I noticed the bounce of the ball sounds different on the UD Arena court than the courts I’m used to: mostly the Jewish Community Center in Bexley these days. I knew before I even started shooting the 3-point line would be a challenge. I’m not used to the college distance.
***
Few of my shots fell Wednesday. Fans would have torn me apart on social media if this game had been broadcast on ESPN+.
Let’s hope those same fans are kinder to the Flyers on Monday when the season begins with a 7 p.m. game against Canisius at UD Arena.
Optimism remains high for the Flyers despite a rollercoaster week. On Sunday night, Dayton released a statement about the status of one of its eight newcomers, sophomore guard Adam Njie Jr., who played at Iona last season.
“The University of Dayton has been notified by the NCAA of potential eligibility concerns related to Adam Njie, connected to matters that occurred prior to his enrollment at the University,” Sullivan said. “In light of these concerns and the ongoing review process, Adam will not be participating in athletic competition at this time.”
That news broke at 7 p.m. At 9:30 p.m., veteran sports writer Pat Forde, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, reported that “Njie’s situation is connected to the ongoing investigation of gambling-related activity in college basketball. It is unclear if Njie is under scrutiny from both the NCAA and federal investigators, or just the NCAA.”
Forde has since reported on another athlete, Western Michigan’s Justice Williams, being connected to the gambling probe.
Njie will continue practicing with the team during the review process, coach Anthony Grant. Njie warmed up with the team Monday before an exhibition game against Penn State but watched the game from the bench in street clothes.
Dayton also continued its countdown of the season Wednesday on social media by sharing a photo of No. 5 Njie five days before the opener. It had done the same for other players on the roster. For example, it shared a photo of No. 4 Jordan Derkack on Thursday, four days before the opener.
Some Dayton fans wondered what the photo of Njie means in regard to his status with the team, but they shouldn’t draw many conclusions from it. All it means is Dayton is continuing to support its player. It would have said more if Dayton had skipped Njie in the countdown.
The Njie news cast a bit of a pall over the game Monday, but Dayton’s strong second-half performance in a 90-59 victory against Bowling Green again boosted optimism about the team. You can’t draw many conclusions from preseason games, but Dayton played much better in the preseason this year, winning two games by 47 points, than it did last year when it lost to Xavier and beat Division II Ashland by nine.
Grant summed up the preseason Wednesday as he talked to local media at the Cronin Center.
“It’s always good to play outside competition,” he said. “You learn a little bit about yourself. We’ve got another four or five practices here before we’ll kick off the regular season on Monday, so I think there’s still room for improvement and still some things that we need to add, so we’ll try to take care of that here this week.”
Dayton picks up for first 2026 commitment
I got a Friday night off from high school football last week after covering games nine weeks in a row, but I still ended up working because the first 2026 recruit to pick Dayton announced his decision on Friday night.
Julian Washington, a 6-foot-5 guard from Margaretta High School in Castalia, Ohio, committed to Dayton during a football game at his high school. He sat at a table on the track and told the crowd his news during a break in action after the first quarter
Castalia is near Sandusky, and former Dayton Daily News sports editor Brian Kollars is the sports editor of the Sandusky Register. Kollars helped me right away by sending me phone numbers for Washington’s coaches, and one of the assistant coaches, Jake Meisler, got back to me fast Friday night when I asked if he could talk about Washington.
“A lot of kids, especially at 16 or 17 years old, can do one or two things at the highest level,” Meisler said. “Julian’s kind of a Swiss Army knife. He can shoot the ball at a very high clip from the perimeter. He is athletic and a great driver. Defensively, he has improved a lot over the last 12 months, too. He’s a legit 6-foot-4½, pushing 6-5, and his body’s only going to continue to grow.”
Meisler put me in touch with Washington, and we talked Saturday morning. I stepped away from my son Chase’s soccer game to take the call. I always have two phones on me in situations like this, one to take the phone call and one to record the phone call.
Washington chose Dayton because of the relationship he built with Jermaine Washington, Dayton’s lead recruiter in Ohio, and Grant. He’s the youngest of six kids and the tallest. He turned himself into a Division I recruit with hard work.
“At the end of my freshman year, I got my first Division I offer,” Washington said, “and that’s when it kind of hit me that if I keep putting the time in, then everything will work out.”
Holmes reports to G League after NBA debut
We celebrated the end of Chase’s soccer season with the Melon Ballers at Graeter’s Ice Cream in Bexley on Sunday. The kids received the tiniest trophies for their participation. They dominated all season, though no scores are kept at this age. Chase runs hard but seems to shy away from contact and is often on the periphery of the play.
While the kids were sticking cones in their tiny trophies, I noticed former Flyer Damon Goodwin, the longtime head coach at Capital in Bexley, walk by with his wife. I ran outside to say hello.
I’ve interviewed Goodwin many times over the years. Every once in a while, I cross paths with him in Bexley. He asked me about how the Flyers have looked. I told him Grant hasn’t ruled out playing lower-division teams like Capital in exhibition games in the future, even though they played two Division I teams this year.
I forgot to ask about Damon’s son Dane Goodwin, the former Notre Dame star. It turns out Dane will be on the same NBA G League team, the Grand Rapids Gold, as former Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II. This will be Dane’s third season in the G League.
Grand Rapids started training camp in Michigan this week and plays its first game Nov. 7.
Holmes appeared in two games with the Denver Nuggets, playing a total of four minutes, before reporting to his new team. He scored three points in his NBA debut Saturday.
Grant didn’t stay up late to watch Holmes on Saturday but said Holmes’ father, DaRon Holmes Sr., texted him a video of Holmes’ first basket after the game.
“I’m just happy that he was able to have that experience,” Grant said.
Grand Rapid’s roster also includes: Kenan Blackshear, who played with Nevada against Holmes and Dayton in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament; and Terrence Hargrove Jr., who played five seasons at Saint Louis.
Ryan Bowen, an assistant coach the last 10 seasons with the Nuggets, will coach Grand Rapids.
Fast Break
Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans:
🏀 Former Flyer Obi Toppin, who averaged 14.0 points in the first three games for the Indiana Pacers, will miss at least a month with a right hamstring strain.
🏀 Damon Durbin, of the Pro Lowd account on X, talked to the Go Rhody podcast for a season preview of the Flyers. The interview is on YouTube.
🏀 Joe Lunardi picked Dayton to win the A-10 in this ESPN predictions story.
🏀 Like Holmes, former Flyer Koby Brea, a second-round pick by the Phoenix Suns in the 2025 draft, will play in the NBA G League this season. He’s on the roster of the Valley Suns.
🏀 Hamad Mousa, a freshman at Dayton last season, scored 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting for Cal Poly in an exhibition game Oct. 24.
🏀 The A-10 published a Dayton season preview on Thursday.
🏀 What do you want to know about the Flyers?
I want to hear from you. Reach out to me directly at david.jablonski@coxinc.com with your questions and feedback on the team or this newsletter.
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