Welcome to the 2nd installment of The War Room for the 2024 offseason! As always, I'll begin this session with the ground rules for those that may be new. Everything that is reported in The War Room must stay in The War Room. Sometimes the info is sensitive enough that it simply doesn't need to be passed on beyond the doors of this message board thread. This is a special feature for our subscribers only. The reason why it is posted on the premium board is because that's the only way to ensure that the info stays exclusive to Dayton Flyer fans. Thanks for your cooperation. Without further ado, here it is.... The 2nd edition of the War Room for 2024!
TOLL BOOTH
The Dayton Flyers held their first post-Final Four Zoom call on Wednesday when they met with Notre Dame transfer Carey Booth. Booth, of course, is the son of Calvin Booth. I was in attendance for the NIT game where Booth recorded the only Triple-Double in UD Arena history with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots.
The younger Booth just completed his freshman season at Notre Dame, starting in 19 of 33 games for the Irish. The 6-10 forward averaged 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in just under 20 minutes per game. The one glaring stat that stands out is that he shot 118 three-pointers on the season, that’s the third most for Notre Dame and 61.4% of his field goal attempts. Although he only connected on 29.7% in his first season, he’s showing the confidence and the ability to stretch the floor. He’s going to improve throughout his college career, and we’ve seen big man at Dayton improve their long-range percentages under Anthony Grant.
Dayton hosted Carey and his father on a Zoom call yesterday afternoon. According to sources, the call was said to go well and the next step is to hopefully setup a visit to Dayton’s campus.
Booth is said to be taking an official visit this weekend to Illinois and then Colorado State immediately after. Dayton may try to get him in next week sometime for an official visit. Others showing interest include Ohio State, Texas, and Washington.
NOT SUPERMAN
Different Kent than Clark. The Dayton Flyers are in pursuit of 6-8 wing forward Jayson Kent, who is originally from Illinois. The junior averaged a near double-double at 13.5 points per game and 8.1 rebounds. He didn’t shoot a lot of threes, but connected at a respectable 36.6% clip.
This season, he posted 10 double-doubles and had another game against Drake where he only scored six points, but he grabbed 20 rebounds! He started 37 of 38 games for the Sycamores and played over 30 minutes per game. He started his career at Bradley University.
The big competition currently seems to be Texas, who he will make an official visit to this weekend. This seems to be a pattern, everyone Dayton is targeting they are going up against some heavy hitters.
The Flyers will likely try to setup a Zoom with him soon with the hopes the exploratory conversation goes well and perhaps they can get him on campus soon as well.
HE’S THE KEY
I’ve been told that ever since Zed Key entered the portal that Dayton has made him a huge priority. So much so that they’ve skipped any Zoom’s with him and are planning to bring him in on Friday for an official visit.
He entered the transfer portal on April 5th and will have one year of eligibility remaining. He was a starter for two seasons at Ohio State before coming off the bench this season. In his reserve role, he averaged 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds for the Buckeyes.
The highlight of his time in Columbus came when he scored 20 points in an upset win over #1 Duke. While his role diminished over the years, he still has had an impact on winning—something this coaching staff values immensely.
Others that have prioritized him since hopping in the portal include Akron, Boston College, Minnesota, Murray State, VCU, Wisconsin, and Xavier. Dayton is obviously hoping to have a terrific visit with Key and hope that this one visit is enough to land him. Realistically, it will probably take one more and then he could decide.
NIL UPDATE
The more I’ve got to know about how Dayton 6th operates, the more I appreciate that they do things right. As I understand it, there has to be a quid pro quo—a.k.a. the player needs to be able to provide a service to get paid. For example, they may have to show up to a kid’s birthday party of a donor, or they may have to sign some autographs, etc. Not all schools do it that way, and some cross the line of doing the “Pay to Play” thing.
I wanted to share some stories that I heard over the course of this season where Dayton 6th went above and beyond to help out the Dayton basketball players. There, was of course, the well publicized story about Kobe Elvis’ mom and brother being flown in for Senior Night. He had done some work in December when he was back in Canada to ensure that this would be a possibility.
That same game, Dayton 6th was able to help DaRon Holmes II host 40 family members for the VCU game. How about in Brooklyn, they helped get 100 tickets for the A10 tournament for Koby Brea’s family and friends. They also helped various players get their families to Brooklyn and Salt Lake City for the NCAA tournament.
This is where the dark cloud that surrounds the NIL needs to be overshadowed. When collectives use the NIL in correct ways, when the athletes need them most, these are the stories that need to be shared. So donors have confidence that their money is being used the correct way. This is why Dayton 6th has gained so much respect from the UD players and coaches and should lend some reassurance that your donations are being used in a way to help the student athletes we all care about so much.
ONE MORE THING
UD and Dayton 6th will do all they can to make sure that DaRon Holmes II decision will be strictly a basketball decision and not an economic decision. At the same time, Dayton has to be and is hitting the portal as if he is going—they can’t afford to do it any other way.
