Welcome to the 3rd 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 3rd edition of the War Room for the 2017 off-season!
HIRING PROCESS
Anthony Grant reportedly received a lot of interest from around the country of candidates wanting to join his staff at Dayton. Here’s my best understanding of how it went down:
Supposedly, there was some sort of polling of people about what was good and what was bad about the previous regime. The overwhelming good and the “legacy” was the continuity and chemistry of the coaching staff. The three assistant coaches were all in the same positions at UD from the start until the end of the Archie Miller era at Dayton.
Anthony Grant invited candidates to come in and sit down with him, sometimes over lunch, and did somewhat of a feeling out process with those potential assistants. Often times, he was asking them questions about their vision and philosophy if they were a part of his staff.
He wanted to make sure that the chemistry would be there amongst his staff. From what I was told, if all three guys were not on board, he may choose to go an entirely different direction with all three.
Grant was in Oklahoma City over the weekend for his birthday and Easter. By Sunday, I am told, his staff was complete. There first day on campus supposedly will be Wednesday.
HIS STAFF
While I already broke the news on Anthony Solomon joining Grant’s staff, one tidbit I got wind of a little later on was that Soloman will not only be the lead assistant, but could even be given the title of Associate Head Coach. That will likely be known for sure when the school makes an official announcement of the hiring.
I'm hearing that James Kane from Murray State is expected to be named the second assistant. Kane has been a part of the Murray State staff for six years, four under Steve Prohm and the last two for Matt McMahon. He would be the only one on the staff with a direct connection to Anthony Grant. Kane was the video coordinator for two seasons at VCU with Grant and two seasons in the same role at Alabama. At VCU, Kane helped the Rams to back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association championships in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. He spent the 2006-07 season as a graduate assistant at VCU where he was part of the effort that saw VCU make the NCAA Tournament and upset Duke in the first round. He graduated from the University of Florida in 2005.
The final spot is a name I posted yesterday on the board—Ricardo Greer is expected to be the third assistant. He was most recently Director of Player Development at UCF for both Donnie Jones and Johnny Dawkins. He is from New York City originally and is said to have strong European ties after spending more than a dozen years playing professionally overseas. He played in college at Pitt from 1997-2001. I was told that Donnie Jones really pushed for him to be on staff and there’s some excitement about him becoming a full-time assistant for the first time with the expirrences and ties he brings.
Lastly, I am told there is a final position that will be a support role on his staff, but not a Director of Basketball Operations. Andy Farrell is thought to be the front-runner for the position and the spot will work closely alongside Darren Hertz. Farrell has been lead assistant at Southwest Mississippi Community College for the past three seasons. He worked for Anthony Grant at VCU as Assistant Video Coordinator and a Graduate Assistant. He’s a native of Dayton and is one of a trio of brothers that has spent time in the basketball program at UD.
PG PRIORITY
As news broke by Tom Archdeacon earlier this week of John Crosby’s transfer, the opportunity for a point guard to come in and lead this program has never been so evident. When the recruiting period opened for Anthony Grant for the first time at Dayton, the first visitor on campus was Jaaron Simmons.
That was before Grant had any of his staff in place. He’s reached out recently to Simmons and wants to bring him back on campus as soon as possible to meet his entire staff. With the live period looming on Friday, Thursday has been the day discussed for that potential meeting.
Simmons took an official visit to Michigan this past weekend and is also being courted by Ohio State, who met with him in Dayton the same day as he visited UD. Kansas is also said to be involved, but some sources are saying it may be tough for KU because he’d like to stay close to home. And of course, Ohio University is still in play.
Jaaron would be a huge get for UD and fill a hole that has gotten even bigger over the past couple of weeks at the point guard spot. There seems to be a strong confidence, though, that the Dayton staff could be equally beneficial for Jaaron with the guards that Anthony Grant and Anthony Solomon have been around and developed over the years. His next step could be known by the end of this month.
HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
There seems to be quite an aggressive timeline for this week. The staff is supposed to be all arriving on campus at some point today. They will begin discussions about the direction they need to go with the program immediately including current guys, future guys, and targeted guys.
They’ll hopefully have their introductory meeting with Simmons on Thursday and on top of that be cramming before the Evaluation Period begins on Friday.
I talked with Dwayne Wise from Team Melo last week and he let me know that Anthony Grant is supposed to attend the first session of the EYBL in to evaluate 2018's Laquill Hardnett, Anthony Higgs, Demetrius Mims, and Koran Moore as well as 2019 Jason Murphy. Kevin Kuwik actually was the one who he spoke to, but did let him know that the head coach would be the one supposedly attending and evaluating his players.
The first session opens up in Hampton, Virginia, replacing Brooklyn where the first EYBL session had been hosted. The next two weekends will be crucial for the new staff as they try to identify the prospects they want to forge relationships with in the next two recruiting classes. It will be exciting to cover and watch unfold as Anthony Grant and his staff put their own stamp on the Dayton basketball program.
CLOSING
That does it for this edition of the War Room. It’s about to get real now over the next month, month and a half. As always, welcome to the new subscribers and thank you to those that this is not their first rodeo. You guys are ALL the reason why this is the best site for Dayton basketball, 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 3rd edition of the War Room for the 2017 off-season!
