Dayton Flyers athletic director expresses confidence in Anthony Grant entering Year 9

Throughout his tenure, Sullivan has played a big part in the development and direction of the men’s basketball program. He has witnessed the highs of four straight NCAA tournament appearances under coach Archie Miller, the peak of 2020 when Anthony Grant led the Dayton Flyers to 29 victories and a No. 3 national ranking — and also whatever last season was.

Grant’s eighth season and Sullivan’s 10th season as AD showcased the best of the program (two victories over top-10 teams in non-conference play) and the worst (two 20-point losses to teams that would finish .500 in Atlantic 10 Conference play).

In his first interview with the Dayton Daily News since the end of that promising but ultimately disappointing season, Sullivan reflected on the state of the program.

“There’s an old saying that if you’re explaining, you’re already losing, right?” Sullivan said Monday. “So I’m not going to try to explain away a third-place finish or a couple of our conference losses. It’s a results-based business that plays out in public. You can’t hide a team’s shortcomings. It plays out for all to see on national television. That is what happened. It is what it is.

“I do think that we’re operating in probably the most challenging five- or six-year period, coming off COVID into this new environment. It’s been really hard to find what we’ve been after, which is consistency and stacking (successful) years back to back. The new model kind of creates some roster chaos, and the consistency for us and for a lot of others has proven elusive.”

Dayton finished 23-11 overall and 11-6 in the A-10 last season. It wasted a 10-3 performance in non-conference play, including victories against No. 2 Marquette and No. 6 Connecticut, teams that would finish third and fourth, respectively, in the Big East Conference.

Three straight losses in January to George Washington, Massachusetts and George Mason doomed Dayton’s hopes of earning a NCAA tournament at-large berth. Needing to win the A-10 tournament to earn a second straight berth in March Madness, Dayton lost its first game in the quarterfinals, 73-68 in overtime to Saint Joseph’s.

Asked after the A-10 tournament loss asked if the program has done in his tenure to appease a hungry fan base, Grant said, “It’s not for me to decide. I can tell you, I gave everything I have to it. I feel like the group we had, that it was important to them. I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed.”

In eight seasons, Grant has produced one A-10 regular-season championship, no A-10 tournament titles and two NCAA tournament bids, if you count the bid UD would have received if the 2020 tournament had not been canceled.

Dayton has lost its first A-10 tournament game four times in seven tournament appearances under Grant. It has settled for NIT bids four times.

On the positive side, Dayton has finished in the top three in the A-10 four straight seasons and six times in eight seasons, and four Dayton players have heard their names called during the NBA Draft during Grant’s tenure.

One of those former Flyers, Obi Toppin, played in the NBA Finals for the first time this month. Another, Toumani Camara, was named to the NBA All-Defensive second team.

Dayton also has sold out 77 straight home games and four straight seasons overall.

In the ninth season of his tenure, Grant will equal Oliver Purnell for the longest tenure of the coaches Dayton has had since it fired Don Donoher after his 25th season in 1989.

Jim O’Brien lasted five seasons before losing his job. Purnell coached the Flyers from 1994-2003 before taking a job at Clemson. Brian Gregory led the program for eight seasons before departing for Georgia Tech. Miller served as head coach for six seasons and then left for Indiana.

Among Dayton coaches who have held the job for at least five years, Grant (172-83, .675) has the third highest winning percentage behind Tom Blackburn (352-141, .714) and Miller (139-63, .688).

“I have tremendous confidence in our coaching staff, led by coach Grant,” Sullivan said. “I think the stability and leadership that he offers during this time that we’re in is critical for what the business is facing.”

Sullivan said the program’s lack of consistency “has been frustrating” but that “there is a deep and strong belief in the leadership of coach Grant and frankly all our coaches.”

Dayton made its first NCAA tournament appearance under Grant in 2024 and won a tournament game for the first time since 2015, erasing a 17-point deficit in the final seven-plus minutes to beat Nevada in the first round.

After that season, Sullivan told the Dayton Daily News, “We plan to carry the momentum as best we can. As coach Grant often talks about, each game is its own independent challenge and each season is that, but there is no doubt that consistency is the priority.”

The Flyers looked on track to finding that consistency until A-10 play started in January. Dayton watched as Virginia Commonwealth, the only A-10 program that has been more successful than it over the last 13 seasons, won its fourth A-10 regular-season championship and third A-10 tournament.

“In Dayton basketball, anytime we don’t win a championship or compete in the NCAA Tournament, that is not what our expectations are,” Sullivan said. “I think all of our players would say that. All our coaches would say that. That’s what we believe in.”

At the same time, Sullivan said, “This the most volatile period in college sports history,” and he still likes the path forward for Dayton.

“I think you’re always going to hear me and Anthony say that non-championship seasons or non-NCAA seasons are not what we’re here for,” Sullivan said. “It’s a results-based business, and we don’t hide behind that, but it’s certainly not been a normal period of time by any measure.”

Dayton added five transfers in the spring. The transfers, as well as two freshmen, are now on campus with the four returning scholarship players. Dayton’s roster for the 2025-26 season now numbers 11. It could still add one or two more players, Grant said earlier this month.

Starting July 1, Dayton will pay these athletes directly as a new era of revenue sharing in college sports begins. They all signed one-year contracts that were contingent on the approval of the $2.8 billion settlement of a lawsuit filed by current and former Division I athletes against the NCAA.

Asked how the recruiting went this spring as Grant and his assistants rebuilt the roster, Sullivan said, “I think we’re pleased with how it ended up. It was very unique operating environment. This spring, there were no regulations. There were no rules. Everything was contingent on the settlement. So it was definitely the most chaotic period (in the name, image and likeness era), but I think that we navigated it with the appropriate balance between aggressively getting the players that our coaching staff thinks they need to compete for championships and also recognizing that there’s a responsibility to steward money — our fans’ money — in the right way. I think we struck that balance.”