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July 2009
Flyers make most of summer workouts
The Dayton basketball players are in their final week of summer school — every player was enrolled for a class or two, including lone true freshman Matt Kavanaugh and junior transfer Josh Parker — and they’ll be getting a rare extended break since fall classes don’t begin until Aug. 25.
The Flyers have had a productive summer. Their weight-lifting sessions were intense, and their pick-up games were competitive.
“It’s gone very, very good,” said senior center Kurt Huelsman. “We’ve put a lot of emphasis on developing our skills on the court, and we’ve put a lot of time into it. We’ve been in the gym every single day.
“You can see guys have definitely developed a lot.”
Kavanaugh, a 6-foot-10, 255-pound post player with basketball smarts and a long-range arsenal, was among the standouts this summer.
“He’s a big body and is very skilled for a big guy,” Huelsman said.
Senior point guard London Warren appears to be maturing into a savvy leader, and senior shooting guard Marcus Johnson has elevated his game. Sophomore perimeter players Paul Williams and Chris Johnson have shot the ball consistently well, too.
The Flyers will have plenty of flexibility next season. Huelsman, who has started every game since his arrival, will likely hold down the 5 spot again, but junior Devin Searcy, redshirt freshman Josh Benson and Kavanaugh will battle for time there and at the vacant 4 spot.
Searcy has looked good running the floor, and Benson, while still on the slender side, has ample agility, too.
I’ve heard season-ticket sales have been solid despite tough economic times, which means fans are sensing the promise in this team, too.
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TweetUD-UC series may still be a long way off
Cincinnati men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin hinted during a joint ESPNU interview with Dayton coach Brian Gregory that the schools are trying to work out their schedules to meet during the 2010-11 season, but Gregory said there are a few hurdles to overcome before that happens.
During a break in an AAU tournament game in Orlando earlier this week, college basketball analyst Andy Katz teasingly asked why the two Ohio neighbors aren’t renewing their rivalry. Cronin chimed in, “We’ve got a little something working behind the scenes. … It may be a year out, but we’re working on something.”
Cronin didn’t respond to an interview request by the Dayton Daily News. The schools haven’t met since splitting a pair of games about three weeks apart in 2005, and Gregory isn’t overly optimistic about hooking up with UC again.
“We call Cincinnati every year to renew the series, but I completely understand their schedule,” he said. “It’s easy to talk about games, but they left Conference USA (in 2005) and are still required to play a home-and-home series with UAB and Memphis, plus they have 18 league games and a tournament (in the Big East). A lot of things go into trying to set it up.”
Dayton probably wouldn’t be interested in a one-time meeting with the Bearcats in Cincinnati, and the Flyers haven’t lured a BCS conference team to UD Arena since thrashing nationally ranked Pittsburgh by 25 points in 2007-08.
The Flyers were 5-2 against schools from the six power conferences the last two seasons, beating Auburn, Marquette, West Virginia, Louisville and Pitt and losing to Kansas and Ohio State.
They’re expected to get two more cracks at BCS schools in the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic in November.
“Everybody is excited for it — just to experience something new and be in a tournament like that where you play good teams,” senior center Kurt Huelsman said of the Puerto Rico trip. “You don’t want to say you’re more excited for those games because you play every game the same. But we’re excited to show the progress we’ve made and that we’re not that much different than the big teams.”
The Flyers also have road games against New Mexico and George Mason, both of which played in the NIT last season, and traditional rival Miami.
“That’s the way we want it — tough,” Hueslman said. “It’ll be a bunch of good challenges for us as a team, and we’ll see how much better we’ve gotten over the summer. You don’t come here to play easy teams.”
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TweetPayne was guarded about decision on UD
Adreian Payne had known for a week that he’d eliminated Dayton from consideration, but he was pretty tight-lipped about that decision.
Jefferson High School coach Art Winston said he and his star player had whittled the list to five schools about a week ago — Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona, Michigan State and West Virginia, in no particular order — but they told few coaches and didn’t make the news public until contacted by the Dayton Daily News on Friday evening.
Payne had even kept his decision from close friend and longtime AAU teammate Juwan Staten, who had been trying to convince the 6-foot-10 center to join him at UD.
Asked by phone what Juwan thought of his decision, Payne said, “I haven’t told him yet.”
The reticence is probably understandable. Payne had to know how the UD community would take the news of a local talent leaving town.
“I think he likes the coaches and likes the players (at UD), but it’s just a matter of him wanting to get away and play,” Winston said.
“You never know. He’s a teenager. It’s these five schools this week. In another week, it could be (a different) five. Right now, he’s in Orlando playing in an AAU tournament. When he comes back, it might be different.”
