Anthony Grant: Jacob Conner could be ‘valuable weapon’ for Dayton Flyers in 2025-26 season

If fans of the Dayton Flyers remember anything about the program’s appearance in the National Invitation Tournament in March, it’s Javon Bennett’s 30-point performance in the first round against Florida Atlantic — and also maybe a dunk by Jacob Conner in the same game.

Conner soared to the hoop for a one-handed slam over a defender, finishing the type of dunk he missed several times earlier in the season. He hopes to show off similar hops in his second season at Dayton.

“If you watch me play a whole lot, I’m not the greatest athlete on the floor, but I definitely can get up there,” Conner said. “I can jump a little bit. I can get up and dunk on some people. I think that’s something I want to bring to my game a little bit more this year. Get inside the lane, get to the rim, get to the free-throw line, things like that.”

The Alter High School graduate Conner, a 6-foot-10 senior forward, averaged 2.7 points in 12 minutes per game last season. He’s one of four returning scholarship players on the 2025-26 roster.

Conner played his first two seasons at Marshall. He was one of six newcomers on the 2024-25 roster. He feels more comfortable this season.

“Getting a full year in the system and having another summer to work with the staff and getting in the film room with them,” he said, “I’m feeling a lot better about the situation and how we want to do things here.”

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Conner played double-digit minutes in the first five games last season but then missed six games, including all three games in the Maui Invitational, with an ankle injury. He started to play double-digit minutes again in late January.

Conner missed five or six weeks in the summer with an Achilles injury but is healthy now as Dayton moves closer to its first preseason game at 2 p.m. Sunday against Penn State at UD Arena.

Conner said his main goal in the offseason was to improve his body. The roster listed him at 205 pounds last season and now lists him at 225.

“Getting my body in a position where I can be ready to come in right at the beginning of the season was the biggest key for me,” Conner said.

Dayton coach Anthony Grant said he’s been pleased with Conner’s play.

“I think Jacob, with his size and his skill set, could be a very valuable weapon for us,” Grant said. “I think he’s had a really good preseason. We’ve just got to continue to keep moving him forward.”

Conner is one of four players on roster entering his final season of eligibility, along with Bennett, Rutgers transfer Jordan Derkack and Cal State Northridge transfer Keonte Jones. Conner, Bennett and Derkack have all played in more than 90 games at the Division I level, while Jones played in 67 games the last two seasons after three seasons at the junior college level.

With his experience, Conner has been trying to use his voice more in practice.

“We have a lot of new guys,” Conner said, “so I’m trying to help them understand how we do things here and what we want to do. They’ve done a great job picking up things really quickly, so we’ve been able to move pretty fast.”