Grant makes first comments on five transfers Dayton added this spring

“Yes, I want to enter the portal,” Derkack told them.

Once a player’s name gets entered into the portal, coaches nationwide can see it.

“You don’t know how much traction you’re going to get,” Derkack said.

Derkack got plenty of attention this spring. Dayton Flyers associate coach Ricardo Greer was one of many coaches who reached out to him, starting the process that would lead to him committing to Dayton on April 15.

Derkack is one of five new transfers on Dayton’s 2025-26 roster. Coach Anthony Grant said Thursday the coaches could add one or two more recruits.

Grant also talked about each of the five transfers for the first time in his first interview since the season ended in March.

Derkack: A 6-foot-5 guard with one season of eligibility remaining, he averaged 5.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 31 games last season for Rutgers. He played a bigger role in his first two seasons at Merrimack and was named the Northeast Conference Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore when he averaged 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists.

Derkack played his freshman season with Dayton guard Javon Bennett, who played one season at Merrimack before transferring to Dayton.

“I saw Jordan when we were recruiting Javon,” Grant said, “and I was really impressed with what I saw at the time. With Javon coming here, I didn’t really see him as much that next year. And then once he entered the portal, this time leaving Rutgers, I felt pretty familiar with him already. Seeing what he was able to do there and then finding out we had a lot of connections because his dad played collegiate basketball for my high school coach at (Florida International), Shakey Rodriguez, we knew a lot of people in common and kind of connected some things together.

“Ricardo Greer is really good friends with someone that’s close to the Derkack family as well. In this game, you’re talking about six degrees of separation with the relationships that you can kind of piece together. I’m really impressed with who he is as a person. A great family. Great worker. He’s another veteran that could hopefully bring a level of leadership to our group and valuable experience.”

De’Shayne Montgomery: The first 2025 transfer to commit to Dayton on April 13, Montgomery is a 6-5 guard who’s also heading to his third school. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Montgomery averaged 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in 17 appearances as a sophomore at Georgia last season. He played his freshman season at Mount St. Mary’s, averaging 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists.

“I had a chance to watch him at Mount St. Mary’s his freshman year,” Grant said, “and I saw some film of what he was able to do there. Then for a stretch there in the season at Georgia, he was heavily in the rotation. What he’s able to bring on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, he’s a guy I’m really excited that we were able to add to our roster.”

Adam Njie Jr.: A 6-3 guard with three seasons of eligibility remaining, Njie committed to Dayton on April 18. He averaged 12.2 points, 4.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds as a freshman at Iona.

“I thought for freshmen, when you look at what he was able to do from the beginning of the year to the end, you saw the improvement and the consistency that he started to develop. He was able to impact games for his team. He’s a guy that is capable of doing it on both ends. He’s a guy that naturally makes the game easier for other guys out there with what he’s able to do with his skill set.”

Malcolm Thomas: A 6-8 forward who committed to Dayton on April 24, he has four seasons of eligibility remaining because he redshirted last season as a freshman at Villanova, which fired coach Kyle Neptune in March and replaced him with Maryland’s Kevin Willard.

“I think the decision was made early in the summer with the roster that Villanova had and some of the veterans they had,” Grant said. “They felt like the best thing for him would be to redshirt him and for him to gain that experience through practicing. He had a chance to experience college for a year without losing a year of eligibility. I think the coaching change had a lot to do with his decision.”

Bryce Heard: A 6-5 guard with three seasons of eligibility remaining, Heard committed to Dayton on May 2. He appeared in 24 games as a freshman at North Carolina State last season, averaging 1.2 points in 6.3 minutes.

Heard, like Thomas, transferred after a coaching change at N.C. State, where Will Wade replaced Kevin Keatts.

“Bryce’s story is he entered college a year early,” Grant said. “He could actually be a true freshman coming into college right now, but he skipped his senior year of high school and entered college early and didn’t get an opportunity to get in the rotation. Obviously, there was a coaching change and some other things there.”

Grant mentioned Heard’s upside and his willingness to work.

“Everybody that you talk to, from the previous staff at N.C. State to the people that were around him in Chicago, talk about his work ethic and how competitive he is.”