HIRING PROCESS
Anthony Grant reportedly received a lot of interest from around the country of candidates wanting to join his staff at Dayton. Here’s my best understanding of how it went down:
Supposedly, there was some sort of polling of people about what was good and what was bad about the previous regime. The overwhelming good and the “legacy” was the continuity and chemistry of the coaching staff. The three assistant coaches were all in the same positions at UD from the start until the end of the Archie Miller era at Dayton.
Anthony Grant invited candidates to come in and sit down with him, sometimes over lunch, and did somewhat of a feeling out process with those potential assistants. Often times, he was asking them questions about their vision and philosophy if they were a part of his staff.
He wanted to make sure that the chemistry would be there amongst his staff. From what I was told, if all three guys were not on board, he may choose to go an entirely different direction with all three.
Grant was in Oklahoma City over the weekend for his birthday and Easter. By Sunday, I am told, his staff was complete. There first day on campus supposedly will be Wednesday.
HIS STAFF
While I already broke the news on Anthony Solomon joining Grant’s staff, one tidbit I got wind of a little later on was that Soloman will not only be the lead assistant, but could even be given the title of Associate Head Coach. That will likely be known for sure when the school makes an official announcement of the hiring.
I'm hearing that James Kane from Murray State is expected to be named the second assistant. Kane has been a part of the Murray State staff for six years, four under Steve Prohm and the last two for Matt McMahon. He would be the only one on the staff with a direct connection to Anthony Grant. Kane was the video coordinator for two seasons at VCU with Grant and two seasons in the same role at Alabama. At VCU, Kane helped the Rams to back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association championships in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. He spent the 2006-07 season as a graduate assistant at VCU where he was part of the effort that saw VCU make the NCAA Tournament and upset Duke in the first round. He graduated from the University of Florida in 2005.
The final spot is a name I posted yesterday on the board—Ricardo Greer is expected to be the third assistant. He was most recently Director of Player Development at UCF for both Donnie Jones and Johnny Dawkins. He is from New York City originally and is said to have strong European ties after spending more than a dozen years playing professionally overseas. He played in college at Pitt from 1997-2001. I was told that Donnie Jones really pushed for him to be on staff and there’s some excitement about him becoming a full-time assistant for the first time with the expirrences and ties he brings.
Lastly, I am told there is a final position that will be a support role on his staff, but not a Director of Basketball Operations. Andy Farrell is thought to be the front-runner for the position and the spot will work closely alongside Darren Hertz. Farrell has been lead assistant at Southwest Mississippi Community College for the past three seasons. He worked for Anthony Grant at VCU as Assistant Video Coordinator and a Graduate Assistant. He’s a native of Dayton and is one of a trio of brothers that has spent time in the basketball program at UD.
PG PRIORITY
As news broke by Tom Archdeacon earlier this week of John Crosby’s transfer, the opportunity for a point guard to come in and lead this program has never been so evident. When the recruiting period opened for Anthony Grant for the first time at Dayton, the first visitor on campus was Jaaron Simmons.
That was before Grant had any of his staff in place. He’s reached out recently to Simmons and wants to bring him back on campus as soon as possible to meet his entire staff. With the live period looming on Friday, Thursday has been the day discussed for that potential meeting.
Simmons took an official visit to Michigan this past weekend and is also being courted by Ohio State, who met with him in Dayton the same day as he visited UD. Kansas is also said to be involved, but some sources are saying it may be tough for KU because he’d like to stay close to home. And of course, Ohio University is still in play.
Jaaron would be a huge get for UD and fill a hole that has gotten even bigger over the past couple of weeks at the point guard spot. There seems to be a strong confidence, though, that the Dayton staff could be equally beneficial for Jaaron with the guards that Anthony Grant and Anthony Solomon have been around and developed over the years. His next step could be known by the end of this month.
HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
There seems to be quite an aggressive timeline for this week. The staff is supposed to be all arriving on campus at some point today. They will begin discussions about the direction they need to go with the program immediately including current guys, future guys, and targeted guys.
They’ll hopefully have their introductory meeting with Simmons on Thursday and on top of that be cramming before the Evaluation Period begins on Friday.
I talked with Dwayne Wise from Team Melo last week and he let me know that Anthony Grant is supposed to attend the first session of the EYBL in to evaluate 2018's Laquill Hardnett, Anthony Higgs, Demetrius Mims, and Koran Moore as well as 2019 Jason Murphy. Kevin Kuwik actually was the one who he spoke to, but did let him know that the head coach would be the one supposedly attending and evaluating his players.
The first session opens up in Hampton, Virginia, replacing Brooklyn where the first EYBL session had been hosted. The next two weekends will be crucial for the new staff as they try to identify the prospects they want to forge relationships with in the next two recruiting classes. It will be exciting to cover and watch unfold as Anthony Grant and his staff put their own stamp on the Dayton basketball program.
CLOSING
That does it for this edition of the War Room. It’s about to get real now over the next month, month and a half. As always, welcome to the new subscribers and thank you to those that this is not their first rodeo. You guys are ALL the reason why this is the best site for Dayton basketball, so thank you again!
