Ron Everhart, who reversed the fortunes of the men's basketball programs at both McNeese State and Northeastern in his previous two coaching stops, returned "home" to take the reigns of the Duquesne men's basketball program in March of 2006.

In his first season with the Dukes, the Fairmont, West Virginia native started from the ground up, totally retooling the roster of a 3-24 team he inherited. The nine first-year scholarship players Everhart brought to Pittsburgh were just getting acquainted when the program was dealt an unprecedented blow as five players were injured in a shooting less than a month before the opening of practice.

Under Everhart's leadership, the Dukes picked up the pieces and used some unconventional methods to post 10 wins, tie a 26-year-old school record for consecutive Atlantic 10 victories (five) and rank 21st nationally in scoring offense at 78.3 points per game.

Playing the majority of the season with just one player taller than 6-6, Everhart adopted a frenetic "10 men for 40 minutes" style of play in late January that saw all 10 players on the roster sub in and out of games in two- and three-minute intervals. The full court, chaotic style of play took hold as the Dukes reeled off consecutive conference wins over Dayton, Temple, Xavier, St. Bonaventure and La Salle and went on to play competitive basketball the remainder of the season.

The Duquesne story of perseverance was acknowledged by the United States Basketball Writers Association, which honored the 2006-07 Dukes with its Most Courageous Award presented annually to honor "a player, coach, official or administrator who has demonstrated extraordinary courage reflecting honor on the sport of amateur basketball."

Everhart, 45, has compiled a 184-191 (.491) record in 13 seasons as a head coach with two dramatic turnarounds to his credit.

At Northeastern, he inherited a program that averaged fewer than nine wins in the six seasons prior to his arrival and produced 19, 21 and 19 victories in his final three years. In his five seasons at the Boston, Mass. school, the Huskies averaged 16.4 wins.

His 2004-05 team, which finished second in the America East Conference with a 15-3 record (21-10 overall), advanced to the postseason conference tournament championship game where it lost to NCAA Tournament Cinderella Vermont. The `05 Huskies went on to earn an NIT bid - marking Northeastern's first postseason appearance in 14 years.

In 2005-06, he led the Huskies to a 19-11 record and 12-6 mark in the Colonial Athletic Association. His starting point guard, Jose Juan Barea, was named CAA Player of the Year and forward Shawn James earned Defensive Player of the Year honors.

At McNeese State, Everhart ended a streak of six consecutive sub-.500 seasons by leading the Cowboys to a 15-12 mark in 1995-96 - his second season at the Lake Charles, La. school. His seven-year stay culminated with a 22-9 record and Southland Conference regular-season title in 2000-01. The 2000-01 Cowboys, who won 19 of their last 20 games before losing the Southland Conference championship game by a point, earned the school's first postseason bid in 12 years when they accepted an invitation to the NIT.

A proponent of up-tempo basketball, Everhart saw his McNeese State teams lead the Southland Conference in scoring twice and field goal percentage three times. At Northeastern, his Huskies led the America East Conference in scoring for three consecutive seasons from 2002-03 through 2004-05. He continued that stretch as his 2005-06 Huskies led the Colonial Athletic Association in scoring with a 75.2 points per game scoring average. Not to be outdone, Everhart's 2006-07 Duquesne Dukes averaged and Atlantic 10-best 78.3 points per game, including a 82.9 ppg. average in 16 conference games.

Everhart, who was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 2000-01 and America East Coach of the Year in 2004-05, has produced at least one first team all-conference player in nine of his 13 seasons as a head coach. He had at least one all-rookie team player in four of five seasons at Northeastern and added another in his first season at Duquesne.

Prior to accepting the head coaching job at McNeese State, Everhart spent six seasons as an assistant under Perry Clark at Tulane.

While at Tulane, Everhart played a major role in resurrecting a Green Wave program that had disbanded from 1985-86 through 1988-89. He recruited three-straight Metro Conference Freshman of the Year award-winners - including current Duquesne assistant coach Kim Lewis - and accompanied the Green Wave to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1991-92 and 1992-93.

A 1985 graduate of Virginia Tech, Everhart got his start as a college coach as a graduate assistant for Bobby Cremins' 1985-86 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 team. He then moved on to Virginia Military Institute for two seasons (1986-87 and 1987-88) before arriving at Tulane.

Everhart played his final season of high school basketball for the legendary Morgan Wootten at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md. where he earned first team Catholic Prep All-America honors. Prior to attending DeMatha, Everhart was a basketball and baseball letterman at his hometown Fairmont West High.

Everhart was a four-year letterman at Virginia Tech and served as captain of the Hokies 1984-85 NCAA Tournament team.

Everhart and his wife, Mirchana, who was born and raised in Grafton, West Virginia, are the parents of twins Ronnie and Gianna (8).