***
The Home Alone bad guys, the Wet Bandits, didn’t scare him. The situation — 9-year-old Kevin stranded at his giant house for the holidays — didn’t faze him. If he was scared of anything, it was the furnace, which functioned as a boogeyman in the dark basement in this movie.
Our furnace — and I assume any modern-day furnace — isn’t going to scare anyone. There are plenty of more frightening things about this world, however, and hopefully Chase can go on living for a while without learning about them. They disguise the lockdown drills at his preschool, the Jewish Community Center in Bexley, as some sort of fun activity.
People in Dayton didn’t need a reminder of the threats active shooters pose to the nation but got one Wednesday when a shooting on the campus of UNLV caused the cancellation of Dayton’s game against UNLV that night. A 67-year-old gunman killed three faculty members and shot and injured a fourth before being killed by police.
I talked to Dayton Athletic Director Neil Sullivan a couple hours after news broke of the cancellation. He said UNLV’s AD called him to tell him they couldn’t play. UNLV had already been in town since Monday, but I didn’t see many people questioning the decision not to play — it was just the right call to make.
According to one source, while it is unlikely Dayton and UNLV will find another date to play this season — it would have to be after Christmas — they have not completely ruled out the possibility as of Friday afternoon. Dayton passed this message onto fans Friday.
“We continue to allow UNLV to focus on their students and campus community,” UD announced. “We are working with UNLV to determine whether the game will be rescheduled or postponed to a future season. Once the path forward is determined, we will communicate with our fans. At that time, we will also share information about ticketing. Thanks for your patience and understanding as UNLV remembers and honors the victims.”
Flyers building an identity
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
A big question surrounding the Flyers entering the season was: Will they be able to shoot the 3?
The most accomplished shooter on the team, Koby Brea, was coming off offseason surgeries. Nate Santos had not shot the 3 well in two seasons at Pittsburgh but also had not played enough to give anyone an idea of whether he could shoot the 3 if he received consistent playing time.
Both Brea and Santos have proven to be among the nation’s top shooters one month into the season. As I wrote today to preview Saturday’s game against Troy, Dayton is on pace to be one of the top 3-point shooting teams in school history, mostly because of Brea and Santos.
Santos has made 16 of 24 3-pointers (66.7 %). No one in the country who averages at least two attempts per game has made a higher percentage. Brea has made 25 of 52 (48.1%), which ranks 60th in the nation.
Even with Kobe Elvis (9 of 31, 29%) and Javon Bennett (10 of 44, 22.7) shooting below the national average of 33%, Dayton ranks 21st in the country in 3-point shooting percentage (39.2).
Brea said the team was never worried about its 3-point shooting touch, even after a 5-for-23 performance in a season-opening 63-47 victory against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
“I think it was just a matter of getting used to playing with each other,” Brea said. “Everybody’s coming from different places. We had to get adjusted to playing here in the arena and get a feel of playing with each other. We’re doing really good playing off each other, and any game could be anybody’s night.”
UD Arena book sales strong
I was supposed to deliver five boxes of my book, “The Epicenter of College Basketball: A History of UD Arena,” to the arena gift shop on Wednesday. With the cancellation of the game, I made the drive on Thursday. I’ve sold more than 800 copies in about three weeks, most at UDArenaBook.com but close to 200 at the arena, the UD bookstore and Flyer Spirit on Brown Street. You can also buy copies at Gramercy Book in Bexley, where I live.
I have filled 453 orders myself at home. That has meant daily trips to the post office since Nov. 20. Having typed the names and addresses of so many UD fans, I feel more connected than ever to the Flyer Faithful. Thanks to everyone who has helped me recoup the approximately $16,000 I spent on this project. Every dollar I make now will go to buying Chase more toys — his Christmas list is longer than my book.
In addition to dropping books off at the arena Thursday, I also visited Whispering Pines Farm, where Tom Westendorf lives. Tom served as interim AD at UD in the 1990s and has worn many hats at UD over the years. He also has a farm easily visible off Interstate 675 near The Greene. He sells eggs and honey — and also my book. I left him 10 books and took home a dozen eggs and a jar of honey.
It’s been fun seeing the response to the book. A woman named Colleen, who bills herself as “Ohio’s No. 1 UK fan,” sent me a nice letter talking about her experiences at the arena seeing Kentucky play and Elvis perform. I hope the book draws an audience outside the Flyer Faithful because UD Arena has played host to so many memorable moments for teams from across the country, and that’s a big part of the book.
Fast Break
Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans:
🏀 Dayton will get a Quad 1 opportunity Dec. 16 against Cincinnati. The Bearcats are off to a 7-0 start and rank 27th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. This week, the Bearcats are more focused on ending a four-game losing streak to rival Xavier. The Crosstown Shootout is Saturday. Dayton ranked 42nd in the first NET, which came out Monday, and is now 38th.
🏀 While I hurt my ring finger pretty good playing basketball last week and will be sidelined for a while — Broken? Sprained? Who knows? — Dayton freshman guard Marvel Allen is making progress in his return. He had a setback when he was sick last week and that’s why he wasn’t at the SMU game. Grant said Saturday that Allen was getting closer to returning to practice. He played in both exhibition games but then suffered a lower-body injury in the week before the season began. He was supposed to miss four to six weeks.
🏀 Dayton has work to do still to build a NCAA tournament resume, though it’s on the right track with a 6-2 start and strong NET ranking. It is being projected as an automatic qualifier by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, who in his latest bracket prediction had the Flyers as a No. 12 seed playing No. 5 seed Alabama in Pittsburgh in the first round.
What do you want to know about the Flyers?
I want to hear from you. Reach out to me directly at david.jablonski@coxinc.com with your questions and feedback on the team or this newsletter.
Also be sure to follow our Flyer Nation Facebook page for the latest news on the team. I’ll have updates, photos and videos on Twitter, as well.
About the Author
