“Hello, Cleveland!” they shout several times as their journey continues.
That was my situation Wednesday night at Carver Arena, though I never yelled, “Hello, Peoria!”
I have a strong sense of direction but took a long, meandering path through the back rooms of the Peoria Civic Center, past utility pipes and storage closets, before finding a staircase that took me where I needed to go. This was after the Dayton Flyers beat Bradley 80-66 in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. I knew I was in the right place when I saw the inflatable deer head that greets Bradley fans, at the entry gates.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
***
While the NCAA tournament takes teams — and beat writers — to large well-known arenas around the country, the NIT offers more surprises. In nine seasons, I’ve covered NIT games in Boulder, Colo., Toledo, Nashville, Boca Raton, Fla., Chattanooga, Tenn., and now Peoria, Ill.
At 5 a.m. Saturday, I’ll board a flight to Charlotte, where I’ll catch a second flight to Wilmington, N.C. Dayton plays North Carolina Wilmington at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Some fans stop watching Dayton when the NIT begins. They don’t care about this tournament. I don’t blame them. It’s a small consolation prize for a program with the goal of earning NCAA tournament berths on a regular basis.
However, many members of the Flyer Faithful will follow Dayton’s journey until it ends. I ran into Tracy and Eric Witt, of Miamisburg, outside Carver Arena before the game Wednesday. They drove four hours to Pittsburgh on Sunday to watch Dayton lose 70-62 to Virginia Commonwealth in the Atlantic 10 Conference championship game and then drove five more to Peoria.
There weren’t many Dayton fans at Carver Arena. It wasn’t a great crowd by any measure. Bradley averaged 5,605 fans this season and drew 2,436 for this game, which Dayton dominated.
I heard Bradley coach Brian Wardle use the word “embarrassed” during the game as I sat on the baseline taking photos. He used it again in a postgame press conference.
“Disappointed,” Wardle told Dave Eminian, of the Peoria Journal Star. “A little embarrassed, too, with that effort and how we played. I knew we might be a little rusty to start because we hadn’t played since (March 7), but defensively we were just really, really struggling the whole game.
“Their stars were stars. We, other than (departing senior guard) Alex Huibregtse, I don’t know if we had a lot of guys even perform to an average level. It’s March. You gotta show up. Everyone’s got to play their game. You’re not going to beat Dayton if you don’t have everyone locked and loaded.”
Looking back on Pittsburgh
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Late Saturday night in Pittsburgh, I visited a cigar bar to meet a group of Dayton fans, who were celebrating one of the craziest finishes in UD basketball history. I had a nice talk with the parents of one of the Flyers at the same establishment.
Hours earlier, Amaël L’Etang tipped in a missed shot by Jordan Derkack with 0.6 seconds to play to give Dayton a 70-69 victory against No. 1 seed Saint Louis in the A-10 semifinals at PPG Paints Arena.
On the way to the press conference, I told Brian Kunderman, the longtime media relations director for SLU men’s basketball, this was a tough loss for the Billikens but one easier to digest because they had already locked up an NCAA tournament bid.
After No. 9 seed Saint Louis routed No. 8 Georgia 102-77 in the first round Thursday for their first victory in March Madness in 12 years, I doubt they even remember losing to Dayton.
Dayton fans will remember the game, but it won’t rank high on the list of important moments in UD history because of what happened the next day. The Flyers lost to VCU despite the VCU not making a field goal in the last eight minutes. The Rams scored their last 13 points at the free-throw line.
Coincidentally, the last time Dayton and VCU played in the championship game in 2023, Dayton didn’t make a field goal in the last 10 minutes. DaRon Holmes II scored the last six points of the game for Dayton at the free-throw line in a 68-56 loss.
No matter how the games go, Dayton finds a way to lose to VCU in the A-10 tournament. The Rams are 5-0 against the Flyers in the event with three championship game victories. VCU is 1-5 against other A-10 teams in the title game.
VCU was clearly the better team than Dayton this season. The 99-66 game at the Siegel Center established that. VCU’s 68-62 victory at UD Arena proved that again. The game Sunday cemented the fact.
In 14 A-10 seasons, VCU has left little doubt that it is the better program than Dayton. There’s no need to list all the facts that back up that claim here because I’ve written about them before, but the only edges Dayton have over VCU since it joined the A-10 in the 2012-13 season are in attendance and NCAA tournament victories.
