Newest Dayton basketball recruit is a triplet

Frankie Policelli, his brother Niko and sister Amber all turned 18 last week

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

The newest Dayton Flyers recruit, Frankie Policelli, turned 18 last week, his dad Frank said, and like every other birthday in his life, Frankie shared it with two other members of his family: his brother Niko and sister Amber.

The Policellis are triplets.

“It’s been quite an exciting, fast 18 years, I tell you that much,” said Frank Policelli, an attorney in Utica, N.Y.

Frankie wrote the latest chapter in that story Monday, announcing his verbal commitment to the Dayton Flyers. He's the third member of UD's 2018 recruiting class along with Dwayne Cohill and Jhery Matos. Dayton now has nine scholarship players on the roster for the 2018-19 season and has the opportunity to add as many as four more as recruiting continues in the weeks ahead.

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Frank described his son’s recruiting process as intense. Policelli, a 6-foot-8 small forward who is bordering on 6-9, according to his coaches, had scholarship offers from Cincinnati Maryland, Illinois, Texas Tech and others.

“He was making a big decision,” Frank said. “You have to consider a lot of factors. There’s a lot of variables. At the end of the day, this was the best option for him to pursue. You want to have the balance of a good education and a good basketball opportunity at the same time. Dayton had the best offer for him from both a basketball and educational point of view.”

Here’s a quick glance at other reacts and comments to Policelli’s commitment:

John Buck, Long Island Lutheran head coach: "He's explosive," Buck said. "He really shoots the ball well. He can get hot. He had games where he hit 6, 7 and 8 3s for us in different games. He rebounds the ball. He's just a really, humble, selfless kid."

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Buck said Policelli averaged 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as a senior. He shot 40 percent from 3-point range and 86 percent from the free-throw line.

“He’s playing with five other Division I players,” Buck said. “Twelve points a game is not 12 points a game at your local public school.”

Jay David, New York Jayhawks executive director and Long Island Lutheran assistant coach: "He's an amazing kid," David said, "a great person off the floor, and I think with Dayton, they're getting a kid who's just now scratching the surface, similar with Obadiah (Toppin) when he went to Dayton. Frankie is 6-8, 6-9, a lefty shooter, a really strong kid — or will be a really strong kid — and brings a lot of positives to a program. He's high character. Basketball wise, it's a great fit for him. They really wanted him there. He felt comfortable with coach (Anthony) Grant, and I think he's going to grow there."

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