But when asked if there was any hesitance about turning down UD, Payne said, “I’m pretty solid in my decision.”
His longtime AAU coach with the All-Ohio Red, Quinten Rogers, also was surprised to hear Payne had come up with five finalists and wanted to know who had made the list.
“The biggest thing for me was for him to go to a school where player development is vital,” Rogers said. “That’s the thing to look for in a school.”
Asked how he thought UD fared in that department, Rogers said: “I think they do well. I think they do a very good job in Dayton.
“Those (other schools) are great programs. If he feels he belongs (somewhere else) and can become a better basketball player, that’s his decision to make.”
Payne came to the conclusion that he needed to get away from the area to reach his potential as a player and person, and he said his family supported him in that.
And while the most difficult part of the decision process may be out of the way, Payne knows he still ultimately can only make one school happy.
“This really doesn’t take any pressure off,” he said.
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TweetEx-UD star Roberts going to Germany
After a successful rookie season in the Israel professional basketball league, former University of Dayton star Brian Roberts has signed a contract to play for a pro team based in Bamberg, Germany, that is trying to qualify for the Eurocup League, which is considered just a notch below the top league overseas.
Roberts averaged a team-high 15.5 points for Galil Gilboa in Israel last season. He also played for the Sacramento Kings’ summer league team in Las Vegas earlier this month and averaged 3.0 points while playing about 10 minutes per game during the five-game schedule.
His dream is still to end up on an NBA roster, but he’s happy just to be drawing a paycheck to play basketball.
“It’s a process, for sure. I’ll take it a step at a time,” he said. “I’ll do this until my legs come off.”
The 6-foot-2 guard will be taking a step in salary and exposure by playing in Bamberg.
“Brian is on the cusp on making the NBA,” said David Thorpe, who has trained numerous future pros at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., including Roberts. “He’s extremely well-thought of now by the highest level of coaches in Europe and in the NBA.”
Although he didn’t get extensive playing time in Vegas, Roberts wasn’t discouraged. He shot 50 percent from the field and drained all seven of his free throws.
The Kings gave the bulk of the backcourt minutes to first-round draft pick Tyreke Evans of Memphis and Wesley Matthews of Marquette.
“I felt I played pretty well in Las Vegas with the time I got,” Roberts said. “I tried to make the most of my minutes, and I felt I did that.
“We’ll see what will come from that. My dream situation, what I would like to do, is go to (the Kings’) training camp and play well and hopefully end up making the roster.”
Roberts, the Flyers’ all-time leader in 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage, has been working out with UD players at the team’s open gyms this summer.
“They’re looking pretty good to me. … Skill-wise, they’re getting better, and the younger guys are really good,” he said. “The sky’s the limit as long as they continue to work.”
He’s also aware of the top-flight recruiting class UD coach Brian Gregory is putting together, having landed two top-100 players nationally so far. The only schools with more are Ohio State, Wake Forest and Illinois with three each, while just eight other teams have two off that list.
“He could always do that, for sure,” Roberts said of Gregory’s recruiting ability. “He can bring in talented players, and he’s taken that a step further, too. The program is ready to step out for sure.”
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TweetVitale gives UD’s Wright a mention
College basketball analyst Dick Vitale unveiled his All-Rolls-Royce team today on ESPN.com and made Dayton’s Chris Wright an honorable-mention pick. The junior forward probably deserves a higher spot on the squad, but that still makes him one of the top 50 players in the nation, according to Dickie V.
In other UD news:
• UD coach Brian Gregory will be featured on ESPNU during a broadcast of one of the games from the national AAU tournament in Orlando on Sunday. The tip-off is at 5:30 p.m., and Gregory is scheduled to be interviewed by Andy Katz during the third quarter.
• The Flyers’ upset of West Virginia in the NCAA tournament will be rebroadcast at 8 p.m. today on CBS College Sports, formerly CSTV. If you get that channel, those four Wright dunks are probably worth a second look.
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TweetAD expects more TV exposure for Flyers
Dayton struggles to get on national TV, typically relying on nibbles from the cable networks for the two Xavier games. But UD Athletic Director Tim Wabler expects that to change this season.
“I don’t see how we’re not going to have more games on television and more games on national television, too,” he said. “Exactly how many that is and what venues, I don’t know. But the interest in the team and program nationally is very, very high.
“I think television recognizes we’re a top-25 program and that we’ll work with them any way we can to facilitate being on television.”
