“The docuseries goes inside the program to showcase some of the biggest moments during the summer of 2023,” the description of the series reads on YouTube. “The series will also go in-depth on some of the foundational pieces of the Dayton men’s basketball program. Red Eye Digital, the Dayton Athletics’ Creative Team, delivers a truly insider experience through in-depth interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.”
Ryan Phillips, UD’s director of athletics enterprise branding and digital strategy, and Matt Barnes, a creative content producer for UD who follows the team around with a camera all season, played large roles in the project.
The first episode started by focusing on the return of junior forward DaRon Holmes II, who elected not to stay in the NBA Draft in the spring. Here are some takeaways from that segment of the video, which also featured an interview with Dayton associate head coach Ricardo Greer:
Holmes on the advice he got from coach Anthony Grant in the spring: “I remember when I was first starting the process, I was just asking, “Hey, Coach, what should I expect? I know you used to coach in the NBA, so can you help me out with what I should be expecting?’ And he just told me simply that, ‘It’s a business. It’s going to be a world of men who don’t care about the same things that a lot of college coaches do. So it’s a little bit different in terms of that.’”
Holmes on what teammate Toumani Camara, who also entered the draft, told him: “Toumani was telling me, ‘Hey, man, be smart about it. Obviously, you could probably get picked in the second round. But in your case, bro, I think if you do one more year, it can really help you out, so really think about your stock.’”
Holmes on other motivations for returning to UD: “I feel like we’ve been always this close, and if we get to (the NCAA) tournament, it would make everything special.”
Holmes on the feedback he received from NBA scouts: “They were saying, ‘Hey, he doesn’t have to be like Steph Curry,’ but work on your shot, get better with it, be more consistent and get bigger and stronger, which I’m still doing today. And then, defensively, being able to switch on multiple positions, not just one. That was the main feedback I got. I think, with our system, I’m going to be able to incorporate all that stuff into the game very easily.”
Holmes on making the final decision to return to school: “We were talking, ‘What’s the better decision?,’ me and my family. ... I personally thought — and my family agreed with me on this — that Dayton was the best choice. I feel like we have all the resources we need here to get better, and I want to win games. I feel like we have a great team, and we’re going to win games this year. The whole goal is to get better. But it’s not about me, at the same time. I want to win. I know winning helps me out. So I was telling myself — and my family was also in on it as well — that if I were to come back and we’re winning games that’s just going to help me out in the long run. I know we have the people here to do that.”
Greer on Holmes: “Our main interest was what’s best for Deuce (Holmes). It’s always going to be that for each and every one of our players, just like it was, ‘What’s the best for Toumani?’ For Deuce, it was best for him to come back, get another year and hopefully his stock in the NBA rises where he can become a legitimate first-rounder. That was his goal, and that’s what our goal is also.”
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