Flyer Connection newsletter: Dayton still unbeaten in A-10 after ‘great team win’

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Assistant coach Sean Damaska, a member of head coach Anthony Grant’s staff since 2018, played tight end and special teams at Indiana for four seasons (2012-15).

The Hoosiers won 19 games in Damaska’s college career. Now they are one victory away from a 16-0 season and a national championship.

I told Damaska I would search for a photo of him on my external hard drives, where I store hundreds of thousands of images, if not millions.

I covered Ohio State at Indiana in 2015 when Damaska was a senior. I figured there was a chance he was in the background of a photo, and my hunch was correct. I shot about 1,500 photos that day in Bloomington. One showed Damaska from the back, the name on his jersey sticking out among his other teammates.

Damaska is living the good life as a fan of his alma mater this season, as is Jermaine Henderson, who played at Miami from 1993-97 and is now in his third season as an assistant coach on Grant’s staff.

Miami improved to 18-0 Tuesday with a 100-61 victory against Central Michigan in Oxford. It’s one of three undefeated teams in the country along with Arizona and Nebraska.

I talked to Henderson before Dayton’s game in Pittsburgh. He’s a proud Miami alum and excited about the team’s performance.

Damaska, Henderson and the rest of the coaches are just as proud of their current team. Dayton left the court Tuesday after a 71-65 victory at Duquesne with a little more pep in its step than usual.

Dayton has dominated the series against Duquesne over the years. The Flyers are 14-1 in regular-season games against Duquesne in head coach Anthony Grant’s nine seasons. Duquesne beat Dayton in Pittsburgh in the pandemic season of 2020-21. Since then, Dayton has won eight straight in the regular season, though Duquesne did beat Dayton in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament in 2024.

That history didn’t guarantee a victory this week, especially with Dayton down two starters (Amaël L’Etang and Jordan Derkack) and one key reserve (Malcolm Thomas).

Somehow Dayton still found a way, controlling the first half and then making a number of big shots in the second half after Duquesne found its shooting touch. Everybody contributed at least one big play or two, including freshman forward Damon Friery and the newest Flyer, Belgian guard Sean Pouedet, who I talked to for the first time after the game.

“Great team win,” Grant said. “I thought our bench did a really good job tonight. Guys that hadn’t played significant minutes stepped up and gave us some really valuable minutes, along with everybody that stepped on the court tonight.”

Sports betting back in the headlines

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Dayton fans noticed early Monday that Adam Njie Jr. was no longer on the roster. The change to the team website coincided with the start of the spring semester at the University of Dayton.

Njie had not been seen on the Dayton bench since early December, so it was not a surprise that he was no longer a member of the team, something UD confirmed with a statement by AD Neil Sullivan later on Monday.

We don’t know much about Njie’s situation. When he was sidelined in October by what UD called a “potential eligibility issue, Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde 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.”

On Thursday, however, there was big news about sports betting indictments involving 26 people, including current and former college basketball players, and Njie’s name was not mentioned in the indictment documents.

This probably isn’t the end of the sports betting news, however, if NCAA President Charlie Baker’s comments are any indication. He said “some of the investigations are ongoing.”

Three A-10 programs — Fordham, La Salle and Saint Louis — were mentioned in the indictment for having players who allegedly conspired to fix games. One of the players mentioned was Bradley Ezewiro, a Saint Louis forward who averaged 12.0 points per game in the 2023-24 season, his one season with the Billikens.

According to the indictment, on Feb. 20, 2024, Ezewiro “and Person #3 helped ensure that St. Louis failed to cover the spread in the first half as Duquesne outscored St. Louis 41 to 27, and the fixers won their bets. Without the St. Louis players intentionally underperforming in the second half of the game, St. Louis played substantially better, outscoring Duquesne 40 to 39. Duquesne won the game 80 to 67.”

A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade released a statement about the indictments that read, “The Atlantic 10 Conference is aware of the gambling indictments the FBI announced Thursday that outlines alleged issues from the 2023-24 season. Any activity that undermines the integrity of competition has no place in college athletics, and the Atlantic 10 and its member institutions will continue to work closely with the proper authorities to combat illegal activities.”

The Big East debate begins again

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

I visited Randyland in Pittsburgh before the game Tuesday. It’s a unique art museum that has turned junk — specifically hundreds of old toys — into a colorful collage surrounding a building on the city’s north side.

I wouldn’t want to live at Randyland, but it was fun to visit.

That is not the attitude most Dayton fans have about the Big East Conference. They want to move there one day. They know the grass might not be greener, but they want to take the chance after more than three decades in the. A-10.

The Big East debate hasn’t gone away in the 13 years since the conference expanded, taking Xavier and Butler from the A-10 but not Dayton. Two United States senators revived the question Wednesday, releasing a letter they sent to Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman.

Jon Husted, R-Ohio, a former UD football player, and Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., urged the Big East to consider adding Dayton and Saint Louis.

The letter concluded with this paragraph: “In an era defined by realignment pressures and shifting national dynamics, the Big East’s strength has been its cohesive identity, competitive balance, and institutional alignment. Saint Louis University and the University of Dayton would reinforce that model. Both schools bring stability, tradition, and a demonstrated commitment to excellence that would strengthen the conference’s position as the premier basketball-focused league in collegiate athletics.”

UD officials knew this letter was coming out. They didn’t get much advance notice about the timing. I reached out to UD to get a reaction on Wednesday and was given a joint statement by UD President Eric F. Spina and Sullivan. They had to choose their words carefully, showing their support for the A-10 while being clear their first priority is the future of the program.

The statement read in part, “As proud members of the Atlantic 10, our basketball programs are currently competing for a championship in a tough and highly competitive league that deserves our full attention. Accordingly, we will not publicly speculate on specific scenarios at this time.

“However, like Senator Husted, we remain relentless in our efforts to position the University of Dayton, our student-athletes, and our fans and alumni for the best possible environment in which to compete and from which to remain nationally relevant.”

I don’t know if the letter will have a major impact on the Big East’s thinking. First, the league has to decide to expand.

Conference realignment is a constant, of course. Connecticut, the most powerful Big East basketball program in recent years, has explored moving to the Big 12, though discussions about that were paused in 2024. If that ever happens, the Big East may have to explore adding new members.

Fast Break

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