March Madness: Why is LeBron James a Duquesne fan?

March Madness is here and LeBron James is celebrating the fact that Duquesne gets to take part along with all the rest of us.

While most of the college basketball loving public will have little connection to the small Catholic school in located in Pittsburgh, LeBron actually does.

"YESSIRRR!! Punch that [ticket emoji] to the Big Dance @DuqMBB!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Love you Coach Dambrot & @CoachDruJoyce," he tweeted after the Dukes secured their first trip to the Big Dance in 47 years.

LeBron James is a Duquesne fan because of his high school coach

Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot coached James for two years at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. Both seasons they won the state championship. Additionally, Duquesne assistant coach Dru Joyce III, who LeBron shouted out in the tweet, was a teammate of James' in high school.

Dambrot left the high school scene to become an assistant coach at Akron in 2001. James went on to become the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.

While James was making his name in the NBA, Dambrot was coaching at Akron. He was elevated to head coach in 2004 and stayed with the Zips until 2017. He won the MAC Tournament three times and MAC Coach of the Year three times. He is the winningest coach in program history.

After Akron, Dambrot took over at Duquesne, which hadn't had a 20-1in season since 2008-09. In the last seven seasons, the head coach has managed three +20-win seasons. Last year they went to the CBI. This is his first NCAA Tournament appearance with the school.

The sixth-seeded Dukes won the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Sunday with a win over fifth-seeded VCU, 57-51. Duquesne had to upset through Dayton en route to the final. They also bested St. Louis and Saint Bonaventure.

Winner of eight games in a row, the Dukes are tournament bound for the first time since 1977. They'll look to keep the Cinderella story going.