Delivering on dreams, Duquesne Dukes start season strong
The Chaim Galbut experience brings new fans, Shabbat awareness and support
Box scores aren’t the only indicators of a player’s contributions. During the Duquesne Dukes’ 78-71 season-opening win over the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons, freshman talent Chaim Galbut registered neither a single basket, assist, rebound nor steal. Galbut, who averaged 16.5 points and 10 rebounds per game as a senior standout at Miami Country Day, never entered the Nov. 3 game at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Still, for the yarmulke-clad forward, his family, coaches, teammates and supporters, the Nov. 3 game was a victorious testament to achievements and possibilities.
Galbut, 19, is a Sabbath-observant athlete. Before this season, few Orthodox players other than Tamir Goodman — a guard, colloquially known as “The Jewish Jordan,” who started at Towson University more than 20 years ago — have reached similar heights within NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball.
Duquesne’s choice to welcome Galbut sparked national attention. Along with stories in the New York Post and the Forward, social media chatter erupted.
“It wasn’t a hard decision,” Dukes head coach Drew Joyce told the Chronicle. “It became, ‘Hey, how do we make it work?’”
Doing so required a partnership between coaches, administrators and Galbut. Early on, Chase Goldstein, Duquesne’s assistant coach, believed in a path for all parties.
He touted Joyce, the university and “our athletic department,” but also Galbut for espousing a fundamental idea.
This isn’t simply about playing time, “it’s bigger than that,” Goldstein said. “It’s making room for Shabbos, right? Making room for a young man that has a dream of playing college basketball.”
Some dreams are fantasy, others are premonitions. Well before the season’s start, Goldstein watched viral clips of an observant kid soaring and slamming. Goldstein knew that securing Galbut in a Dukes jersey required accommodations for Shabbat and kashrut.
The commitment to inclusion and diversity has precedent, the assistant coach said.
The character of the private Catholic university, he explained, is predicated on moments such as those in 1954, when the Dukes competed against Holy Cross in the NIT finals. Before 18,496 fans at Madison Square Garden, Duquesne fielded a historic all-Black frontcourt of Dick Ricketts, Fletcher Johnson and Sihugo Green, and a backcourt of Jewish players Sid Dambrot and Mickey Winograd.
“This is what Duquesne’s about,” Goldstein said.
Ready for it
Before tipoff Tuesday night, Eric Galbut, 49, stood in the stands. Wearing a navy T-shirt featuring his son’s likeness, the South Florida resident marveled at the scene. Several rows below, the Dukes were finishing warmups. Chaim Galbut, sporting a black yarmulke, rose for a jumpshot, then another, and chatted with teammates.
Reaching this point required finding a school and a community that supported his son’s commitments, Eric Galbut said. “I’m beyond grateful to the Dukes, and to Coach Drew and to Coach Chase and to everybody on the staff, for how kind they’ve been to Chaim.”
Of course, he continued, “I’m most grateful to Hashem, to God, for keeping this dream alive and bringing it to a place where we can celebrate Chaim’s love for learning, and love for mitzvahs and Torah, and also his love for basketball.”
When asked about the freshman’s dedication, Goldstein raved.
“It’s not easy,” he said. “This young man wakes up at 6:30 a.m. every day and goes to the Kollel and prays, and then he goes to practice, has lunch with the team — obviously, a separate lunch that’s kosher. He goes to class. From class, he goes back to shul to learn, to daven. He comes back to the court at night to get shots up, just for this opportunity. He’s one of the most disciplined human beings I’ve ever been around, and you can’t help but just cheer for him and for his success.”
Run, run, run
Honoring the maxim that basketball is a game of runs, the Dukes opened the Nov. 3 game with a 14-0 lead thanks to strong play from forward Kerem Konan and guard Arness Lawson. Though the Mastodons rallied back to take a 37-36 edge heading into halftime, the Dukes secured the win thanks to dominant performances from guard Jake DiMichele — a member of 2024 A10 Championship squad — guard Josh Smith, who netted a 16-point night, and guard/forward Yoav Berman, who produced 12 second-half points on 5-6 shooting.
