Welcome to the 2nd installment of The War Room for the off-season of 2017. 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 the 2017 off-season!
MR. MINNESOTA
First and foremost, Thursday night served as the night of Coach Grant’s first face-to-face with prized basketball recruit and Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball, point guard McKinley Wright. The meeting took place at a Minneapolis Applebees at 8 p.m. CST.
Wright told me he had a huge supporting cast with him including his mother, Coach Al (Harris), his brother, his grandma, and his cousin. The meeting lasted between two and three hours long and was said to be “pretty good.”
Wright said that it was very similar to meetings with Archie Miller and the vision for how he will be used at Dayton was nearly the same. He said both coaches stressed how they see him playing big minutes as a true freshman next year.
He wrapped up the conversation telling me that he didn’t know what’s next for him just yet, but did note, “Obviously, I feel like Dayton is headed in the right direction as before.”
GET EM, AG!
Wright was not the only recruit he met with yesterday. Anthony Grant wasted very little time as soon as the dead period flipped over on Thursday at 12 noon. At 1 p.m., he was already hosting his first recruit for a visit. Former Alter point guard Jaaron Simmons, along with his family, met with Coach Grant on Dayton’s campus yesterday.
Simmons quietly received his release last week and is said to be just doing his due diligence. After declaring for the NBA Draft (without an agent), getting his release, he is exploring every option possible. He didn’t want the circus that surrounds a lot of graduate transfers when they receive their release so that is why I am only putting it on the Red and Blue Forum and not into an article.
Ohio University, his current home, is still a possibility as well. He really just wants to find the best option for his final year of college eligibility. Simmons was a consistent visitor at Dayton games under Brian Gregory and was very close to the program for so many years. With the exit of Scoochie Smith, the Flyers could benefit immensely by bringing in an experienced point guard, let alone the one of Simmons’ caliber.
He’s also expected to host a couple other handpicked schools in Dayton. He’ll likely take the entire month of April with these meetings and NBA workouts before he decides where he’ll go for next season.
BIG FRIDAY
Today wraps up a strong first week on the job for Coach Grant. By the end of today, he will have met with all four signed recruits. He met with Pierce on Monday, Wright on Thursday, and meets with Jordan Davis and Nahziah Carter today.
I’m not quite sure how he is going to accomplish this, but Coach Grant is set to to meet with Jordan Davis in Irmo, South Carolina at 3 p.m. From there, he will fly to New Jersey for a meeting with Nahziah Carter. The meeting was originally set for 6, but was pushed back to 7 p.m. to allow for Coach Grant’s travel.
In my opinion, these two recruits today are the most likely to stick to their commitments if I was a betting man. Both players seem to be even keel and haven’t been too vocal in the face of adversity when the coach they original committed to left.
Dayton has five committed (four signed) recruits and only Darrell Davis graduating currently in the 2018 class. If all five don’t stay committed, graduate transfers like Simmons will help with evening out classes. We’ll likely find out which recruits plan on staying or looking elsewhere in the next week or two.
STAFF RUMBLINGS
The coaching staff is very much up in the air after the Donnie Jones hire reportedly fell through. Obviously, the problems at UCF warranted a more thorough background check before he’d be able to join the fold.
Sources say the Jones hire needed to be approved by the President and Athletic Director at Dayton and it didn’t get the blessing. Everyone I had talked to had said he would have been a “great hire” or a “homerun hire” on Grant’s staff, but you have to appreciate the administration making a tough decision for the good of the school and basketball program.
Most still believe that Tom Ostrom is headed to Indiana, but I am not sure if the door is completely closed on a return to Dayton yet. He’s still employed by UD apparently and was seen around the athletic offices in each of the past couple of days. It could be as simple as him helping out a friend during a time of transition, particularly helpful before Grant was to visit Ostrom’s marquee recruit on Thursday night.
The only other two bits of coaching news I heard was one source told me he’d “be shocked if Darren Hertz was not the DOBO” and another confirmed that Jermaine Henderson has not received an offer to join Coach Grant’s staff as of now. Looks like recruits were the priority this week and attention may turn to filling out his staff in the next few days.
CLOSING
That does it for this edition of the War Room. What a fun couple of weeks this has been covering a new era of Dayton basketball. I’m excited to see what transpires over the next month because there’s still a lot of work to be done as Coach Grant transitions back to his alma mater. Welcome and thank you to the new subscribers that signed up to follow the coaching search and of course thank you to all the others that have been members for quite some time now! This is the best site to talk Dayton basketball and it’s because of all of you, so thank you again!
