A closer look at recruiting during Anthony Grant’s tenure (through March 2026)

Here’s a by-the-numbers breakdown of Dayton recruiting since the spring of 2017.

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

14: Dayton has added players who played high school basketball in 14 different states during Grant’s tenure.

The staff’s connections in Florida and New York City show up in these numbers. Grant and assistant coach James Kane are Florida natives. Associate head coach Ricardo Greer is from New York.

• Ohio (8): Dwayne Cohill (Holy Name, Cleveland); Ibi Watson (Pickerington Central); Luke Frazier (Lake Catholic, Painesville); Brady Uhl (Kettering Alter); Mike Sharavjamts (Osborne Academy, Willoughby); Derkack (SPIRE, Geneva); Jacob Conner (Kettering Alter); and Damon Friery (Cleveland St. Ignatius).

• Florida (7): Zimi Nwokeji (Tallahassee); Elijah Weaver (Cocoa); Tyrone Baker (Fort Myers, Fla.); Toumani Camara (Hollywood); Javon Bennett (Orlando); Marvel Allen (Fort Lauderdale); De’Shayne Montgomery (Fort Lauderdale).

• New York (6): Obi Toppin (Ossining/Brooklyn); Frankie Policelli (New Hartford); Koby Brea (Bronx); Malachi Smith (Bronx); Zed Key (Bay Shore); Posh Alexander (Bronx); and Adam Njie Jr. (Bronx).

• Georgia (4): Rodney Chatman (Lithonia); Moulaye Sissoko (Suwanee); Kaleb Washington (Mableton); and Jaiun Simon (Mableton).

• New Jersey (2): Jordan Derkack (Colonia); Aiden Derkack (Colonia).

• Illinois (2): Nate Santos (Geneva); and Bryce Heard (Chicago).

• Pennsylvania (2): Lynn Greer III (Philadelphia); and Jaron McKie (Philadelphia).

• Tennessee (1): Jalen Crutcher (Memphis).

• West Virginia (1): Chase Johnson (Ripley).

• Texas (1): Richard Amaefule (Dallas).

• Maryland (2): R.J. Blakney (Baltimore); and Malcolm Thomas (Mitchelville).

• Arizona (1): DaRon Holmes II (Goodyear).

• Rhode Island (1): Enoch Cheeks (Providence).

• Wisconsin (1): Keonte Jones (Madison).

Note: Washington and Njie left the program without appearing in a game.

13: Dayton has added 13 players from other countries:

• Jhery Matos (Dominican Republic).

• Jordy Tshimanga, Kove Elvis and Isaac Jack (Canada).

• Moulaye Sissoko (Mali).

• Mustapha Amzil (Finland).

• Toumani Camara (Belgium).

• Richard Amaefule (England).

• Mike Sharavjamts (Mongolia).

• Petras Padegimas (Lithuania).

• Hamad Mousa (Qatar).

• Amaël L’Etang (France).

• Sean Pouedet (Belgium).

Note: Vasilije Erceg, of Serbia, left the program after a couple weeks on campus in the summer of 2023.

16: Dayton has added 16 transfers from Division I programs.

2018 (4): Watson (Michigan); Chatman (Chattanooga); Tshimanga (Nebraska); and Johnson (Florida).

2020 (1): Weaver (Southern California).

2021 (3): Camara (Georgia); Elvis (DePaul); and Amaefule (East Tennessee State).

2022 (1): Baker (Georgia).

2023 (4): Cheeks (Robert Morris); Bennett (Merrimack); Jack (Buffalo); and Santos (Pittsburgh).

2024 (3): Key (Ohio State); Alexander (Butler and St. John’s); and Conner (Marshall).

2025 (6): Jones (Cal State Northridge); Derkack (Rutgers and Merrimack); Montgomery (Mount St. Mary’s and Georgia); Thomas (Villanova); Heard (North Carolina State); and Njie (Iona).

21: Twenty one players recruited and signed by Grant and his staff have transferred from the program:

2018 (1): Policelli (Stony Brook and Charleston).

2020 (1): Matos (Charlotte).

2021 (3): Frazier (Ohio and John Carroll); Cohill (Youngstown State); and Chatman (Vanderbilt).

2022 (4): Sissoko (North Texas); Weaver (Chicago State); Baker (Florida SouthWestern State College and LIU Brooklyn); and Washington (Butler Community College and Florida A&M).

2023 (4): Amzil (New Mexico); Blakney (Old Dominion); Amaefule (Texas Wesleyan); Sharavjamts (San Francisco, Utah and South Carolina).

