Welcome to the 1st installment of The War Room for 2022! 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 1st edition of the War Room for 2022!
AG
I've been working phone lines and text messages immediately following the news that Mike White was leaving the University of Florida on Sunday. Florida was described to me as one of only a handful of schools that Anthony Grant would POSSIBLY leave Dayton for, but not a foregone conclusion. I've been told since December that Grant would be a top candidate for UF should it open at the end of the season when rumblings that Mike White was not happy in Gainesville began circulating.
Discussions I have had with several sources is that Anthony Grant is at the top of Florida's list. For the "Bull Gators", the top UF donors, Anthony Grant would be a link to the storied past under Billy Donovan. Back-to-back National Championships. Three Final Fours together. Something those that follow UF basketball closely are absolutely clamoring for.
Nobody has said whether or not Anthony Grant has an offer currently on the table. When trying to throw out other potential candidates, all signs point even more to AG though. I was told if he does turn down Florida, it would also mean that he would have to turn down Billy Donovan as they will get him involved as well.
As you can see by reading twitter or even on this message board, there is a two sides of the fence when it comes to how you view Anthony Grant as a coach (not that he reads that). The chatter of one NCAA in five seasons. Not a good coach in close games, so on. If he doesn't make the NCAA tournament next season, he'd likely be entering the 2023-2024 season on with some extreme pressure, justifiably. Signing a new contract elsewhere for 6-7 years provides stability, not to mention all the other perks a school like Florida has to offer.
From Dayton's perspective, be on alert and definitely take this very seriously. I've never been able to get concrete details on his current contract, but I've been told that Dayton would likely match any figure that Florida offers and that his extension last season likely included a bigger buy-out (Not that a buy-out is a deterrent for UF). Dayton does have a lot of things going for them though. They brought him back into college basketball after being fired. He has already been in the SEC and it didn't work out (although the SEC wasn't really committed to basketball heavily at that time). This is his alma mater that he's coaching, and the assumption is he has a very strong nucleus returning next season. High major support already. Is it enough to turn down everything that Florida has to offer? It's been portrayed as a 50-50 proposition to me that he stays or goes.
BIG EAST
The one big potential lure away from Dayton is conference affiliation as the SEC schools have taken big steps in recent years to embrace their basketball programs. The SEC landscape in terms of college basketball is much different than when Anthony Grant was coaching at Alabama.
With that being said, my sources are as confident as they’ve ever been about Dayton potentially being invited to the Big East. Last fall, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman floated the idea of expansion to the media and Big East coaches fielded questions on the topic at Media Day. The feedback seemed to be that they all need to be open-minded if it’s going to better the conference.
As I’ve told you previously, President Spina has taken the lead in most of the conversations from Dayton’s side. I’m told he is all over this situation of late and in frequent contact with his Big East contacts.
They are definitely at the table and something could happen as soon as this early summer, according to one source. It’s likely that Dayton may have to give up a year or two of conference money to appease the other Big East schools, but I think UD is willing to get to the alter. Like I’ve always cautioned you, I’ll believe it when I see it. But for whatever reason, my sources think UD is getting very close.
TARGETS
I'm going to say this upfront, I am not going to speculate on who may be departing the program at season's end. From what I'm gathering though, I am expecting at least two members on the current roster to not return for the 2022-2023 Flyers next season.
It sounds like Dayton will be heavily involved in the transfer portal when it comes to point guards or at least combo guards that can handle the rock. Zeb Jackson is the immediate thought that comes to everyone’s head, but I’m not sure where he’s at on Dayton’s list or vice versa.
Another couple names I’ve been told to keep an eye on are former Sydney guard Andre Gordon, who averaged six points and 39% three-point in about 21 minutes a game. I’ve also been told to keep an eye on Ahron Ulis (3.5 ppg, 14 mins) from Iowa and Grand Canyon’s Jovan Blacksher (16 points, 4 assists. If any of these guys hop into the portal, I’d expect Dayton to get involved.
Same goes for the frontcourt, a familiar name in Keon Ambrose. The former Dayton target saw action in just 11 games this season and averaged a single point and less than a rebound. We all thought he made a bad choice when he announced Alabama over Dayton, but the first two years at Bama have proven that. I would expect Dayton to get involved with him if he decides to leave Tuscaloosa. Another interesting one would be if Jacob Toppin wants more of an opportunity than what he is getting at Kentucky, and hopefully my post (https://dayton.forums.rivals.com/th...d-the-country-thread.6455/page-11#post-155937) makes more sense now. Unlike Ambrose, who should have picked Dayton the first time, Jacob should have picked Dayton twice now. Maybe third time is the charm.