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 the 2017 off-season!
MR. MINNESOTA
First and foremost, Thursday night served as the night of Coach Grant’s first face-to-face with prized basketball recruit and Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball, point guard McKinley Wright. The meeting took place at a Minneapolis Applebees at 8 p.m. CST.
Wright told me he had a huge supporting cast with him including his mother, Coach Al (Harris), his brother, his grandma, and his cousin. The meeting lasted between two and three hours long and was said to be “pretty good.”
Wright said that it was very similar to meetings with Archie Miller and the vision for how he will be used at Dayton was nearly the same. He said both coaches stressed how they see him playing big minutes as a true freshman next year.
He wrapped up the conversation telling me that he didn’t know what’s next for him just yet, but did note, “Obviously, I feel like Dayton is headed in the right direction as before.”
GET EM, AG!
Wright was not the only recruit he met with yesterday. Anthony Grant wasted very little time as soon as the dead period flipped over on Thursday at 12 noon. At 1 p.m., he was already hosting his first recruit for a visit. Former Alter point guard Jaaron Simmons, along with his family, met with Coach Grant on Dayton’s campus yesterday.
Simmons quietly received his release last week and is said to be just doing his due diligence. After declaring for the NBA Draft (without an agent), getting his release, he is exploring every option possible. He didn’t want the circus that surrounds a lot of graduate transfers when they receive their release so that is why I am only putting it on the Red and Blue Forum and not into an article.
Ohio University, his current home, is still a possibility as well. He really just wants to find the best option for his final year of college eligibility. Simmons was a consistent visitor at Dayton games under Brian Gregory and was very close to the program for so many years. With the exit of Scoochie Smith, the Flyers could benefit immensely by bringing in an experienced point guard, let alone the one of Simmons’ caliber.
He’s also expected to host a couple other handpicked schools in Dayton. He’ll likely take the entire month of April with these meetings and NBA workouts before he decides where he’ll go for next season.
BIG FRIDAY
Today wraps up a strong first week on the job for Coach Grant. By the end of today, he will have met with all four signed recruits. He met with Pierce on Monday, Wright on Thursday, and meets with Jordan Davis and Nahziah Carter today.
I’m not quite sure how he is going to accomplish this, but Coach Grant is set to to meet with Jordan Davis in Irmo, South Carolina at 3 p.m. From there, he will fly to New Jersey for a meeting with Nahziah Carter. The meeting was originally set for 6, but was pushed back to 7 p.m. to allow for Coach Grant’s travel.
In my opinion, these two recruits today are the most likely to stick to their commitments if I was a betting man. Both players seem to be even keel and haven’t been too vocal in the face of adversity when the coach they original committed to left.
Dayton has five committed (four signed) recruits and only Darrell Davis graduating currently in the 2018 class. If all five don’t stay committed, graduate transfers like Simmons will help with evening out classes. We’ll likely find out which recruits plan on staying or looking elsewhere in the next week or two.
STAFF RUMBLINGS
The coaching staff is very much up in the air after the Donnie Jones hire reportedly fell through. Obviously, the problems at UCF warranted a more thorough background check before he’d be able to join the fold.
Sources say the Jones hire needed to be approved by the President and Athletic Director at Dayton and it didn’t get the blessing. Everyone I had talked to had said he would have been a “great hire” or a “homerun hire” on Grant’s staff, but you have to appreciate the administration making a tough decision for the good of the school and basketball program.
Most still believe that Tom Ostrom is headed to Indiana, but I am not sure if the door is completely closed on a return to Dayton yet. He’s still employed by UD apparently and was seen around the athletic offices in each of the past couple of days. It could be as simple as him helping out a friend during a time of transition, particularly helpful before Grant was to visit Ostrom’s marquee recruit on Thursday night.
The only other two bits of coaching news I heard was one source told me he’d “be shocked if Darren Hertz was not the DOBO” and another confirmed that Jermaine Henderson has not received an offer to join Coach Grant’s staff as of now. Looks like recruits were the priority this week and attention may turn to filling out his staff in the next few days.
CLOSING
That does it for this edition of the War Room. What a fun couple of weeks this has been covering a new era of Dayton basketball. I’m excited to see what transpires over the next month because there’s still a lot of work to be done as Coach Grant transitions back to his alma mater. Welcome and thank you to the new subscribers that signed up to follow the coaching search and of course thank you to all the others that have been members for quite some time now! This is the best site to talk Dayton basketball and it’s because of all of you, so thank you again!
