Hartsock: Patience pays off for Flyers coaching staff

Anthony Grant speaks at a press conference at UD Arena on April 1, 2017, in Dayton. David Jablonski/Staff

Anthony Grant speaks at a press conference at UD Arena on April 1, 2017, in Dayton. David Jablonski/Staff

Well, what do you know Flyer fans, the sky isn’t falling after all. In the six weeks since Anthony Grant took over as the head coach at his alma mater, there has been a lot of online chatter and a number of you have personally reached out to me with thoughts on the future of the program.

»RELATED: A glance at Flyers’ 5-man recruiting class

Grant convinced three of Archie Miller’s five recruits to keep their commitments. The big loss seemed to be McKinley Wright, who was Mr. Basketball in Minnesota last season and a player fans thought might follow Miller to Indiana.

»RELATED: Taking a look at updated 2017-18 roster

The point guard reportedly was contacted by several schools, including Butler, Baylor and Tennessee, before he ended up visiting Colorado first and signing with the Buffaloes.

»UD ARENA UPGRADE: 10 things we learned from AD Neil Sullivan

Patience paid off for Grant as he and his staff added Jalen Crutcher, a point guard out of Memphis, and Obadiah Toppin, a 6-9 forward by way of Mt. Zion Prep in Baltimore.

That said, this isn’t Kentucky or Duke and none of these new guys will be expected to step right in to the starting lineup, although I think it’s safe to say there will be at least one new face in the first five Grant sends out on the court.

A couple of weeks ago I had a guy ask me if we call this “rebuilding” or “reloading?” I call it college basketball where 99 percent of the coaches have concerns about some of the kids they have coming into their program.

That was going to be the case whether it was Archie or Anthony in charge heading into the summer. Let’s touch base again after Labor Day when some of the questions might actually have some real answers.

About the Author