VCU has even more momentum now after winning an NCAA tournament game for the first time in 10 years Wednesday. No. 11 seed VCU rallied from a 19-point deficit in the second half to beat No. 6 North Carolina 82-78 in overtime.
“This is a storied program,” VCU coach Phil Martelli Jr. told reporters Thursday. “I’m very fortunate to be here. There are a lot of people, a lot of players, coaches that came before that built this foundation of this program. We’re lucky to be the current group. As my dad would say, we’re not the greatest, we’re just the latest.”
The A-10 won two first-round games for the second time in three seasons. Dayton and Duquesne both won their first games in 2024.
Saint Louis will play No. 1 seed Michigan at 12:10 p.m. Saturday. VCU plays No. 11 seed Illinois at 7:50 p.m. Saturday. A win by either would give the A-10 its first Sweet 16 team since Dayton made the Elite Eight in 2014.
A real spring break, sort of
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
On my six-hour drive from Bexley to Peoria on Wednesday, I stopped at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle, Ind. For some reason, I had never made time for this pit stop.
My timing was good. There was a large crowd because they were inducting the 2026 hall of fame class, which included former NBA player Rick Fox and former Wright State coach Ed Schilling, among others that same day.
I didn’t have much time to explore, but saw many items related Indiana greats Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson. I hit 8-foot-6 on the wall measuring vertical leaps — still a long way from dunking height.
Peoria wasn’t the ideal location for a spring break. My 7-year-old son Chase is off school all week but did not come with me. It’s dawning on him that he’ll never get a true spring break as long as I’m covering the Flyers. I never know where I’m going in March, but I know I’ll be busy.
Chase is jealous of friends going to Disneyland, Seattle, Aruba, etc. He knows all their itineraries and complained this week about his staycation, which includes day camp at Montrose Elementary for other kids whose parents are working this week.
For that reason, I will not share photos of the beach with Chase when I go to Wilmington tomorrow. I plan to take a hike tomorrow morning and dip my toes in the Atlantic Ocean to celebrate the continuation of my NIT journey.
I scrambled to find a flight to Wilmington after the game Wednesday. The best itinerary under $1,000 doesn’t get me back to Columbus until 11 p.m. Sunday, but the Dayton Daily News hasn’t missed a NIT game — except during the pandemic season — during my 13 seasons on the beat, so I will be at the game (and the beach) on Saturday.
The NIT isn’t as big a deal for Dayton, which is one appearance away from tying the record for most appearances, as it is for Bradley and Wilmington.
Bradley’s game notes recognized the program’s fourth straight NIT appearance, describing it as “a feat the program has not accomplished since appearing four straight times in 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960.”
Dayton’s own press release about the NIT berth did not mention this is the program’s fifth appearance in nine years under Grant.
Earning NIT bids is important for programs like Bradley and Wilmington because it’s even more difficult earning NCAA at-large bids in their leagues, the Missouri Valley and Coastal Athletic Association, than the A-10.
The MVC hasn’t earned multiple bids since 2021. The CAA, formerly known as the Colonial Athletic Association, is going to be a one-bid league on an annual basis unless a team has a Miami RedHawks-type season.
Here’s what UNC Wilmington coach Takayo Siddle said about the NIT earlier this week:
“I couldn’t be more thankful and happy with where the program is right now. You’re talking about being one of 100 teams that are playing in one of the two NCAA affiliated tournaments in the country. It’s definitely a big deal. It’s a big deal for us. We’ve had 75 seasons of basketball here at UNCW, and this is our 12th appearance in postseason play, and we’re in back-to-back postseasons for the first time since I’ve been here. So we’re excited to be in this position.”
Fast Break
Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans:
🏀 Dayton graduate Malachi Smith will make his NCAA tournament debut at 10 p.m. Friday when No. 2 seed Connecticut plays No. 15 Furman in the first round in Philadelphia. Smith is dealing with an injury of some sort, according to UConn coach Dan Hurley, but is expected to play.
🏀 I have to give a shoutout to Dayton Daily News columnist Tom Archdeacon, who covered Wright State in the Horizon League tournament in Indianapolis last week, traveled to the Mid-American Conference tournament in Cleveland on Thursday to cover Miami and then drove to Pittsburgh on Friday to cover three Dayton games.
Archdeacon then drove to Oxford on Monday to talk to Miami coach Travis Steele and covered Miami in the First Four on Wednesday. On Thursday, he flew to Philadelphia, where he’ll cover Wright State and Miami on Friday. He’s a hall of famer for many reasons — his work ethic being high on that list.
🏀 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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