There are more than 500 players in the portal, according to the list kept on VerbalCommits.com. Here’s a list of players Dayton has been linked to this week, according to reports on Twitter.
FRIDAY UPDATE
• Kowacie Reeves, 6-6 sophomore guard, Florida: Travis Branham, of 247Sports.com, reported Dayton contacted Reeves, who averaged 8.5 points and 2.6 rebounds this season. He ranked 42nd in the class of 2021, according to 247Sports.com. He’s from Macon, Ga.
• Noah Fernandes, 5-11 senior guard, Massachusetts: Expressions Elite Basketball reported Dayton reached out to Fernandes, one of its alums. Fernandes started his career at Wichita State but played the last three seasons at UMass. He averaged 13.4 points per game this season, missing the last 15 games with an injury. He scored 26 points against Dayton in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament in 2022. He’s from Mattapoisett, Mass.
• Camren Hunter, 6-3 sophomore guard, Central Arkansas: Dayton contacted Hunter, according to The Portal Report. He averaged 16.9 points and 3.9 assists this season. He’s from Bryant, Ark.
THURSDAY UPDATE
• Johnny O’Neill, 6-foot-9 junior forward, American University: Jamie Shaw, of On3Sports.com, reported Dayton was one of the schools to reach out to O’Neill, who averaged 11.3 points and 6.6 rebounds this season. He’s from Miami Shores, Fla.
• Russell “Deuce” Dean, 6-5 senior guard, Hampton: Shaw also reported Dean has heard from Dayton. He averaged 12.8 points and 4.5 assists this season. He scored 1,182 points in four seasons at Hampton and has one more year of eligibility because the 2020-21 season didn’t count against anyone’s eligibility because of the pandemic. He’s from Columbia, S.C.
• Kamari Lands, 6-8 freshman forward, Louisville: Lands averaged 5.9 points as a freshman. He scored in double figures four times in the last 11 games. Jake Weingarten, of Stockrisers.com, reported Dayton was one of the schools to reach out to Lands. He ranked 39th on ESPN’s list of the top 100 recruits in the 2022 class. He’s from Indianapolis.
• Robert Jennings, 6-7 freshman forward, Texas Tech: Tobias Bass, of The Athletic, reported Dayton was one of the schools to contact Jennings. He averaged 2.7 points in 30 games. He’s from Desoto, Texas.
• John Hugley IV, 6-9 junior forward, Pittsburgh: Joe Tipton, of On3Sports.com, reported Dayton was among the schools to contact Hugley. He averaged 14.8 points and 7.8 rebounds in the 2021-22 season but was limited to eight games this season after suffering a preseason knee injury. He’s from Brush High School in Lyndhurst, just east of Cleveland, and received a scholarship offer from Dayton in 2018.
Dayton has at least three scholarships to fill and could have more to work with as players make decisions about their future this spring. All 12 scholarship players on the roster have eligibility remaining. As of Friday, five days into the offseason, no Dayton players had put their names in the portal.
Since 2018, ten players recruited and signed by Anthony Grant and his staff who have transferred from the program. Some have made their decisions within days of the end of the season. Others have taken longer. In the last two seasons, three players have left the program in December.
Here’s the list of those players, the dates they entered the portal and where they ended up:
• Frankie Policelli, April 10, 2018 (Stony Brook).
• Jhery Matos, March 30, 2018 (Charlotte).
• Luke Frazier, March 22, 2021 (Ohio/John Carroll)
• Dwayne Cohill, April 16, 2021 (Youngstown State)
• Rodney Chatman, March 23, 2021 (Vanderbilt).
• Lynn Greer III, Dec. 27, 2021 (Saint Joseph’s).
• Moulaye Sissoko, March 23, 2022 (North Texas)
•. Elijah Weaver, March 29, 2022 (Chicago State).
• Tyrone Baker, Dec. 19, 2022 (has yet to commit to new school).
• Kaleb Washington, Dec. 20, 2022 (has yet to commit to new school).
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