Dayton basketball: Jaron McKie joins Damon Friery in UD's 2025 recruiting class

The Dayton Flyers picked up their second commitment from a member of the 2025 recruiting class in a six-day stretch Saturday night when Jaron McKie announced his verbal commitment to UD.

McKie, 6-foot-3, 155-pound guard from St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, joins Damon Friery, a 6-foot-10 forward from Cleveland St. Ignatius, in UD’s 2025 class. Friery committed to Dayton on Monday.

Here’s what fans should know about McKie:

Family history: McKie, who received a scholarship offer from UD in June, committed to UD one week after visiting campus with his parents. He’s the son of Aaron McKie, a star at Temple from 1991-94 and the head coach at Temple from 2019-23. McKie scored 1,650 points in three seasons with Temple and then played in the NBA from 1994-2007 with four teams.

“I put the basketball in his hands,” Aaron told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2022. “I remember being in the basement playing with a little basketball whenever I would come home. He wanted to play all day.”

Top-100 recruit: McKie ranks 86th on ESPN’s list of the top 100 players in the 2025 class. He’s No. 133 in the Rivals.com rankings and No. 129 in the On3.com rankings.

McKie received an invitation to the NBPA’s Top 100 High School Basketball Camp in June.

Big stats: McKie has already scored more than 1,000 points in high school career, according to the St. Joe’s Prep basketball account on X. He averaged 18.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game as a junior, according to the Philadelphia Sports Digest, making 63 3-pointers and shooting 47.1% from 3-point range.

High praise: Ari Rosenfeld, of Elite High School Scouting, described McKie on X (Twitter) as “a truly elite shooter with a high IQ and NBA pedigree. McKie’s game has gone to new levels as he’s developed as a shot-creator and his body has matured. Should be a key long-term piece for the Flyers.”

Many choices: McKie had offers from Temple, Saint Joseph’s, Penn, Saint Louis and others. He took an unofficial visit to Saint Joseph’s on Sept. 3, according to the Hawk Hill Hardwood account on X (Twitter).

Philadelphia background: McKie is the second recruit from Philadelphia to commit to Dayton in Anthony Grant’s eight seasons as coach. Lynn Greer III, who transferred to St. Joseph’s halfway through his freshman season, was a member of Dayton’s 2021 recruiting class.

More commitments possible: With Friery and McKie in Dayton’s 2025 class, UD still has at least three scholarships open. The 2024-25 roster has five players entering their final season of eligibility: Nate Santos; Enoch Cheeks; Brady Uhl; Zed Key; and Posh Alexander.

The latest 2025 recruit to visit Dayton was Tyler Kropp, a 6-9 forward from Olentangy Liberty in Powell. He started a visit to UD on Friday. Kropp received a scholarship offer from Dayton in July.