Dayton’s goal every season in November and December is to build a resume worth of a NCAA tournament at-large bid. It has done that for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Dayton ranks 22nd in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. It has Quad 1 victories against Southern Methodist and Cincinnati with St. John’s bordering on being a Quad 1 game. Its only losses are in Quad 1 to Houston and Northwestern.
Based on the current NET rankings, Dayton will have two Quad 1 games (at No. 66 Saint Joseph’s and at No. 71 George Mason) in A-10 play. If No. 78 Massachusetts, No. 79 Duquesne or No. 90 Virginia Commonwealth can climb into the top 75, those road games would also be Quad 1 opportunities.
Teams rise and fall in the NET. Dayton’s Quad 1 victories now could be Quad 2 victories in March, or vice versa. At the moment, Dayton is in a good place. That could change as it navigates the Atlantic 10 Conference schedule.
I spoke to Anthony Grant, Kobe Elvis and DaRon Holmes before they practiced at UD Arena on Thursday. We talked about the return to practice after the Christmas break, the Longwood game and also the A-10 schedule ahead. Holmes hasn’t paid too much attention to what’s going on in the A-10, though that’s where all his focus will be soon.
“I just focus on the games in front of us,” he said. “We know that the A-10 is looking pretty solid. Obviously, regardless of who we’re playing, they’re going to give us their best, so we’ve got to go into those games with a chip on our shoulder every single time.”
Dayton freshman likely will redshirt
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Grant dropped a bit of news in our interview Thursday, saying freshman guard Marvel Allen will probably redshirt. That decision isn’t final, but he said they were moving in that direction.
“This is not like football,” Grant said, “where you get to play a percentage of the games and you can kind of feel your way through and see what’s best for you. Once you play one second of one game in basketball, you’ve kind of blown the redshirt.”
Allen would join another freshman, Jaiun Simon, in the redshirt category. Grant said if the decision is made, they would stick to it even if injuries hurt Dayton’s depth and opened up potential playing time for Allen.
Allen suffered a lower-body injury in the week before the season opener and returned to practice Dec. 12. He missed so much time it would be hard for him to beat out any of the guards currently in the rotation: Elvis; Koby Brea; Javon Bennett; and Enoch Cheeks. All of those players also have college experience, and Allen has never played in a regular-season game.
If Allen didn’t redshirt, he could see action at the end of games with the walk-ons, but even those minutes are limited as Dayton pursues lopsided scores that will improve its NET ranking. Dayton is playing an eight-man rotation. Its starters play between 28 and 33 minutes. Brea plays starter minutes as well (26 per game). Isaac Jack averages 10 minutes. The eighth player in the rotation has been Petras Padegimas or Zimi Nwokeji.
There just isn’t room for Allen. There may not be room next year either with Dayton potentially returning all those guards, plus Malachi Smith, but at least, he’d have a better chance to compete for playing time if he’s healthy.
Celebrating the 2014 Flyers 10 years later
Credit: David Jablonski/Staff
Credit: David Jablonski/Staff
I started covering the Flyers in the 2013-14 season. My timing was good. Dayton reached the Elite Eight that season.
Ten years later, I’m working on a story looking back on that season. It will run on Jan. 14, six days before the coach of that team, Archie Miller, now with Rhode Island, coaches against the Flyers at UD Arena for the first time.
UD will not hold a 2014 reunion this year. Many of the players from that team are still playing professional basketball overseas. I would guess we might see a reunion in 2034 or 2039.
For my story, so far I’ve talked to Vee Sanford, Scoochie Smith, Kyle Davis, Matt Kavanaugh and Kendall Pollard. Sanford was in Finland when I talked to him. He found a job there when he had to flee Israel after the war began. Smith is playing in Lithuania. Davis and Pollard are in their hometown, Chicago. Kavanaugh was living in Chicago a year ago but now is back in Dayton.
I’m supposed to talk to Jordan Sibert, who’s playing in Greece, today.
I also heard from Devin Oliver, who became a dad in November and now plays in Japan. he answered some questions in a Facebook message today.
“That 2014 team was just the perfect balance of everything,” Oliver wrote. “We had a great group of freshmen. We had a great group of vets, Dyshawn (Pierre), Devon (Scott) and Jalen (Robinson) as sophomores, and we had a great transfer in Sibert. Also, Vondy (Brian Vonderhaar) and the walk-ons were great! Not only that, we were all very good friends off the court. We all hung out and stuck together even through the tough start in conference!”
Fast Break
Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans:
🏀 The Athletic published a story this week headlined “College basketball program tiers: From blue bloods like Duke (and UConn!) on down.” Dayton ranked in Tier Four, or among the top 49 programs. Xavier, Notre Dame, Houston and Virginia Commonwealth were in the same tier.
🏀 Former Flyer Obi Toppin lost his spot in the starting lineup this week and played a season-low 15 minutes Tuesday in a victory against the Houston Rockets. He saw more action Thursday (25 minutes) in a victory over the Chicago Bulls.
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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