It was a critical win, Duquesne guard and team elder statesman Ethan Anish, 22, told the Chronicle.
“It means everything to start the season off 1 and 0,” he said. “We’ve had months of preparation. Just setting things in motion this way, understanding that we can stack wins now, it sets the tone for a season.”
The Jewish Mamba, as Anish is often called, told the Chronicle that as he enters his senior year, he knows his role with the Dukes. “I’m going to do my job leading these guys and making sure we’re keeping the standard, the standard — from our coaches down to our players — and keep getting wins on the way to an A10 championship.”
Start of something new
Nearly four months separate the season’s start from the 2027 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship. Looking ahead to the bright lights of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, can be blinding. Before reaching that court, the Dukes will need to defend their own and accrue significant wins on the road.
Championing this team is a sizable new crew. Dressed in T-shirts bearing the name Galbut and the number 18, hundreds of Duquesne fans filled the lower bowl of UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Tuesday night.
“This is a great, intimate, arena. Really cool setting for a college basketball game,” Squirrel Hill resident David Jacobson, 43, said. “It’s going to be fun coming here over the course of the season.”
Nesanel Katz, 20, joined several other childhood friends of Galbut’s to fly from Israel and see the freshman’s potential play.
“It’s a dream come true to see him here and hopefully, we’ll get to see him tonight. We believe that he will, and that he’s going to go perform,” Katz said.
On opening night, Galbut’s number was never called. Still, as players approached the locker room following the win, a bevy of middle school-aged supporters reached over the railing, yelled toward Galbut and Israeli Yoav Berman, and asked for autographs. The players happily complied. Moments later, at a post-game reception, complete with kosher ice cream, pastries and various sweets, Galbut, Berman, Anish, Coaches Joyce, Goldstein and other members of the Dukes joined in a communal celebration.
Berman told the Chronicle that when fans cheered during starting lineups it meant “everything.”
Anish agreed. “This city is just beautiful. You know, people showing love and coming out to support us, it really does mean everything.”
Smile, sign, repeat
With Sharpies in hand, dozens of kids surrounded Galbut. The player signed T-shirts, took selfies with fans and smiled in photo after photo.
Gitty Margules, Galbut’s grandmother, traveled from New York to Pittsburgh for her grandson’s debut. “You know what I’m most proud of,” she told the Chronicle. “His heart. He’s a great basketball player but he also has a heart and soul.”
Sarki Galbut, 48, said her son has “been wanting to do this for a long time, so I’m happy for him that he’s fulfilling his dreams.” More importantly, “he has a good neshama, a good soul, and he’s a great role model to everybody here.”
When the last autograph was signed, the freshman stepped aside to speak with the Chronicle.
Appreciating others is essential, he explained.
Whether it’s on the bench or in the locker room, and “Coach says something nice about me, it makes me feel like a million dollars,” he said. “When I give an autograph to a kid, or I say ‘Thanks for coming out,’ or I give him a high-five, that might make him feel like a million dollars.”
Demonstrating gratitude for fans — some of whom Galbut sees at minyan, others he’s befriended since making Pittsburgh his home — is part of the team’s fabric, he continued. “Duquesne recruits guys that are not just skillful, but have a certain personality, which is nice, kind, and good-hearted. Everybody on the team, we’re not only talented, but we’re super nice, we’re kind to each other and warm. I feel like that’s what makes our bond and our friendship so close.”
The official box score from the Nov. 3 game doesn’t list Galbut’s name. That’s news to the kids who stomped the stands and eagerly waited for a post-game photo with a yarmulke-clad landsman ready to play.
“Through all this ball, I really just like to bring everybody together. That’s my goal,” he said.
But there’s another aspect, he continued.
Since relocating to Pittsburgh, Galbut has frequently visited the Kollel Jewish Learning Center. Unsurprisingly, the Talmudic tractate he and his study partner explore focuses on Shabbat.
The exercise has provided a “certain appreciation for Shabbos,” Galbut said. Because of basketball, or just in general, people may wonder if being Sabbath observant is worth it, he continued.
Studying and living this life has caused “me to appreciate Shabbos differently,” Galbut said. “I would never give it up.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
comments