Dayton Flyers season preview: Updates on former UD players who entered transfer portal

EDITOR’S NOTE: David Jablonski is counting down to the Dayton men’s basketball season opener on Nov. 7 with 25 pieces (one every day until Nov. 7) previewing the 2022-23 season. This is the 22nd story.

Seven former players who have left the Dayton Flyers and found new homes through the transfer portal remain in college basketball in the 2022-23 season.

Here’s an update on where they are now three days before the start of the new season.

Credit: David Jablonski

Moulaye Sissoko: A 6-foot-9 center from Mali, Sissoko spent three years at the University of Dayton before entering the transfer portal in March. He committed to North Texas a month later. Counting this season, he has three seasons of eligibility remaining.

Sissoko averaged 7.0 minutes per game for Dayton last season and is expected to come off the bench for North Texas, which was picked to finish third out of 11 teams in Conference USA.

The Almanac wrote this about Sissoko on its preseason preview: “Backup big Moulaye Sissoko is a bounding athlete with surprising speed for his size; that could make him a scary defender while backing up (Abou) Ousmane.”

Credit: David Jablonski

Elijah Weaver: After two seasons at Southern California and two seasons at UD, Weaver entered the transfer portal in March. He committed to Chicago State two months later. The 6-5 guard from Cocoa Florida is now a fifth-year senior.

“I think Elijah is due for a breakout year,” Chicago State coach Gerald Gillion told the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. “I’m not talking about breaking in terms of a college player. I’m talking about a breakout in terms of people will be calling him at the next level.”

Chicago State finished 7-25 last season, the first for Gillion, and has suffered 13 straight losing seasons. It ranks 359th out of 363 Division I teams in the preseason Ken Pomeroy ratings. It’s an independent program with a non-conference schedule that includes games at Northwestern, Marquette, Murray State, Minnesota, Stanford and Gonzaga.

Credit: David Jablonski

Lynn Greer III: Greer played in 10 of Dayton’s 13 non-conference games last season and then entered the transfer portal in late December. He committed to Saint Joseph’s two days later. He practiced with the Hawks the rest of the season but did not play.

Greer, a 6-2 sophomore guard, started for Saint Joseph’s in a 78-76 exhibition game against Towson on Saturday. He scored a team-high 21 points on 6-of-16 shooting. He made 3 of 7 3-pointers.

Saint Joseph’s coach Billy Lange talked about Greer at A-10 Media Day on Oct. 13.

“This is going to be his freshman year,” Lange said. “That’s the way I see it. People will be maybe a little bit more expectant since it seems like he got out of high school three years ago— which by the way he did — but he’s only played 10 college games. My expectation for him is that he continues to get better. I think he’s got a natural feel and flow and pace for the game, but I don’t feel that he needs to be the finished product right now. There’s no doubt that we needed his position. Lynn just gives us, I believe, one of our best ball handlers, if not the best ball handler, we’ve had since he’s gotten here.

“He’s a great teammate. He’s just a naturally social, outgoing guy. He’s connected well with the guys. I’ve seen a real transformation in his dedication to his body. He’s made some serious progress.”

Luke Frazier: Frazier, a 6-6 guard who entered the transfer portal after making two brief appearances for UD as a freshman, walked on at Ohio University last season at midseason after not intending to play basketball at the school. He played a total of 11 minutes for the Bobcats in five appearances.mHe now plays at Division III John Carroll University.

Credit: Kathleen Batten

Dwayne Cohill: Cohill played two seasons at Dayton and appeared in 30 of 31 games as a sophomore in 2019-20, averaging 2.6 points in 13.3 minutes per game. He missed the 2020-21 season after suffering a torn ACL in the preseason and transferred to Youngstown State after that season.

Cohill, a 6-2 guard who’s now a fifth-year senior, led Youngstown State with 14.9 points per game last season and was named to the All-Horizon League third team. He was named to the preseason first team this season.

“He does a little bit of everything,” coach Jerrod Calhoun told Blue Ribbon. “He can make shots. He can attack the rim. And he knows how to play. Going into his final season, his leadership qualities have been off the charts.”

Frankie Policelli: A member of Dayton’s 2018 recruiting class with Cohill and junior college transfer Jhery Matos, Policelli transferred to Stony Brook after receiving limited minutes in one season with the Flyers.

A 6-7 forward who’s now a graduate student, Policelli redshirted his first season at Stony Brook and has averaged 9.0 points in 50 games over the last two seasons. He started 23 games last season for a team that finished 18-13 and now moves from the America East Conference to the Colonial Athletic Association.

“He was just a spot-up shooter last season,” coach Geno Ford said. “We’re going to need him to be more capable of some isolation scoring, late shot-clock scoring, things like that.”

Credit: Kendall Warner

Jordan Davis: Now in his sixth season with his third team, Davis is the last player recruited by Archie Miller to Dayton still playing college basketball. Davis stuck to his commitment to Dayton when Miller left for Indiana and Anthony Grant was hired and played two seasons for the Flyers. He entered the transfer portal after the 2018-19 season.

Davis, a 6-3 guard, sat out the 2019-20 season at Middle Tennessee State and then averaged 11.0 points in the 2020-21 season. He then transferred to Jacksonville, where he averaged 8.9 points in 30 starts last season. He has one season of eligibility remaining because the 2020-21 season didn’t count against anyone’s eligibility.

Jacksonville finished 21-10 last season and nearly made it to the NCAA tournament but lost 77-72 to Bellarmine in the Atlantic Sun championship game.

DAYTON SEASON PREVIEW

Part 1: Fans dreaming big as always

Part 2: A-10 changes tournament format for first time in years

Part 3: A familiar face returns to A-10

Part 4: KenPom.com’s math likes the Flyers

Part 5: Three new walk-ons join roster

Part 6: Grant, Martin don’t look forward to coaching against each other

Part 7: Ranking difficult of non-conference opponents

Part 8: Free-throw percentage a stat to watch for Flyers

Part 9: UD roster again full of international talent

Part 10: Ranking quality of exempt tournaments