Welcome to the 7th installment of The War Room for the off-season of 2010. 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. Here it is, the 7th edition of The War Room for the 2010 off-season:
KD's visit
Talked to some of my sources and talked to Kevin's dad briefly. Believe it or not, Big Kevin hadn't really talked to his son that much at that point last night when he and I talked. He was still at work and barely talked to Little Kevin on Tuesday night. He said Kevin was having fun hanging out with Josh Parker, but he wanted to let him enjoy himself on his visit and would talk to him when he returned to the Windy City. As it was at that point, he was definitely going to be taking his visit to Alabama.. but things could change.
First, got a couple emails on this... the reason for so much time between the Dayton visit and a Bama visit? Today starts a dead period and that lasts until the 28th. When the dead period ends, it's Memorial Day weekend and they didn't want him to visit then.
One person told me they thought he ultimately would choose Dayton, but wasn't sure if Kevin would wait until his original June 5th decision date. Kevin himself told me last week, "If I would have taken a visit to Dayton and really talked to BG instead of rushing into a decision to go to SIU, I probably would have ended up at Dayton."
Time will tell, but from everyone I talked to, things seemed to have gone extremely well. They told me he really fit in well with the guys and it was quite evident. The perimeter possibilities in two years of Kevin Dillard, Juwan Staten, Josh Parker, Paul Williams, Brandon Spearman, and Chris Johnson has a lot of the people I talked to very excited. I think at this point, with all I gathered, I'd be surprised if he didn't end up a Flyer and soon.
No visit in May for Mays
Apparently, Julius Mays visited Wright State last Wednesday and called up Dayton and wanted to take a visit. The Flyers talked to him and were interested in him, but quickly learned they wouldn't be able to meet his needs. Mays biggest concern apparently was playing time and Dayton felt like he could play at UD, but would be more of a role player instead of getting the type of PT he wanted.
He didn't visit Dayton on Sunday as his high school head coach Joe Luce thought he was going to and no, the Flyers never offered him a scholarship. Just as I thought, it might have been someone they circled back around to had things not worked out with Kevin Dillard. KD was/is/will be the UD focus for the 2010 scholarship. It was probably a better fit for Wright State and Mays to move forward together, and I think it will work out nicely for the both of them.
Way up there
Not a lot of coaches travel up to Northern Michigan to recruit basketball players because of the lack of competition. But as we saw, Dayton was one of the first schools on Dwaun Anderson and we know how good he is and how much he blew up when he got some exposure. One of their main rivals is St. Francis and they have a 6-9 sophomore named Sean Sheldon that has grown four inches in the past year! He already has MAC offers from Miami and Central Michigan and is being recruited by Dayton, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State. He's a very cerebral post player with polished moves in the paint. Should start to see his recruiting expand after more teams become familiar with him.
Names to Remember
When Percy Gibson came to Dayton for a game last year, AAU coach Paul Carmona brought a couple of his talented young players coming up too. The four of them saw the Flyers play extremely well, posting a 20+ point victory over Massachusetts. The two players that were also in attendance with Carmona were Javontae Hawkins and Denzell Watts. Hawkins is a 6-5 sophomore wing that is athletic, long, and can shoot. Watts is a 6-0, 175-pound freshman that is already drawing comparisons to Mateen Cleaves.
Dayton is in on a couple good point guards in that class including the local big one - Jaaron Simmons from Alter. I know they're in good with Jaaron, but you know when a Mateen comparison is made that BG has to be intrigued.
That does it for this edition of the War Room. A big baseball weekend for the Flyers starts tonight (I'll have an article up shortly) and of course, I will let you know when I hear something or talk to Little Kevin.
And as always, thanks to all the new subscribers that signed up and the ones that have been loyal to making this the best site to talk Dayton basketball.
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. Here it is, the 7th edition of The War Room for the 2010 off-season:
KD's visit
Talked to some of my sources and talked to Kevin's dad briefly. Believe it or not, Big Kevin hadn't really talked to his son that much at that point last night when he and I talked. He was still at work and barely talked to Little Kevin on Tuesday night. He said Kevin was having fun hanging out with Josh Parker, but he wanted to let him enjoy himself on his visit and would talk to him when he returned to the Windy City. As it was at that point, he was definitely going to be taking his visit to Alabama.. but things could change.
First, got a couple emails on this... the reason for so much time between the Dayton visit and a Bama visit? Today starts a dead period and that lasts until the 28th. When the dead period ends, it's Memorial Day weekend and they didn't want him to visit then.
One person told me they thought he ultimately would choose Dayton, but wasn't sure if Kevin would wait until his original June 5th decision date. Kevin himself told me last week, "If I would have taken a visit to Dayton and really talked to BG instead of rushing into a decision to go to SIU, I probably would have ended up at Dayton."
Time will tell, but from everyone I talked to, things seemed to have gone extremely well. They told me he really fit in well with the guys and it was quite evident. The perimeter possibilities in two years of Kevin Dillard, Juwan Staten, Josh Parker, Paul Williams, Brandon Spearman, and Chris Johnson has a lot of the people I talked to very excited. I think at this point, with all I gathered, I'd be surprised if he didn't end up a Flyer and soon.
No visit in May for Mays
Apparently, Julius Mays visited Wright State last Wednesday and called up Dayton and wanted to take a visit. The Flyers talked to him and were interested in him, but quickly learned they wouldn't be able to meet his needs. Mays biggest concern apparently was playing time and Dayton felt like he could play at UD, but would be more of a role player instead of getting the type of PT he wanted.
He didn't visit Dayton on Sunday as his high school head coach Joe Luce thought he was going to and no, the Flyers never offered him a scholarship. Just as I thought, it might have been someone they circled back around to had things not worked out with Kevin Dillard. KD was/is/will be the UD focus for the 2010 scholarship. It was probably a better fit for Wright State and Mays to move forward together, and I think it will work out nicely for the both of them.
Way up there
Not a lot of coaches travel up to Northern Michigan to recruit basketball players because of the lack of competition. But as we saw, Dayton was one of the first schools on Dwaun Anderson and we know how good he is and how much he blew up when he got some exposure. One of their main rivals is St. Francis and they have a 6-9 sophomore named Sean Sheldon that has grown four inches in the past year! He already has MAC offers from Miami and Central Michigan and is being recruited by Dayton, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State. He's a very cerebral post player with polished moves in the paint. Should start to see his recruiting expand after more teams become familiar with him.
Names to Remember
When Percy Gibson came to Dayton for a game last year, AAU coach Paul Carmona brought a couple of his talented young players coming up too. The four of them saw the Flyers play extremely well, posting a 20+ point victory over Massachusetts. The two players that were also in attendance with Carmona were Javontae Hawkins and Denzell Watts. Hawkins is a 6-5 sophomore wing that is athletic, long, and can shoot. Watts is a 6-0, 175-pound freshman that is already drawing comparisons to Mateen Cleaves.
Dayton is in on a couple good point guards in that class including the local big one - Jaaron Simmons from Alter. I know they're in good with Jaaron, but you know when a Mateen comparison is made that BG has to be intrigued.
That does it for this edition of the War Room. A big baseball weekend for the Flyers starts tonight (I'll have an article up shortly) and of course, I will let you know when I hear something or talk to Little Kevin.
And as always, thanks to all the new subscribers that signed up and the ones that have been loyal to making this the best site to talk Dayton basketball.
