Welcome to the 4th installment of The War Room for the off-season of 2016. 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 4th edition of the War Room for the 2016 off-season!
GILYARD’S FALSE COMMITMENT
As most of you are aware by now, Brian Snow from Scout.com put out a tweet yesterday that Simeon point guard Evan Gilyard had committed to Dayton. Shortly after, he took the tweet down and explained that wires got crossed.
Evan text me not too long after the original tweet, saying that he had not committed to Dayton and that he has no idea where that information came from – “idk I guess rumor.” He then admitted he has no clue who Brian Snow is so the information Snow got didn’t come from him.
Gilyard did share with me that, “I’ll probably decide soon, but not as of now.” He went on to say he’s still making sure what is the best fit for him, which in my opinion, bodes well for Dayton’s chances.
Evan is averaging 5.6 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.1 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per game (7 games total) for MeanStreets AAU this spring. His shooting percentages are down except for an 8-10 effort from the free throw line. Dayton and UAB join a pack of mid-major Illinois schools who have offered Gilyard—Chicago State, Loyola, UIC, and Southern Illinois.
DETROIT DAVIS
Here’s the latest I have on Darrell Davis. I wasn’t expecting any kind of announcement this week with finals going on, and I received word from a very solid source mid-week that Darrell transferring was about “50-50” right now. Admittedly, when I posted about the rumbling, it didn’t come from a source inside the program, but it did come from a solid source that had a clean record for the past 15 years with such information.
When I was first told about it, the solid source said that it was “done” meaning it was going to happen. My first thought that came to mind was Darrell had been through a lot this past season with the health of a couple key family members, and he probably just wants to be closer to the ones he loves. Whether that has something to do with it, remains to be seen.
Darrell did improve in a lot of areas of his game this season. However, the main need for him is to be able to come off the bench and knock down perimeter shots. His 29.1% from the arc was very disappointing and his performance against Syracuse with two wide open air balls put a reverse exclamation point on what can only be considered a dreadful sophomore slump.
The fact that a second very solid source, who is around the program, said it was 50-50 tells me there is some real smoke. Archie Miller did show his belief in Darrell by continuously putting him out there as the sixth or seventh man off the bench. But outside of three banger at Rhode Island, his sophomore year was pretty much a nightmare for the kid that shot over 45% from three as a freshman. Confidence is key and it didn’t appear Davis was shooting with it for much of the season.
RETURN TO BAMA
Anyone that is a basketball fan in Tuscaloosa will have the Dayton game circled on the calendar for the 2016-2017 season. For a few reasons—revenge from a game where the Flyers flat-out embarrassed the Crimson Tide by 32 points at UD Arena before the Orlando Invitational. Second, because Dayton will likely be ranked heading to Tuscaloosa. Thirdly, Alabama, under first year head coach Avery Johnson, improved greatly as the season went on so there is excitement again around Tide basketball.
Now it appears those Alabama fans have a date they can circle. A source told me that the game in Tuscaloosa will likely played on Tuesday, November 15th. It’s very possible that this game will again be part of the 24-hour hoops marathon on ESPN, but no tip-time or television broadcast has been shared for this game at this time.
Alabama finished 18-5 (8-10 SEC) last season with a 10-4 mark at Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide looked like they might have a chance to get to the tournament after back-to-back road wins in the middle of February at Florida and at LSU. But they faltered in four of the final five games of the regular season and settled for an NIT berth.
They lost leading scorer Retin Obasohan and starter Arthur Edwards to graduation, of course Michael Kessens left along with Justin Coleman for other schools. But they welcome in grad transfer Corban Collins from Morehead State, Four-star forward Braxton Key from Oak Hill Academy and JUCO forward Ar’Mond Davis from College of Southern Idaho. Johnson has Alabama headed in the right direction again and Dayton will be a huge home game for them as he tries to guide them back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012.
BIG EAST EXPANSION
I spoke to a couple of people not too long ago about the possibility of Dayton getting an invitation to the Big East. There is Big East meetings at the end of this month and expansion is a topic on the agenda. Prior to the recent news of Wichita State, Dayton’s belief was that Saint Louis was a slam dunk to be invited if and when the Big East decided to expand. Citing their similar profile to other schools and their market.
Currently the closest drive to Creighton is from Marquette (7.5 hours). A Wichita State drive or a Saint Louis drive would be just a little more than six hours. With Wichita State now in play, is Saint Louis a slam dunk still? I’d have to think it would be looked at similarly to adding Dayton when they already have Xavier in the fold.
Another source told me that Dayton has something going for them that no other prospect could bring to the table. The Big East doesn’t like the fact there is no big-time rivalries within the conference, citing they were disappointed that the Butler-Xavier series hasn’t been better. Bringing Dayton in the mix would renew the Dayton-Xavier rivalry and likely give the conference their most intense rivalry.
Dayton’s TV ratings have been exceptional and if Fox Sports has their say, you have to believe they will push for UD’s inclusion. After all, they’re ponying up a lot of the money to the Big East members and they want their voice heard in decisions like this. Dayton’s basketball program is trending upward and inclusion should be a real possibility. The Big East, ultimately, has to want to expand or be recommended (forced) to expand. And we won’t know if either of those will happen until the end of the month.
CLOSING
That does it for this edition of the War Room. I’m told there will be no visitors this weekend and most likely next weekend with Dayton to Daytona happening, but after that, I would expect Dayton to host a transfer/grad-transfer for an official visit. As soon as I get word, I will pass that on.
Thanks to everyone for your continued support and a formal welcome to those new subscribers to the site. It's all of you that make this the best place to talk FlyerHoops all year round!