CLOSING
That does it for this edition of the War Room! Thank you to all of you… You are what makes this board so special and the best place to talk Dayton basketball all year round! A special welcome to all of those that have signed up for FlyerHoops recently, hope you’re enjoying all the nuggets, tidbits, etc that the site and forum provides. I watched the last seven minutes of the Nevada game again this morning, I can’t get enough! I suggest a random replay of that game any time you can. Until next time… WE ARE!
TOLL BOOTH
The Dayton Flyers held their first post-Final Four Zoom call on Wednesday when they met with Notre Dame transfer Carey Booth. Booth, of course, is the son of Calvin Booth. I was in attendance for the NIT game where Booth recorded the only Triple-Double in UD Arena history with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots.
The younger Booth just completed his freshman season at Notre Dame, starting in 19 of 33 games for the Irish. The 6-10 forward averaged 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in just under 20 minutes per game. The one glaring stat that stands out is that he shot 118 three-pointers on the season, that’s the third most for Notre Dame and 61.4% of his field goal attempts. Although he only connected on 29.7% in his first season, he’s showing the confidence and the ability to stretch the floor. He’s going to improve throughout his college career, and we’ve seen big man at Dayton improve their long-range percentages under Anthony Grant.
Dayton hosted Carey and his father on a Zoom call yesterday afternoon. According to sources, the call was said to go well and the next step is to hopefully setup a visit to Dayton’s campus.
Booth is said to be taking an official visit this weekend to Illinois and then Colorado State immediately after. Dayton may try to get him in next week sometime for an official visit. Others showing interest include Ohio State, Texas, and Washington.
NOT SUPERMAN
Different Kent than Clark. The Dayton Flyers are in pursuit of 6-8 wing forward Jayson Kent, who is originally from Illinois. The junior averaged a near double-double at 13.5 points per game and 8.1 rebounds. He didn’t shoot a lot of threes, but connected at a respectable 36.6% clip.
This season, he posted 10 double-doubles and had another game against Drake where he only scored six points, but he grabbed 20 rebounds! He started 37 of 38 games for the Sycamores and played over 30 minutes per game. He started his career at Bradley University.
The big competition currently seems to be Texas, who he will make an official visit to this weekend. This seems to be a pattern, everyone Dayton is targeting they are going up against some heavy hitters.
The Flyers will likely try to setup a Zoom with him soon with the hopes the exploratory conversation goes well and perhaps they can get him on campus soon as well.
HE’S THE KEY
I’ve been told that ever since Zed Key entered the portal that Dayton has made him a huge priority. So much so that they’ve skipped any Zoom’s with him and are planning to bring him in on Friday for an official visit.
He entered the transfer portal on April 5th and will have one year of eligibility remaining. He was a starter for two seasons at Ohio State before coming off the bench this season. In his reserve role, he averaged 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds for the Buckeyes.
The highlight of his time in Columbus came when he scored 20 points in an upset win over #1 Duke. While his role diminished over the years, he still has had an impact on winning—something this coaching staff values immensely.
Others that have prioritized him since hopping in the portal include Akron, Boston College, Minnesota, Murray State, VCU, Wisconsin, and Xavier. Dayton is obviously hoping to have a terrific visit with Key and hope that this one visit is enough to land him. Realistically, it will probably take one more and then he could decide.
NIL UPDATE
The more I’ve got to know about how Dayton 6th operates, the more I appreciate that they do things right. As I understand it, there has to be a quid pro quo—a.k.a. the player needs to be able to provide a service to get paid. For example, they may have to show up to a kid’s birthday party of a donor, or they may have to sign some autographs, etc. Not all schools do it that way, and some cross the line of doing the “Pay to Play” thing.
I wanted to share some stories that I heard over the course of this season where Dayton 6th went above and beyond to help out the Dayton basketball players. There, was of course, the well publicized story about Kobe Elvis’ mom and brother being flown in for Senior Night. He had done some work in December when he was back in Canada to ensure that this would be a possibility.
That same game, Dayton 6th was able to help DaRon Holmes II host 40 family members for the VCU game. How about in Brooklyn, they helped get 100 tickets for the A10 tournament for Koby Brea’s family and friends. They also helped various players get their families to Brooklyn and Salt Lake City for the NCAA tournament.
This is where the dark cloud that surrounds the NIL needs to be overshadowed. When collectives use the NIL in correct ways, when the athletes need them most, these are the stories that need to be shared. So donors have confidence that their money is being used the correct way. This is why Dayton 6th has gained so much respect from the UD players and coaches and should lend some reassurance that your donations are being used in a way to help the student athletes we all care about so much.
ONE MORE THING
UD and Dayton 6th will do all they can to make sure that DaRon Holmes II decision will be strictly a basketball decision and not an economic decision. At the same time, Dayton has to be and is hitting the portal as if he is going—they can’t afford to do it any other way.
CLOSING
That does it for this edition of the War Room! Thank you to all of you… You are what makes this board so special and the best place to talk Dayton basketball all year round! A special welcome to all of those that have signed up for FlyerHoops recently, hope you’re enjoying all the nuggets, tidbits, etc that the site and forum provides. I watched the last seven minutes of the Nevada game again this morning, I can’t get enough! I suggest a random replay of that game any time you can. Until next time… WE ARE!
