Dayton Flyers come from all over the map

Current team has a Chicago flavor

Editor’s note: The Dayton Flyers start the season Nov. 11. In the 26 days leading to the opener, the Dayton Daily News will explore different aspects of the program in the A-Z Guide to Dayton Basketball. This is the eighth installment. H: Hometowns.

When Josh Cunningham takes the court with the Dayton Flyers on Nov. 11, he will become the 11th Chicago native to play for UD since 1947.

The current Flyers come from all over the map — Detroit, Trenton, the Bronx, etc. — but this is a Chicago team more than anything because there’s a good chance three players from the Windy City will start. Seniors Kyle Davis and Kendall Pollard are the others.

Having ties to Chicago helps Dayton in its recruiting efforts because Chicago has always been a basketball hotbed.

“Basketball in Chicago is very close knit,” Dayton assistant coach Tom Ostrom said. “You go to Chicago, and people watch us play because of those kids. They see the success we’re having. They see how much fun we’re having. They see how much those kids contribute to a winning program. All of a sudden a person who normally wouldn’t watch a Dayton basketball game watches us play a home game against VCU to win a conference championship or get a share of it at least. They saw, ‘Wow, I never knew it was like that.’”

Since 1947, 345 players have taken the court for UD. Two more will debut this season: Cunningham and Wayne grad Trey Landers. Of the 347 players, 204, including Landers, have been from Ohio. Here are five things to know about the Flyers and their hometowns.

1. Jersey boys: Dayton senior guard Charles Cooke is the fourth player from New Jersey to play for Dayton. When 6-foot-11 forward/center Jordan Pierce joins Dayton as a freshman a year from now, he'll be the fifth.

The first three were: Henry Finkel, a 6-11 center from Union City (1963-66) who ranks third in UD history with 1,968 points; Tom Brooks, a 6-0 guard from Weekhawken (1964-66); and Joe Coladarci, a 6-11 center from Hawthorne (1971-72).

2. Baltimore connection: Sophomore point guard John Crosby is the ninth Dayton player from Maryland and the second from the Baltimore area. Jason Osborne, a 6-7 forward who played for UD in 2000-01, is from Randallsville, just outside Baltimore. Crosby graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic and then spent a post-graduate year at the New Hampton School (N.H.).

Dayton coaches don’t get assigned to specific geographic areas in recruiting. That’s how it’s often done in college football.

“It’s not as specialized as football,” Dayton assistant Kevin Kuwik said. “We all have different contacts. You talk to different people. You go to different tournaments. You see different kids. We all have areas where we have more contacts than others. You kind of work with that. But for instance, I have recruited Baltimore since I was at Ohio U. and I have a ton of Baltimore contacts, but Tom actually recruited John Crosby because Tom knew his prep school coach. It’s kind of funny how that stuff plays out. We kind of work off each other and support each other that way.”

3. Local flavor: Landers and sophomore forward Xeyrius Williams are the first UD players from Huber Heights. Both graduated from Wayne and played together on the 2015 state championship team.

No city has produced more Flyers than Dayton itself. The number stands at 49. Cincinnati has produced 19 Flyers. Ten have come from Columbus. Nine have come from Cleveland and Kettering.

4. Motown pipeline: No city outside Ohio has sent more players to Dayton than Detroit. Junior guard Darrell Davis is the 21st Flyer from Michigan and the 12th from Detroit.

5. Foreign born: Freshman Kostas Antetokounmpo will have to sit out this season as a NCAA partial qualifier. When he makes his Dayton debut a year from now, he'll be the first Greek-born player to wear the red and blue. Seven foreign-born players have suited up for Dayton, most recently Dyshawn Pierre, of Whitby, Ont.

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