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 4th edition of the War Room for the 2016 off-season!
GILYARD’S FALSE COMMITMENT
As most of you are aware by now, Brian Snow from Scout.com put out a tweet yesterday that Simeon point guard Evan Gilyard had committed to Dayton. Shortly after, he took the tweet down and explained that wires got crossed.
Evan text me not too long after the original tweet, saying that he had not committed to Dayton and that he has no idea where that information came from – “idk I guess rumor.” He then admitted he has no clue who Brian Snow is so the information Snow got didn’t come from him.
Gilyard did share with me that, “I’ll probably decide soon, but not as of now.” He went on to say he’s still making sure what is the best fit for him, which in my opinion, bodes well for Dayton’s chances.
Evan is averaging 5.6 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.1 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per game (7 games total) for MeanStreets AAU this spring. His shooting percentages are down except for an 8-10 effort from the free throw line. Dayton and UAB join a pack of mid-major Illinois schools who have offered Gilyard—Chicago State, Loyola, UIC, and Southern Illinois.
DETROIT DAVIS
Here’s the latest I have on Darrell Davis. I wasn’t expecting any kind of announcement this week with finals going on, and I received word from a very solid source mid-week that Darrell transferring was about “50-50” right now. Admittedly, when I posted about the rumbling, it didn’t come from a source inside the program, but it did come from a solid source that had a clean record for the past 15 years with such information.
When I was first told about it, the solid source said that it was “done” meaning it was going to happen. My first thought that came to mind was Darrell had been through a lot this past season with the health of a couple key family members, and he probably just wants to be closer to the ones he loves. Whether that has something to do with it, remains to be seen.
Darrell did improve in a lot of areas of his game this season. However, the main need for him is to be able to come off the bench and knock down perimeter shots. His 29.1% from the arc was very disappointing and his performance against Syracuse with two wide open air balls put a reverse exclamation point on what can only be considered a dreadful sophomore slump.
The fact that a second very solid source, who is around the program, said it was 50-50 tells me there is some real smoke. Archie Miller did show his belief in Darrell by continuously putting him out there as the sixth or seventh man off the bench. But outside of three banger at Rhode Island, his sophomore year was pretty much a nightmare for the kid that shot over 45% from three as a freshman. Confidence is key and it didn’t appear Davis was shooting with it for much of the season.
RETURN TO BAMA
Anyone that is a basketball fan in Tuscaloosa will have the Dayton game circled on the calendar for the 2016-2017 season. For a few reasons—revenge from a game where the Flyers flat-out embarrassed the Crimson Tide by 32 points at UD Arena before the Orlando Invitational. Second, because Dayton will likely be ranked heading to Tuscaloosa. Thirdly, Alabama, under first year head coach Avery Johnson, improved greatly as the season went on so there is excitement again around Tide basketball.
Now it appears those Alabama fans have a date they can circle. A source told me that the game in Tuscaloosa will likely played on Tuesday, November 15th. It’s very possible that this game will again be part of the 24-hour hoops marathon on ESPN, but no tip-time or television broadcast has been shared for this game at this time.
Alabama finished 18-5 (8-10 SEC) last season with a 10-4 mark at Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide looked like they might have a chance to get to the tournament after back-to-back road wins in the middle of February at Florida and at LSU. But they faltered in four of the final five games of the regular season and settled for an NIT berth.
They lost leading scorer Retin Obasohan and starter Arthur Edwards to graduation, of course Michael Kessens left along with Justin Coleman for other schools. But they welcome in grad transfer Corban Collins from Morehead State, Four-star forward Braxton Key from Oak Hill Academy and JUCO forward Ar’Mond Davis from College of Southern Idaho. Johnson has Alabama headed in the right direction again and Dayton will be a huge home game for them as he tries to guide them back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012.
BIG EAST EXPANSION
I spoke to a couple of people not too long ago about the possibility of Dayton getting an invitation to the Big East. There is Big East meetings at the end of this month and expansion is a topic on the agenda. Prior to the recent news of Wichita State, Dayton’s belief was that Saint Louis was a slam dunk to be invited if and when the Big East decided to expand. Citing their similar profile to other schools and their market.
Currently the closest drive to Creighton is from Marquette (7.5 hours). A Wichita State drive or a Saint Louis drive would be just a little more than six hours. With Wichita State now in play, is Saint Louis a slam dunk still? I’d have to think it would be looked at similarly to adding Dayton when they already have Xavier in the fold.
Another source told me that Dayton has something going for them that no other prospect could bring to the table. The Big East doesn’t like the fact there is no big-time rivalries within the conference, citing they were disappointed that the Butler-Xavier series hasn’t been better. Bringing Dayton in the mix would renew the Dayton-Xavier rivalry and likely give the conference their most intense rivalry.
Dayton’s TV ratings have been exceptional and if Fox Sports has their say, you have to believe they will push for UD’s inclusion. After all, they’re ponying up a lot of the money to the Big East members and they want their voice heard in decisions like this. Dayton’s basketball program is trending upward and inclusion should be a real possibility. The Big East, ultimately, has to want to expand or be recommended (forced) to expand. And we won’t know if either of those will happen until the end of the month.
CLOSING
That does it for this edition of the War Room. I’m told there will be no visitors this weekend and most likely next weekend with Dayton to Daytona happening, but after that, I would expect Dayton to host a transfer/grad-transfer for an official visit. As soon as I get word, I will pass that on.
Thanks to everyone for your continued support and a formal welcome to those new subscribers to the site. It's all of you that make this the best place to talk FlyerHoops all year round!
