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Thursday, March 19, 2009
Flyers don’t need extra incentive in NCAA
The Dayton Flyers get stoked playing against BCS teams, given that they get so few opportunities, but Chris Wright doesn’t think UD needed an opponent from a power conference like West Virginia to get jacked up for its NCAA tourney game.
“Any game is really motivation. It doesn’t matter the conference. The Big East is arguably the best conference. They’ve got three No. 1 seeds this year. But it’s motivation just playing in the NCAA tournament, and playing against a team like West Virginia is a good test of our defense and a good test for them because you have to play your best game in March.”
The Flyers likely will need a huge game from Wright to prevail. UD is 39-9 overall, 28-0 at home and 5-1 against ranked teams with Wright in the lineup.
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Please welcome … Dayton University?
MINNEAPOLIS — As the Dayton Flyers were taking the floor for their 45-minute practice at the Metrodome today, the P.A. announcer asked fans to give a warm welcome to “Dayton University.”
And when senior forward Charles Little, one of three UD players representing the team at formal interviews, was getting ready to field questions, he was introduced as “Chris Little.”
The Flyers may have made a name for themselves by reaching the NCAA tournament, but they apparently still have some work to do before folks in these parts actually get that name right.
The Flyers practiced for a couple of hours at a nearby college this morning, and they did just shooting drills during their short time on the Metrodome floor.
The UD players were awed by the size of the venue. Half of the 60,000-plus-seat stadium isn’t being used, but that still made for an enormous basketball arena.
“It’s awesome,” guard Mickey Perry said. “It’s everything I dreamed of. Just looking around, it’s breathtaking.”
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Extending Gregory’s contract makes sense
Dayton did a smart thing by extending coach Brian Gregory’s contract, giving him essentially a nine-year deal.
He’s earned it for putting the basketball program back on the map, and it takes away a potential negative recruiting tactic by opponents, who could have suggested that Gregory would be looking to parlay his success into a big-time job.
The contract can be broken, of course. Coaches take off for better pay and brighter lights all the time. But Gregory has said he’s happy here, he likes the progress he sees and he’s committed enough to Dayton to want to sign on for five more years.
“This is a great fit for me, a great fit for my family, and I think we’re building the type of program I want to be a part of,” he said. “If that’s the case, there’s no need to look anywhere else.”
Gregory has averaged about 21 wins per season in his six years, and I don’t see him falling below that standard for the foreseeable future.
“We asked Brian when he came in to put in a program that hit on all cylinders, bringing in the right young men to be in the program, focusing on academic success, fitting within the university and within the community and, of course, being successful on the court. He’s done exactly what we asked him to do,” UD Athletic Director Tim Wabler said.
“It’s all about actions, not necessarily words, and the actions here are we’re making a long-term committment to Brian, and Brian’s making a commitment to us.”
