DAYTON — From head coach Anthony Grant on down through the staff and the players, the Dayton Flyers know they have a very good team, capable of big things in the next eight weeks.
Of course, four years ago behind All-American Obi Toppin, they had a top five team that was running the table in the Atlantic-10 and considered a Final Four favorite before the pandemic hit, wiping out the postseason.
But this year, while not as dominant as that 2020 squad was, the Flyers have put themselves in the conversation of dark horse teams that could make a serious run.
And at the heart of that potential is star forward DaRon Holmes II.
In Tuesday night’s 83-61 win over George Washington, Holmes was easily the most dominant player on the court. After scoring nine points in the first 20 minutes, Holmes did what most dominant players do, he asserted himself in the game and turned a 14-point halftime cushion into a 26-point blowout with five minutes left. Holmes is averaging 19.4 points and 7.9 rebounds, both tops on the team. He’s averaging two blocks a game and hasn’t fouled out this season.
Part of what makes a great player is his ability to bounce back. Holmes was just 2-for-12 from the field in Saturday’s loss at Richmond. Both were 3-pointers. He was limited to 26 minutes due to four fouls. He finished with 8 points nine points and eight rebounds.
On Tuesday, the junior scored 25 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out four assists and blocked two shots. Nate Santos added 17 points, all in the first half.
“I’ve said this ad nauseam, he’s 21 years old, and he still learning,” Grant said. “He’s still growing and I thought he did a great job of responding right to the loss, to the adversity, to whatever. I thought he did a great job of keeping his head and focus on what the things that he could control. You can’t you can’t go into the past. You can’t look into the future. You got to be where your feet are and he did a great job of doing that.”
DaRon Holmes II (25 pts, 12 rebs, 4 Asts, 2 blocks) and Nate Santos (17 pts) proud of a bounce back win against GWU. pic.twitter.com/NGGdGiIwsh
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) January 31, 2024
Consider GWU head coach Chris Caputo among those impressed – with Holmes and his supporting cast. GWU beat Dayton last year in their only meeting, 76-69. These Flyers are faster and quicker on both sides of the ball.
“I watched our game from last year just to see a little bit about how we defended DaRon, and the thing I noticed about their team (was) that it was a little bit different because Malachi Smith, I think he had just come back in that game, but they were so big at every position,” Caputo said. “We ran by them quite a bit in that game. And obviously we played very well in won the game. You can’t run by them right now the way the way you know, they The speed that they have in the perimeter from (Javon) Bennett and (Enoch) Cheeks, and obviously (Kobe) Elvis is a fast guy.
“I think Santos and (Koby) Brea are not may be quite as fast but they’re big physical kids. I think that can you know at the point of contact. There’s a there’s some physicality that it’s hard to push through. So can I think they’ve done a really good job with that defensively in terms of their group.”
Is this the best team Caputo has faced so far this season?
“Yeah, I would say so, I mean we did play at South Carolina and they were having a hell of a year,” Caputo said. “(South Carolina) had a lot of older guys, a lot of fifth-year guys. But yeah, I think so. I think they’re I think they’re the best team we play I think DaRon’s the best player we probably played against.”
The Flyers have just missed the Big Dance the last two seasons, failing to secure the A-10 championship and the automatic bid. This year figures to be different. Even if they were to slip in the conference tourney, they are likely still in position to gain an at-large berth. Two years ago, they were 23-9 before losing to Richmond in the A-10 semis. Last year, they were 20 minutes from an NCAA berth but lost to VCU in the title game.
This year projects to be much different. UD is 17-3 overall and 7-1 in the A-10. They’re ranked 21st in the latest AP poll and 19th in the Coaches poll and 18th in the all-important NET rankings that is used in computing the at-large viability of each team, as well as their potential seeding.
But rankings, seedings and March possibilities is the furthest thing from coach Grant’s mind right now.
“We look at it as Dayton winning versus the other team,” Grant told me. “I don’t think we do that. That’s never been something that if you know me at all, that’s not something that I get wrapped up in and I don’t think our guys do.”
Grant’s insistence on focusing on the game, not the peripheral factors out of their control, is what makes this Dayton team an intriguing one to watch as the season moves into February and eventually March.
