‘You win with veterans’
About this time five years ago, head men’s basketball coach Anthony Grant ’87 made no predictions about the then-upcoming season but did note the importance of experience, saying, “You win with veterans.” Veterans that year included the likes of Jalen Crutcher, Trey Landers, Ryan Mikesell and Obi Toppin.
That team went 29-2. And then COVID dashed everybody’s tournament hopes.
COVID hasn’t been the only off-court occurrence to affect college basketball. Lawsuits, NIL rulings, changes in transfer rules — much has diverted fans’ attention. Flyer fans haven’t been overly diverted; last year the UD Arena was sold out for the third straight season. NCAA attendance figures ranked Dayton with 13,407 fans per game as 20th last year in average attendance. Soon, the eyes of those fans will again be looking courtward.
On Blackburn Court, they will see veterans. Six of the 13 scholarship Flyers (seven counting redshirt junior Malachi Smith, who needed season-ending surgery after only seven minutes of play his first junior year) are at least seniors. Forward Nate Santos and guard Enoch Cheeks, both seniors, as well as junior Javon Bennett, started for the Flyers last year. Smith was a regular starter before his injury.
Three other Flyers — redshirt senior guard Posh Alexander, graduate student center Zed Key and junior forward Jacob Conner — are transfers who have been college basketball starters: Alexander for St. John’s and Butler, Key for Ohio State, Conner for Marshall. Combined, they have 10 years of college basketball experience.
But none of that experience is playing with each other or their other current Flyer teammates.
Two Flyers with experience coming off the bench are senior guard Brady Uhl, a walk-on turned scholarship player, and junior forward Isaac Jack, who last year was backup to consensus All-American DaRon Holmes II.
Four Flyers have never appeared in a regular-season game. Two are redshirt freshmen who sat out last year at UD: guard Marvel Allen and forward Jaiun Simon. Two are entering freshmen: forward Amael L’Etang and guard Hamad Mousa. From Qatar, Mousa has played for the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia, for the last three years. L’Etang, from France, is at 7’1” reputedly the tallest Flyer ever.
Dayton’s schedule will include some teams of historic interest to Flyer fans.
For the second year in a row, Dayton will face Cincinnati (Friday, Dec. 20, Heritage Bank Center in downtown Cincinnati).
Marquette and Dayton will play Saturday, Dec. 14, at UD Arena. The two teams will play the following year in Milwaukee. The last time Marquette came to the Arena, the Flyers won in overtime. The last game the two teams played was in Chicago in 2008; Dayton also won. All time UD is 14-21 vs. Marquette.
For the second year, CareSource and UD will host an exhibition game highlighting a series of events championing adolescent and young adult mental health and suicide prevention. Last year, Ohio State visited UD Arena. This year the opponent will be Xavier, Sunday, Oct. 20, at the Arena.