DaytonDailyNews.com

I went up to coach Brian Gregory privately after Dayton's loss to Xavier last Sunday and said, "I really think your team maxed out today."

Gregory knew what I meant, that he couldn't have gotten much more out of his personnel than what he did that day. And while he started to point out things the Flyers could have done better, he couldn't protest too strongly.

The fact is the Flyers without Chris Wright trail the upper-echelon teams in the Atlantic 10 in the talent department, and no amount of sideline wizardry is going to change that. I think Gregory is a top-notch game coach, but he was going up against a vastly superior squad in Xavier — and yet he still made it a 57-51 game.

But I realize — and I think Gregory does, too — that the lack of talent on its roster falls on him and his staff. This is college basketball, after all, and the results of your recruiting efforts are on display every time your team suits up. And too often this season, Brian Roberts has looked like the only real keeper among Gregory's first two recruiting classes.

But the Flyers are turning the corner. The commitment Thursday from Thurgood Marshall sophomore point guard Juwan Staten was huge on a number of fronts. First, it kept him out of rival Xavier's hands (the Musketeers had already offered him a scholarship and were making a strong push), it fills a gaping need at UD (the Flyers have been struggling at that position for years) and it keeps the local talent pipeline flowing.

I've often said the Flyers could have a dynamite program if only they could keep homegrown stars at home — like Dwight Anderson, John Paxson, Mark Baker, Romain Sato, Derrick Brown, Daequan Cook ... are we leaving anyone out? — but Gregory seems to have built trusting relationships in the high school community to get that done.

Trotwood-Madison's Chris Wright was the first to come on board, and that commitment paved the way for others to look at UD as an attractive option. Dunbar's Josh Benson will be in the fold next season, followed by Centerville's Matt Kavanaugh and then Staten.

And Adreian Payne, a 6-8 sophomore from Jefferson, is another player to keep an eye on. He has a close friendship with Staten and Wright and has been a frequent visitor at UD games. Ohio State and Xavier are in hot pursuit, too.

But Gregory isn't just working wonders with local stars. The Flyers' 2008 recruit class — that is, this year's seniors — is ranked as the second-best bunch in the Atlantic 10 by Rivals.com.

In fact, while Xavier's recruiting class, headlined by 6-foot-11 Massillon center Kenny Frease, is No. 1 in the league by a large margin, the Flyers have landed the best shooting guard (Paul Williams), small forward (Luke Fabrizius) and power forward (Benson) among all A-10 teams, according to Rivals.com.

Let's face it, barring a minor miracle, the Flyers will miss the postseason for the fourth straight year. Since the modern era began in 1947, UD has gone through only one other stretch of four years or longer without playing in the NCAA or NIT — that dreary period from 1990-91 to 1996-97 when Jim O'Brien left the program in tatters.

And Flyer fans understandably are getting tired of waiting for the good times to come around again. But with the way Gregory is recruiting, they shouldn't have to wait much longer.