Lastly, UD coaches have been tracking Rich Rolf very closely the second half of this season. He’s averaging 17.5 points a game for undefeated Centerville as they are seeking back-to-back state championships. Dayton had him in for the Davidson win, but are waiting to make sure there is a scholarship available before offering. I’m told Ricardo Greer is heading up his recruitment and is VERY high on him. If Dayton can keep their main nucleus together, this 2022-2023 roster is going to be SCARY good.
NIL
Part of the challenge of keeping this nucleus together will be the NIL money that these bigger schools can now legally throw around. And guess what? Just like there are backdoors to seeing if recruits are thinking about possibly transferring, there’s backdoors to seeing if they are happy with their endorsements too. It’s a real thing.
I’m not accusing anybody and I’m not saying this happened, but it would be very easy for John Calipari and his staff to have TyTy Washington reach out to his buddy DaRon Holmes II to see if he’s happy at Dayton and would be interested in making more money via NIL. Maybe send him a picture of his new Porsche. It would be that easy to open up a dialogue between two old friends.
With that being said, I’ve been told that Neil Sullivan has been pretty vocal and out in front with Dayton-area businesses, asking them to step up and start finding ways to support these kids financially with endorsement deals and other perks via the NIL deals.
White-Allen, a long-time sponsor of Dayton basketball, is one of those businesses that they’re hoping will figure out a way to lease vehicles to the basketball players. Unlike these big Power Five schools, these businesses only have 15-30 kids to take care instead of 100-plus when you throw in football. No reason why Dayton shouldn’t dominate or be one of the top college basketball programs in terms of Name, Image, and Likeness opportunities.
CLOSING
That does it for this edition of the War Room! A formal welcome to the new subscribers and a thank you to you long, loyal subscribers. You all are the reason why this site is the best place to talk Dayton basketball all year round. As you could probably tell from my pre-game story Sunday, it seems like Malachi Smith is done for the year. I have no doubt he will be back better than ever. He's a hard worker that overcame a preseason injury and got back quicker than expected to help turn this into a very good season. It was heartbreaking seeing him with tears in his eyes on Saturday, but I am told he is in much better spirits since then. Until next time.... WE ARE....
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 1st edition of the War Room for 2022!
AG
I've been working phone lines and text messages immediately following the news that Mike White was leaving the University of Florida on Sunday. Florida was described to me as one of only a handful of schools that Anthony Grant would POSSIBLY leave Dayton for, but not a foregone conclusion. I've been told since December that Grant would be a top candidate for UF should it open at the end of the season when rumblings that Mike White was not happy in Gainesville began circulating.
Discussions I have had with several sources is that Anthony Grant is at the top of Florida's list. For the "Bull Gators", the top UF donors, Anthony Grant would be a link to the storied past under Billy Donovan. Back-to-back National Championships. Three Final Fours together. Something those that follow UF basketball closely are absolutely clamoring for.
Nobody has said whether or not Anthony Grant has an offer currently on the table. When trying to throw out other potential candidates, all signs point even more to AG though. I was told if he does turn down Florida, it would also mean that he would have to turn down Billy Donovan as they will get him involved as well.
As you can see by reading twitter or even on this message board, there is a two sides of the fence when it comes to how you view Anthony Grant as a coach (not that he reads that). The chatter of one NCAA in five seasons. Not a good coach in close games, so on. If he doesn't make the NCAA tournament next season, he'd likely be entering the 2023-2024 season on with some extreme pressure, justifiably. Signing a new contract elsewhere for 6-7 years provides stability, not to mention all the other perks a school like Florida has to offer.
From Dayton's perspective, be on alert and definitely take this very seriously. I've never been able to get concrete details on his current contract, but I've been told that Dayton would likely match any figure that Florida offers and that his extension last season likely included a bigger buy-out (Not that a buy-out is a deterrent for UF). Dayton does have a lot of things going for them though. They brought him back into college basketball after being fired. He has already been in the SEC and it didn't work out (although the SEC wasn't really committed to basketball heavily at that time). This is his alma mater that he's coaching, and the assumption is he has a very strong nucleus returning next season. High major support already. Is it enough to turn down everything that Florida has to offer? It's been portrayed as a 50-50 proposition to me that he stays or goes.
BIG EAST
The one big potential lure away from Dayton is conference affiliation as the SEC schools have taken big steps in recent years to embrace their basketball programs. The SEC landscape in terms of college basketball is much different than when Anthony Grant was coaching at Alabama.
