Sports shorts
Pitcher highest draft pick in Flyer history
The San Diego Padres took Flyer pitcher Nick Wissman ’23 in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball draft in July. The highest draft pick in Flyer baseball history, Wissman was also the first Flyer named A-10 Pitcher of the Year and was named to multiple All-America teams. This season, he posted an 11-1 record, seven saves, a 2.92 ERA and 64 strikeouts (and only 11 walks).
Winning makes an impression
The Flyers defeated No. 6-ranked Vanderbilt 8-5 this spring to give Dayton its first Top 25 win in 17 years. This summer Vanderbilt hired as an assistant coach Jayson King, head coach of the Dayton baseball program for seven seasons. The new UD coach, Scott Loiseau, spent last season as associate head coach at Penn State, which had its first winning season in eight years. As head coach at Southern New Hampshire, he compiled a 480-209-2 (.696) record, including eight NCAA Regional finals (including seven straight) and five trips to the NCAA Division II College World Series.
Holmes drafted in first round, then injured
Consensus basketball All-American DaRon Holmes II was selected No. 22 in the NBA draft in June. In his first game with the Denver Nuggets in the NBA summer league, he suffered an injury to his right Achilles tendon. There is no timetable for his return.
Perez plays in Paris
Mariah Perez ’23, who played five years for the Dayton Flyers, was a member of the Puerto Rico women’s basketball team in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Puerto Rico did not make it past group stage but came close (63-62) to upsetting Spain. Perez played off the bench in all three Olympic games played by Puerto Rico. At UD, Perez (pictured seated, holding a ball) played 131 games, third highest in program history.
Olympic footnotes
Katie Nageotte Moon, who attended UD before transferring to Ashland, won the silver medal in the pole vault at the 2024 Olympics. As a freshman in 2010, she finished 17th at the NCAA championships. ... Marial Shayok, who was a starter on the South Sudan’s basketball team in the Olympics, is son of Makur Shayok ’92, who played center at UD. ... Grad student and three-time A-10 champion Casey Bogues (pictured) didn’t make it to Paris but set a school record of 57.41m (62.78 yards) for the javelin at the Olympic trials. She finished eighth in the finals.