”
The Duquesne women’s team is 17-10 overall and 8-8 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. They have four more regular-season games before the conference tournament.
Bell joined Burt’s staff four years ago. He came with a team player mentality and an open mind.
“Honestly, even four years later I pinch myself,” Bell said, “knowing my story isn’t like the normal story. I was at this stage of my life in becoming an assistant and then add to it on the woman’s side.
“I’m grinding. I’m doing my job but there’s times when I’ll be sitting in my office and think about last year. We were at Princeton and I’m up in the morning and just going for a walk. I’m thinking, I’m walking around Princeton’s campus and I’m thinking ‘are you kidding me?’ I feel privileged to be in this position. Four years later, I find myself saying ‘why me?’ It’s all in a positive way.”
Ferraro has more than 20 years of experience at the collegiate level, including five seasons (2010-2014) at Washington and Jefferson College as the assistant men’s basketball coach and nine years at Waynesburg University, where he served as assistant coach for two years and the head coach for seven (2001-2009).
Ferraro enjoyed his most successful season as a collegiate head coach when he led the Yellow Jackets to a 16-11 overall record, a 7-5 conference record and an appearance in the Presidents Athletic Conference championship game.
In addition to being head coach at Burgettstown, Ferraro was head coach at Moon and South Fayette high schools. Ferraro is the winningest coach in Burgettstown history with more than 200 wins and 12 WPIAL playoff appearances, five section championships and two appearances in the state playoffs.
He is a 1975 graduate of Duquesne and resides in Coraopolis with his wife, Barbara.
Bell, who oversees the Dukes’ defense, has more than 30 years of coaching experience, including an18-year stint as the head coach at Canon-McMillan (2001-2019). He coached the Big Macs to the school’s first appearance in the WPIAL semifinals in 2019 and set a school record with 21 wins during the 2017-18 campaign. He led Canon-McMillan to the WPIAL playoffs six times and has a career-record of 428-316. Bell is a member of the Canon-McMillan Hall of Honor for Academics and Athletics.
Before joining Burt’s staff, Bell spent two seasons assisting the Geneva College men’s basketball team where his son, R.J., was a member of the team.
Prior to Canon-McMillan, Bell was the head coach at Peters Township, where the Indians made 11 consecutive postseason appearances.
Rick and his wife, Mary, have two children, Angela and R.J., who is a member of the Duquesne coaching staff.
“I have known Rick since I was about 16-years-old. We played a lot of adult league basketball against one another and Rick is a very well-respected coach,” Burt said. “I always admired his passion and love for his teams and for basketball. I knew that his love and passion for basketball would translate regardless of what gender the player is.
“When you have that passion and drive for basketball and then you’re a good human being, it doesn’t make a difference if you’re coaching men or women and, I think in both cases, both he and Frank have really benefited from coaching women. The women tend to be a little bit more wanting to learn without obstacles and I think that they’re really enjoying their experience coaching women. I knew that Rick’s transition to the women’s game would be very smooth.”