Grant Hired at UD; How will this affect top players in Dayton area?
With the Anthony Grant hiring at Dayton for the Head Basketball Coach job last week, one of the hot questions remain:
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| Can Former Flyer Anthony Grant led his Alma Mater to success? |
Will he recruit hard out of the city?
Or will he go other places to build the squad?
While new Indiana Hoosiers coach Archie Miller built his talented squad over the last 5 years with mostly players from other places, he did start to recruit locally as he grabbed Wayne stars Trey Landers & Xeryius Williams.
However a plethora of great young talent left, including the likes of Luke Kennard, Justin Bibbs (Va. Tech), Jaaron Simmons (Ohio) A.J.Harris (OhioSt), Mark Alstork (Wright St), & Teddy Hawkins (Illinois St), all of whom were stars in the area, yet they got away.
Some will argue that you should go coast to coast when looking for talent for a Sweet 16 type of program such as Dayton.
But why, when you have some of the top players coming right out of Southwest Ohio at a alarming rate?
Grant has said he will recruit in the Dayton area.
Question is, how much?
While Grant has a NBA Coaching type of resume, he is fully aware what type of talent that resides in Southwest Ohio.
Which is part of the reason he feels like this is a perfect destination for himself, of sorts.
He knows that with his coaching experience, his ability to get his players to work and with the history and fandom of the Flyers, he will get the undying support of the faculty and boosters and will have UD ready to win.
But if Grant really wants to win in this city, to be able to reach a Final Four and have the city embrace him like they did when he was corraling rebounds and starring in his Don Donoher days, he will need the support from the inner city.
And he will need to lock down the top recruits every year.
When you look at who's coming through the college pipeline in the next 2 seasons, it's imperative that Grant goes hard at some of these top players.
Such as a Caleb McConnell, a L'Christian "Blue" Smith, a Devon Baker, a Amari Davis, or a Myles Belyeu. Why not a Isaiah Gordon?
Or maybe even a Jaboli Leonard, or Deshon Parker.
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| Will Grant pursue the Top Ranked Amari Davis? |
The talent is full and plentiful here in this area, devloping at a rapid pace, and some of these kids are more than ready to sign with the Flyers.
With some of the previous coaches, they didn't quite recruit as heavy in the city as they should have.
Purnell, Gregory, Miller, and O'Brien all were very good coaches and good recruiters as well.
Winning coaching with winning records in Dayton.
But with not quite enough homegrown talent.
And if the Flyers don't reach out to these players?
Wright State will. And has. And so is Ohio State. And don't be suprised to see Cincy, Indiana, and Purdue to start making some calls as well. Along with Michigan and Michigan State.
Grant was a great choice for the job at UD. He has the resume, has the experience and bleeds flyer red and blue. He was a fierce competitor on the court. And he has brought that winning attitude to his coaching style.
Good luck coach Grant. We hope you do well.
Don't forget about the amazing talent in your city.
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| What will happen with the talented Wolverines organization? |
Dunbar Ruling soon;
Why DPS should not get death penalty
The Dunbar Wolverines and Dayton Public Schools are awaiting the final decision this week on what their punishment will be after the incident that has all of Dayton talking.
It has been the talk of the High School landscape in Southwest Ohio since the Hoop Season ended.
The reports are saying that Dayton Public Schools Athletic Director Mark Baker allegedly told the Dunbar AD and the coaching staff, (specifically Coach Powell) to throw the Dunbar - Belmont football game (after a ineligible player was inserted into the game midway through 2nd quarter).
The Wolverines was supposedly told to lose - on purpose - so that both teams could make the OHSAA Playoffs.
Since Dunbar was already in before the Belmont game, it was the Bison who needed the win for a playoff berth.
In the beginning of the 3rd quarter there were some strange looking plays which, in effect, had the officials stop play and threaten to stop the game altogether if the "uneven" play continued.
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| Dunbar vs Belmont last season |
After the officials and coaches huddled up, things would seemingly go back to normal.
Dunbar would cruise to a W, Belmont would be knocked out and the Wolverines would head to the playoffs.
But after OHSAA reviewed the situation, they suspended the player (due to grades), eliminating the Wolverines last 2 wins, causing the Wolverines to lose, Belmont to make playoffs and a major shakeup in the playoff point system which ended up removing teams out of the playoffs and adding teams who were initially thought to be out of the playoffs.
The outrage was apparent, as the Wolverines fans, parents and staff and football fans all over the Miami Valley talked.
How could this happen?
Baker firmly denies the accusations, and after a investigation done by the Superintendent of DPS, she found that Baker had done nothing wrong.
Head coach Darran Powell and the Dunbar staff spoke vehemently about what the staff was told to do from Baker.
Powell told the parents, staff, and media in a meeting, that Sunday after the game, that he
"Would never play a player without consent."
Legendary coach and AD Pete Pullen stepped down from the AD spot and offered to coach for free, as did Powell.
They would eventually keep their jobs, while Pullen did give up the AD job.
Baker hasn't made any public comments since the event has transpired.