All three games in the Puerto Rico Classic will be broadcast by ESPN’s family of networks. And given the Flyers’ showing in the NCAA tournament last season, which gave them credibility, those two Xavier clashes should be mighty attractive, too.
And if a cable network is looking for some sporting fare to contend with the ubiquitous bowl games on New Year’s Day, the Flyers’ game against New Mexico (another postseason team) in the renowned Pit in Albuquerque could draw some interest.
Most schools have just released their schedules, so it won’t be long until we find out whether Wabler’s hunch is correct.
“By late August, we’ll know,” he said.
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TweetFlyers get commitment from Spearman
Eric Bossi, a recruiting analyst for Scout.com, heard about Brandon Spearman’s verbal commitment to Dayton and couldn’t help but convey his thoughts through a popular cyber-network.
“I just ‘Twittered’ and was saying what a great class Dayton has ‘signed.’ With him and Jesse Berry, who’s really underrated, and Juwan Staten, they’ve got some absolutely incredible kids in the backcourt,” Bossi said. “Flyer fans should be pretty excited about those guys.”
Spearman, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior-to-be, had offers from Illinois State, Bradley, Nevada, Baylor, DePaul, Iowa State and others. Marquette hosted him on a visit last month, and Arkansas and Boston College have been making overatures.
“If he waited to hold out for a, quote-unquote, big-name school, he could have ended up at a Big 12, Big East or Big Ten school,” Bossi said. “But he’s a really good example of someone who looked past the conference name in picking Dayton. They’re going to challenge for the conference title every year. Yeah, it may be considered by some a mid-major conference, but Dayton is really a high-major program.
“He did his homework and realized Dayton is better than a lot of Big Ten schools right now.”
Spearman, considered a four-star prospect (out of five) by Rivals.com, said he wasn’t interested in stockpiling college offers.
“I was looking for the right school that fit me, and Dayton fit me,” he said.
Spearman visited UD with his parents a couple of months ago. And his father credited UD coach Brian Gregory for making a convincing pitch.
“The head coach was a big part of the recruiting. He’s been on it for the last three or four months,” William Spearman said.
Gregory pointed out the academic record of the basketball program — all but one player who stayed four years since 1979 graduated — and that resonated with the Spearmans.
“That was a big factor,” William Spearman said. “We sat down with Beth (Flach), the academic advisor. She was great. She broke a lot of stuff down to us, and it was real big that they graduated everybody.”
Jason Kent, one of Spearman’s AAU coaches, said the Flyers are getting a skilled all-around player.
“He’s a great defender as well as a great scorer,” said Kent, a longtime college assistant. “He will play hard, tough defense, which is right up coach Gregory’s style.”
The Flyers’ recruiting efforts to this point couldn’t have gone much better. Juwan Staten is ranked as the 41st-best player nationally by Rivals.com and Spearman is No. 100. And while recruiting services are relatively new to the scene, UD has never had two top-100 players in the same class during the ratings era.
Chris Wright, a 2007 prospect, was the last player to earn that distinction. Before him, it was Brooks Hall in 1999.
Of course, UD would like to add local product Adreian Payne to that total. The 6-10 center, who is being wooed by Michigan State, Kentucky and West Virginia among many others, is expected to make his decision sometime before his senior season.
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TweetUD recruiting: Juwan Staten update
I talked on Tuesday with Bill Staten, the father of Oak Hill Academy-bound Juwan Staten. The Dayton recruit has been on the go all summer at a variety of elite camps and is currently attending the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron.
The 5-foot-11 Staten has vaulted up the Rivals.com ratings after a strong showing at the NBA Players Association Top-100 camp. He’s ranked as the 41st-best player overall and 11th-best point guard in the 2010 class (seniors-to-be).
How’s Juwan holding up?
“I just got off the phone with him. They scrimmaged, and he thought he did pretty good. But he sat out morning drills because of his knees. He’s got little knots on his knees. The doctor said he’ll have that problem until he’s finished growing. Hopefully, that means he’s still growing. The last time we checked his (growth) plates, he still had some room in there.”
Is he homesick?
“He’s doing OK in that department. Things are so new for him, but when you get to go to those camps — the NBA camp, Deron Williams’ (point guard) camp — it’s a great experience. We feel blessed and fortunate that he’s been able to do this.”
Any recruiting update on his AAU teammate, Adreian Payne?
“I’m probably around Adreian more than any other adult, other than his family and maybe his coach, and even I don’t know what he’s going to do (college-wise). We talk to him about Dayton, but we try not to bug him. At least I try. Juwan might bug him.”
