DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — As if the prospect of playing the nation's 10th-ranked team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament weren't daunting enough, first the Miami RedHawks must make their longest trip in more than five years, a journey of 1,735 miles to Spokane, Wash.

No problem, said Chris Thomas, the administrative assistant on Charlie Coles' coaching staff. Thomas, a native of Kettering who is in his second year on Miami's staff, has made this trip before, under similiar circumstances.

In 2003, Thomas was an undergraduate assistant coach for the Dayton Flyers when they earned an NCAA Tournament berth and were flown to their first-round site, Spokane.

"We had just won the Atlantic-10 Tournament at Dayton," Thomas recalled. "We were kinda bummed we were going to Spokane. We had won nine of our last 10 and they were sending us all the way out there."

But according to Thomas, the flight wasn't so bad.

"It took us about four hours," he said. "You don't mind, because you're so excited to still be playing."

Thomas said the days he actually spent in Spokane weren't that memorable. For one thing, fourth-seeded Dayton lost in the first round to 13th-seeded Tulsa 84-71.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.