With that being said, my sources are as confident as they’ve ever been about Dayton potentially being invited to the Big East. Last fall, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman floated the idea of expansion to the media and Big East coaches fielded questions on the topic at Media Day. The feedback seemed to be that they all need to be open-minded if it’s going to better the conference.
As I’ve told you previously, President Spina has taken the lead in most of the conversations from Dayton’s side. I’m told he is all over this situation of late and in frequent contact with his Big East contacts.
They are definitely at the table and something could happen as soon as this early summer, according to one source. It’s likely that Dayton may have to give up a year or two of conference money to appease the other Big East schools, but I think UD is willing to get to the alter. Like I’ve always cautioned you, I’ll believe it when I see it. But for whatever reason, my sources think UD is getting very close.
TARGETS
I'm going to say this upfront, I am not going to speculate on who may be departing the program at season's end. From what I'm gathering though, I am expecting at least two members on the current roster to not return for the 2022-2023 Flyers next season.
It sounds like Dayton will be heavily involved in the transfer portal when it comes to point guards or at least combo guards that can handle the rock. Zeb Jackson is the immediate thought that comes to everyone’s head, but I’m not sure where he’s at on Dayton’s list or vice versa.
Another couple names I’ve been told to keep an eye on are former Sydney guard Andre Gordon, who averaged six points and 39% three-point in about 21 minutes a game. I’ve also been told to keep an eye on Ahron Ulis (3.5 ppg, 14 mins) from Iowa and Grand Canyon’s Jovan Blacksher (16 points, 4 assists. If any of these guys hop into the portal, I’d expect Dayton to get involved.
Same goes for the frontcourt, a familiar name in Keon Ambrose. The former Dayton target saw action in just 11 games this season and averaged a single point and less than a rebound. We all thought he made a bad choice when he announced Alabama over Dayton, but the first two years at Bama have proven that. I would expect Dayton to get involved with him if he decides to leave Tuscaloosa. Another interesting one would be if Jacob Toppin wants more of an opportunity than what he is getting at Kentucky, and hopefully my post (https://dayton.forums.rivals.com/th...d-the-country-thread.6455/page-11#post-155937) makes more sense now. Unlike Ambrose, who should have picked Dayton the first time, Jacob should have picked Dayton twice now. Maybe third time is the charm.
Lastly, UD coaches have been tracking Rich Rolf very closely the second half of this season. He’s averaging 17.5 points a game for undefeated Centerville as they are seeking back-to-back state championships. Dayton had him in for the Davidson win, but are waiting to make sure there is a scholarship available before offering. I’m told Ricardo Greer is heading up his recruitment and is VERY high on him. If Dayton can keep their main nucleus together, this 2022-2023 roster is going to be SCARY good.
NIL
Part of the challenge of keeping this nucleus together will be the NIL money that these bigger schools can now legally throw around. And guess what? Just like there are backdoors to seeing if recruits are thinking about possibly transferring, there’s backdoors to seeing if they are happy with their endorsements too. It’s a real thing.
I’m not accusing anybody and I’m not saying this happened, but it would be very easy for John Calipari and his staff to have TyTy Washington reach out to his buddy DaRon Holmes II to see if he’s happy at Dayton and would be interested in making more money via NIL. Maybe send him a picture of his new Porsche. It would be that easy to open up a dialogue between two old friends.
With that being said, I’ve been told that Neil Sullivan has been pretty vocal and out in front with Dayton-area businesses, asking them to step up and start finding ways to support these kids financially with endorsement deals and other perks via the NIL deals.
White-Allen, a long-time sponsor of Dayton basketball, is one of those businesses that they’re hoping will figure out a way to lease vehicles to the basketball players. Unlike these big Power Five schools, these businesses only have 15-30 kids to take care instead of 100-plus when you throw in football. No reason why Dayton shouldn’t dominate or be one of the top college basketball programs in terms of Name, Image, and Likeness opportunities.
CLOSING
That does it for this edition of the War Room! A formal welcome to the new subscribers and a thank you to you long, loyal subscribers. You all are the reason why this site is the best place to talk Dayton basketball all year round. As you could probably tell from my pre-game story Sunday, it seems like Malachi Smith is done for the year. I have no doubt he will be back better than ever. He's a hard worker that overcame a preseason injury and got back quicker than expected to help turn this into a very good season. It was heartbreaking seeing him with tears in his eyes on Saturday, but I am told he is in much better spirits since then. Until next time.... WE ARE....
