Dayton basketball: Anthony Grant a consistent, fearless leader for Flyers

He sat in the back corner of a booth on the far side of the room, partially hidden beneath a cap and glasses. His wife, Chris, sat outside of him and his son Preston sat on a chair next to them.

As usual, Anthony Grant wanted his Dayton Flyers players to be the focal point for this spotlighted moment on Selection Sunday.

The 24-7 Flyers were perched front and center, on two rows of chairs, in the Connor Flight Deck that overlooks the court at UD Arena. A bank of TV screens — each showing the NCAA Tournament field as it emerged — were in front of them, as were several TV cameras and media types ready to record their reactions when their name was called.

“He makes it all about the kids, that’s what he does,” UD athletics director Neil Sullivan said of Grant.

When the whole field — save for four final picks — had been revealed and the Flyers name still had not been called, some players were getting antsy.

“Koby Brea was next to me, and I kept saying, ‘Man, I’m nervous…I’m nervous,’” Nate Santos said. “They were waiting so long.”

And then the Flyers were announced as a No. 7 seed in the West Regional and they’d play No. 10 Nevada on Thursday afternoon in Salt Lake City’s Delta Center, the home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz.

Credit: David Jablonski

It was only then, a couple of minutes into the players’ whoops and hugs and selfie celebrations, that Grant, after a private moment with his family, emerged from his cocoon and worked his way around the back of the Flight Deck, greeting each of his assistant coaches with hand clasps that turned into full embraces.

Although Grant remained in the background as player after player took his turn in front of the cameras, he was on the minds of almost everyone in the room.

“I’m just so happy for him,” Brea said. “He’s been through a lot since he’s been here. He’s more deserving than anybody. He’s shown what kind of person he is. He’s always been a strong and powerful person in my eyes. And I’m happy for him that he’s now getting to experience this with us.

“This will be a good opportunity for the whole country to see what we already know about him.”

And no one here is more in the know than Sullivan, who hired Grant seven seasons ago.

Since Grant would be disinclined to expound on the topic, the Flyers AD was asked what this meant to his coach.

As the thoughts swirled through his head and he started to answer, Sullivan suddenly was overcome by emotion and couldn’t get the words out. After a few seconds to compose himself, he whispered: “Sorry.”

“It’s been a tough road since 2020,” he finally said. “Obviously, it’s been well documented, and we don’t live in the past. I know we’ve got to move on. It’s over…”

But all that does put the moment in fuller context.

The COVID pandemic wiped out the end of the 2019-20 season when the Flyers were 29-2 and on their way to a likely No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
”And there have been two seasons in a row where we came within a game of the Tournament,” Sullivan said. “We were the youngest team in the nation and Malachi (Smith) gets injured in the (A-10) semi-final against Richmond.”

That year the Flyers were the first team out of the NCAA Tournament field and ended up playing two games in the NIT.

Last year — after the Grant’s endured the loss of their 20-year-old daughter some five months before the season began — the Flyers made it to the Atlantic 10 championship game, only to fade late against VCU and miss the automatic bid.
This season, Smith — who had won All A-10 honors last season — was lost for the year with an injury seven minutes into the opening game. Transfer point guard Javon Bennett filled in admirably, only to suffer a slight ligament tear in his left thumb three games from the end of the season.

Sunday, Bennett said he had been told it could have taken anywhere from one to four weeks to heal enough that he could play, and that meant the back end of that diagnosis would eclipse the NCAA Tournament.

UD won its next two games without him and he returned for the A-10 Tournament quarterfinal last Thursday, only to see a combination of an offensive meltdown and rebounding failure send the No. 24 Flyers packing.

UD’s body of work had been impressive enough that the NCAA Tournament Committee kept the Flyers as a No. 7 seed when many of the prognosticators had them somewhere between an 8 and a 10.

And that reward made Sullivan think of Grant:

“For me, personally, it’s about him and his family. This is something he deserves. He’s been a consistent, fearless leader. He’s very consistent and a lot of people don’t get the pleasure to see that.

“Obviously, he’s super well respected, but sometimes people get things confused. You can be a good, quality person AND still be fiercely competitive. Never underestimate his competitiveness; his toughness.”

Grant has coached other teams into the NCAA Tournament. His VCU Rams upset Duke in the first round in 2007. Two years later the Rams made the round of 64, as well. In 2012, he led Alabama to its first NCAA Tournament in six years.

Credit: David Jablonski

Asked Sunday night how this invitation compared to the others, Grant didn’t hesitate: “This one feels different. It’s special. It’s my alma mater.”

History with March Madness

Grant said his fascination with March Madness first began just before he entered Miami Senior High School in Florida.

“I remember my first experience was watching Magic Johnson and Larry Bird battle each other in the final game in what, ‘79?

“I watched the tournament (each year) when I was in high school and then obviously when I came here, I had the chance to go, and it was special.”

He was a freshman back-up to UD Hall of Famer Roosevelt Chapman — the Flyers’ all-time leading scorer — who led the Don Donoher coached team on a magical run to the 1984 Elite Eight.

That year the Flyers started with a pair of upset wins over LSU and Oklahoma in Salt Lake City.

Now, 40 years later, this is a full circle moment for Grant.

“Honestly I didn’t remember (we started) in Salt Lake City,” Grant said. “I remember who we played, and all that stuff and I knew we ended up in Salt Lake City at some point, but I didn’t know we started there until I was reminded of that today. That’s pretty cool.”

Grant stressed how he wanted his players to experience the Tournament: “As a college basketball player that’s a special opportunity to be able to participate in.”

While Sullivan enjoyed Sunday’s euphoria — this was the Flyers first NCAA Tournament bid since 2017 — he wanted to interject reality into the revelry:

“I want to balance all this with — it’s our expectation. I want to be clear about that. This is our expectation for each season.”

Experience with tournament

The only current Flyer to have played in the NCAA Tournament is Santos, who was with the Pitt Panthers last season. He played sparingly and transferred here a couple of months after the season.

“I was excited both years, but this year means a little more to me because I’m in it a little more,” said the 6-foot-7 junior forward who is the Flyers second leading scorer and rebounder and won third team All A-10 honors.

Although the Flyers struggled coming down the stretch — losing four of their last nine games — they were 16-2 at one point this season with some big non-conference wins and Brea, like several of his teammates, thought the NCAA Tournament offers them the perfect opportunity to hit the rest button:

“I think we did a pretty good job throughout the year, and this is an opportunity to show the entire, really all (of) America, what we’re capable of doing. It’s a chance to show what the Dayton Flyers are about.”

While UD would get down to business preparing for 26-7 Nevada on Monday, Grant enjoyed watching his players bask in a little glory Sunday night.

Credit: AP

As he stood there talking about his team, you noticed the scar he has just above the edge of his right eye.

Asked about it, he shrugged: “It came when I was playing here. A random elbow.”

When he laughs — or even flashes a big smile — as his face crinkles up, most of that old elbow souvenir disappears.

Sunday night there were plenty of smiles and laughs.

They erased some of the scars of the past.