Here’s what ESPN.com scouts said about Staten in their June evaluations:
Staten is a competitive lead guard that can score in bunches. In transition he loves to shoot the pull jumper from the free throw line to the arc or attack the basket mostly going right and shooting the running floater off the glass. He is an excellent passer when he draws a second defender and is also good at working the high ball screen. He can turn the corner and get to the rim, hit the pull up and if the defender goes behind the screen he can elevate and knock down the jumper with ease. Staten is sneaky athletic and can finish above the rim on the break with a full head of steam. He has a tendency to look to score more often than involve others but his capable of running a team and providing leadership. He should be an immediate contributor as a freshman at Dayton.
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TweetFlyers featured on national Web site
Amazing what an NCAA tournament win will do for a program.
Dayton continues to get national recognition after validating its regular-season success with a win over West Virginia in the Dance.
The Flyers return 10 of their top 11 scorers from a team that finished 27-8. And Rivals.com did a big blowout on their Web site about UD today. The national media is learning what those around the team have already known, that Chris Wright is the big, winsome, charismatic catalyst for this outfit.
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TweetWright still thinks highly of Dayton
Cameron Wright, a Cleveland Benedictine High School guard, is giving Dayton serious consideration while also weighing scholarship offers from Indiana, Wisconsin, Akron, Cleveland State and Ohio U.
He visited UD last month and said he was “shocked” to see the big-time facilities and enjoyed his tour of the campus and time spent with the coaches.
Speaking with the Dayton Daily News on Thursday, the 6-foot-5 senior-to-be said nothing’s changed.
“I feel the same way about Dayton. I still like them a lot. I’m still in deep thought, just not ready to make my decision yet,” Wright said.
Wright was once committed to Ohio State before the Buckeyes reportedly pulled their scholarship offer after landing higher-rated prospects. OSU has gotten an incredible five commitments from players ranked in the top-100 nationally.
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TweetNew UD recruit becoming complete player
Jesse Berry, who committed to Dayton on Tuesday, was the second-leading high school scorer in Indiana as a junior last season, trailing only Ohio State recruit DeShaun Thomas, but the 6-foot-1 guard is more than just a point machine.
“He can really score,” said his coach, Lafayette Jefferson’s Scot Bunnell, “but the thing I was most pleased with was, after Christmas, we won like nine out of 10, and he really became a better all-around player. He still scored points, but his all-around game really improved.
“He got better defensively. He got better rebounding the ball. He started making guys around him better.”
Berry, who joined Oak Hill Academy point guard Juwan Staten and Westerville North forward Ralph Hill in the Flyers’ 2010 recruiting class, averaged 27.3 points and set a school record with a 55-point outing.
But he’s been consciously shining up other aspects of his game.
“I want to be a complete player all around, not just be known as a scorer,” said Berry, who shot 44.3 percent from the field and 36.4 from 3-point territory. “I want to be known as, ‘He can lock you down. He can defend.’ That’s what I’ve been working on.”
Berry had scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Butler and Ball State and was drawing interest from top schools from the six power conferences, including Arizona and Kentucky. He also said Xavier was seriously pursuing him.
“He’s a really good shooter,” said Van Coleman, a recruiting analyst for Hoopmasters.com. “He’s really improved his ball handling and ability to score off the dribble. He’s one of those guys who’s really balanced his game up.
“That’s been the big difference for him this spring. He’s really brought the whole game together. That’s why (the Flyers) are getting a kid who probably would have gotten some very strong looks from some very large schools this summer.”
The Flyers have landed in several early preseason national polls and return 10 of their top 11 scorers from a team that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament.
To Berry, UD is a program on the rise.
“Marcus Johnson and Paul (Williams) and London (Warren), they’re really good guys, and they’ll be set to do the same thing again (advance to the NCAA tourney),” Berry said. “I think they’ll be really good this year and next year, too.”
Bunnell believes Berry and the Flyers are a perfect match.
“He realizes the way they play, their style of play, really fits his game,” Bunnell said. “He’s a dribble-pass-and-shoot kid, a kid who can make plays if you give him space. He feels like with their style of play, he’s going to be allowed to do that.”
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TweetBerry gives Flyers verbal commitment
Jesse Berry, a high-scoring guard from Lafayette, Ind., committed to the University of Dayton, becoming the program’s third recruit in the 2010 class.
The 6-foot-1 senior-to-be averaged 27.5 points as a junior last season — second in Indiana high school ranks only to Ohio State recruit DeShaun Thomas (30.1) — and set a Lafayette Jefferson school record with a 55-point explosion.
He joins Oak Hill Academy point guard Juwan Staten and Westerville forward Ralph Hill in the 2010 class.
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