2024 (4): Nwokeji (Jacksonville); Elvis (Oklahoma); Padegimas (Mercer); and Brea (Kentucky).

2025 (4): Smith (Connecticut); Jack (Pacific); Allen (Utah Tech); and Mousa (Cal Poly).

That number doesn’t include players recruited during the Archie Miller era who left the program after the 2017-18 season: Xeyrius Williams (Akron); John Crosby (Delaware State); Jordan Davis (Middle Tennessee/Jacksonville); Jordan Pierce (Odessa/Middle Tennessee State); and Kostas Antetokounmpo and Matej Svoboda, who both left to pursue professional opportunities.

7: Dayton has added seven four-star recruits, according to the 247Sports.com rankings, in the Grant era. Take these rankings for what they’re worth. They’re fun to follow, but by no means do they define any of the players. The fact that Toppin, the consensus national player of the year in 2020, wasn’t ranked by any recruiting website is good proof of that.

Nevertheless, here’s how the players ranked:

• Four stars (7): Holmes (No. 39, 2021 class); Weaver (No. 45, 2018); Aiden Derkack (No. 48, 2026); Johnson (No. 85, 2017); Camara (No. 103, 2019); Sharavjamts (No. 112, 2022); and Cohill (No. 136, 2018).

• Three stars (22): McKie (No. 137, 2025); Washington (No. 139, 2021); Friery (No. 149, 2025); Key (No. 153, 2020); Allen (No. 141 in 247Sports composite rankings); Tshimanga (No. 161, 2016); Smith (No. 197, 2021); Nwokeji (No. 216, 2019); Santos (No. 231 composite ranking, 2021); Watson (No. 239, 2016); Greer (No. 248, 2021); Alexander (No. 263, 2020); Policelli (No. 298, 2018); Crutcher (No. 328, 2017); Sissoko (No. 361, 2019); Blakney (No. 408, 2020); Amzil (No. 471, 2020); Elvis (No. 37 combo guard); Conner (No. 60 small forward, 2022); Simon (No. 77 small forward, 2023); Heard (No. 143, 2024); Thomas (No. 208, 2024).

• Two stars (1): Frazier (No. 480, 2020).

• Unranked (17): Matos (2016); Chatman (2016); Toppin (2017); Jones (2020); Brea (2020); Amaefule (2020); Elvis (2020); Cheeks (2020); Jack (2022); Bennett (2022); Derkack (2022); Padegimas (2023); Montgomery (2023); Erceg (2023); Mousa (2024); L’Etang (2024); and Pouedet (2025).

4: Four players recruited by Grant and his staff to Dayton have been drafted.

• Toppin was the eighth overall pick by the New York Knicks in 2020.

• Camara was the 52nd overall pick by the Phoenix Suns in 2023 and was then traded to the Portland Trail Blazers before his rookie year began.

• Holmes was the 22nd overall pick by the Denver Nuggets in 2024.

• Brea was the No. 41 pick in the 2025 draft. The Golden State Warriors drafted him and then traded him to the Phoenix Suns.

4: Four players recruited by Grant and his staff scored 1,000 or more points in a Dayton uniform.

• Bennett has 1,238 points in three seasons as of March 24, 2026. He ranks 33rd in school history.

• Holmes ranks 11th in school history with 1,745 points in three seasons.

• Crutcher ranks 17th with 1,593 in four seasons.

• Toppin ranks 41st with 1,096 points in two seasons.

2: Matos and Uhl are the only players in the Grant era to start their college careers in a lower division and earn scholarships at the D-I level.

Matos played for Monroe College, a National Junior College Athletic Association program in the Bronx.

Uhl started his career at the University of Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., in the 2020-21 season. He was a walk-on at Dayton for two seasons before earning a scholarship halfway through the 2023-24 season.

1: Crutcher is the only player in the Grant era to play a traditional four-year career with one school and not finish his career at another school.

Nwokeji spent 4½ seasons at Dayton but ended his career at Jacksonville.

Uhl played his fourth season at Dayton in 2024-25 but started his career at Cumberlands.

Brea played four seasons at Dayton but played his fifth and final season at Kentucky.

Smith spent four seasons at Dayton but transferred to Connecticut for the 2025-26 season.

Ryan Mikesell (2015-20) was the last player to spend five seasons at Dayton.

The other Flyers to spend an entire four-year career with the program over the last 15 years are: Trey Landers (2016-20); Darrell Davis (2014-18); Scoochie Smith, Kyle Davis and Kendall Pollard (2013-17); Dyshawn Pierre (2012-16); Devin Oliver and Matt Kavanaugh (2010-14); and Chris Johnson, Luke Fabrizius and Paul Williams (2008-12).