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| Will the 1st year AD and former Wolverine legend get to keep his job? |
Which brings us to this point.
These are the questions that are flying about lately:
Who told the ineligible kid to play?
If Baker didn't say it, why did the Wolverines do it?
And if he db bcbcwhy did the Wolverines play t
Did the Superintendent really find no wrong doings?
What did the Dunbar staff have to do with the situation?
How thorough was the investigation?
Did the Coaches really not know?
And so on....
And while most of these questions haven't been answered to the public, the public outcry and anxiety has been - and is - at a all time high.
Never before has this situation happened, and there are the "Death Penalty" sayings that are rumbling throughout the city.
There are reports that OHSAA is not happy with the way the District has handled the situation.
So much so that they have taken away playoff games and extra functions at Welcome Stadium, as a pre cursor to what's next.
The fact that everyone in upper management, except for Pete Pullen, has stood pat, makes for a scary situation.
OHSAA wants the District to be able to handle these types of situations without sticking their hands in too much.
But the fact is, the situation is still in limbo.
When you look at it, it was one kid, 2 games, and a decision were made that wasn't the right one.
Belmont notified Dunbar the morning of the game to let them know their player was ineligible. They should not play him, or else.
So who should stay and who should go?
Who's telling the truth and who's not?
The other DPS coaches, players and parents in the city are fuming, because of the fact that this situation, which should have been handled in- house, is now a fire ablaze.
And unfortunately OHSAA has to put the fire out.
Hopefully the entire DPS Sports Program is not penalized for what some people get paid to do.
If OHSAA puts a death penalty on DPS, it will cripple the future of the Dayton youth.
It will cause a statospheric wave of tranferrals, social media ripping, and division in the inner city.
Sports is what keeps the young kids dreamimg, inspiring to become better people.
While books and education are more important, sports galvanizes a community like no other.
Tim Stried, the media relations rep for OHSAA, understands the magnitude and felt like the committee didn't want to make any rash decisions.
If there is one thing I'll say to Tim it's this.
One man or womans' actions shouldn't penalize a whole district, no matter what seat they hold.
Whether it's the Superintendent, the AD, the Coach, the ineligible player or whoever they decide is at fault, the bottom line is this:
The entire city loses.
The District looks unorganized and unprofessional.
DPS loses.
But most of all, the kids lose.
That Dunbar team was special.
Sad they didn't get to show their talents in the playoffs.
OHSAA has taken their time with this scenario, and I dont think they will overreact.
A suspension will probably happen, but I don't see a death penalty for one kid, one game, one situation.
If it had been multiple players, and a history of the AD making bad decisions, then ok.
Baker has only been the AD for one year. But he also didn't have experience, which is something you need in the Athletic Director field. Especially to run a entire district.
Time will only tell, but we gotta do better DPS.
Patton Push gains steam, thanks to LeBron; Penn State now in the mix
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| All-Ohio G Torrey Patton speaks to youth at kids camp |
He's now has Toledo, Niagara, Akron, and Duquesne on the list, as LeBrons old coach took the job at Duquesne and has offered to take Patton with him.
Penn State has now came in late, as the Big 10 school has jumped in the mix.
Patton said he will take his visits and then make a decision later this month.
Patton set the OHSAA D-2 record for most points in a State Game (34) as his Rams lost to Akron SVSM squad.
LeBron was so impressed he got on the horn to find out more about Patton.
Patton has felt better, almost relieved, about the fact that he will be probably headed to a D-1.
He deserves it.
Question is, where?
Will he end up in LeBrons camp?
Or will he end up in the Big 10?
Decisions decisions.
Senior Showcase Saturday
Saturday is the Hoop4U Senior Showcase as
the top 20 seniors from Dayton Public and surrounding schools will show their talent as Colleges come and and check them out at Belmont HS on Saturday night.
Featuring a 3 pt-shootout, a dunk contest, and one of the hottest musicians in the game in Mic Lan Mic Lansky, the event should bring a packed house.
With featured names such as Storm Cook, Amir Foster, and Floyd Scott, it should be some great young talent on display.
The game will start at 7pm and
Tickets are still available.
You can get with Kevin Satterfield or Hoops4U CEO Lorenzo Smith for more info.
Alter, Thurgood grads declare for NBA
Alter grad (Simmons), Thurgood legend (Alstork) enters NBA Draft; Alstork will look to transfer
2 highly regarded players from local schools would look to make a splash at the NBA Draft Combine.
Junior G Jaaron Simmons and G-F Mark Alstork both entered their names in early draft consideration.
While Simmons, the Ohio U. star, will enter but not hire a agent, Alstork has decided to leave, graduate early and play for another school, reports say.
Simmons was a star PG for Alter, while Alstork led the Thugood Cougars to a state berth.
Simmons is a 2-time All MAC performer, and feels like he wants to see where his stock is.
and, at one point, was one of the top scorers in the country.
Alstork has made it known he'd like to play at the NBA level, and has the opportunity to go to a bigger college and showcase his skills.
The Raiders will miss him dearly, as the former Thurgood Marshall Cougar was a do-it-all type player for the team.
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