Dayton upset No. 7 Notre Dame 66-59 in 1978 at UD Arena, thanks in part to 22 points by Paxon. A year later, he scored 32 points in an 86-71 loss at Notre Dame.
“He’s a great player, a money player,” Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps said after the game. “I’m glad he’s leaving so now his family can root for Notre Dame.”
Jim and his brother John, who was three years younger, both had stellar high school careers at Alter, college careers at Dayton and Notre Dame, respectively, and professional careers — Jim mostly with the Portland Trail Blazers and John with the Chicago Bulls. Those experiences led to long tenures in NBA front offices.
In 2020, both were working for the Bulls — John as vice president of basketball operations and Jim as director of pro personnel — when Jim’s alma mater soared to No. 3 in the national rankings.
“I still remember a call I got from my brother — because I didn’t do really any college scouting — and he goes, ‘If Dayton goes far in the tournament, you can go to every game you want to,’" Jim said.
The pandemic derailed that plan, but five years later, Jim will get more chances to see the Flyers. Dayton hired him as senior advisor for basketball operations on Oct. 10. He spoke to the media for the first time since that announcement on Monday before Dayton beat Bowling Green 90-59 in an exhibition game at UD Arena.
“I’ve been back a few times over the years, but it’s kind of surreal when I think that 50 years ago this month, I started my career here as a freshman and played in this arena,” Paxson said. “It’s changed a lot, but all for the better. So I’m really excited and looking forward to the opportunity and appreciate Neil (Sullivan) and Anthony (Grant) for giving me the chance to hopefully bring some value.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Paxson will work with Sullivan, UD’s Vice President and Director of Athletics, and Grant, the ninth-year head coach, in a number of different ways off the court.
Paxson said his job will be “primarily to be a resource around roster construction and roster retention and working with the current staff.”
His relationship with agents, now a big part of the college game, will help.
“One of the things that attracted me to this is that Neil and his staff and Anthony and his staff have a good grasp of it already,” Paxson said, “and I just hope that I can help streamline it a little bit as the rules continue to shake themselves out and be able to offer that value that can help them through through the process.”
Paxson spent 18 years with the Bulls in various roles before leaving in the summer of 2024.
“This was my first year of not being involved in anything,” he said, “and I was back here visiting my mom in February, and Neil and I struck up a conversation. We had some dialog over the spring and the summer, and with Anthony as well, and it just kind of came together in the last few weeks. I’m 68, but I want to keep my mind active.”
Paxson’s parents, Jim Paxson Sr., who died in 2014 at 81, and Jacquelyn June “Mimi” Macbeth Paxson, who died in March at 90, met on the UD campus in the 1950s. Jacquelyn’s funeral was held at UD’s Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.
“There’s just a lot of history here with our family,” Paxson said.
Part of Paxson’s job will be keeping an eye on players on the current roster Dayton wants to keep for future seasons and players who may be available in the transfer portal. He met with Dayton coaches on Monday and knows they have a system in place. He hopes his relationships with coaches in the college game and at the pro level add to what Dayton has already built.
Paxson has known Grant for many years. In fact, Grant remembers Paxson, then in the NBA, coming back to UD to play with him and the other Flyers in the 1980s. Paxson got to know Grant better during Grant’s two seasons as an assistant coach on Billy Donovan’s staff with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I was just so thrilled when he got the job here,” Paxson said. “He’s not just a former player, but he understands what Dayton is all about, and I think with the kids that he brings in and the culture that he’s created, he’s respected throughout the basketball world. I have a lot of respect for him.”
Paxson has crossed paths with other Flyers over the years. This year, he met Koby Brea, who played four seasons at Dayton before transferring to Kentucky for his final season of eligibility, in Phoenix, where Paxson lives and Brea was practicing with the Suns in preparation for the NBA Summer League.
“All he talked about was his four years here being so special,” Paxson said, “and yeah, he left for Kentucky, but he thinks of himself as a Dayton Flyer.”
Brea was one of four former Flyers on NBA rosters when the season began last week. In the press release announcing his hiring, Paxson said he has “been impressed by our success in producing NBA-caliber talent in recent years.”
Now Paxson hopes to help add to that legacy. He likes what he has seen so far from the 2025-26 team.
“I watched the Penn State game, and there were some really good things from that exhibition game,” he said. “It’s only an exhibition, and Penn State’s young, but I saw some good things from the team and how they competed, especially defensively.”
About the Author
