In addition to myself and McCoy, Matthew Schwade and Aaron Lewis, of FlyerHoops.com, covered the three games as a writing and photography tandem. I had dinner with them Friday night at a steakhouse, Burwell’s Stone Fire Grill, where you could order an appetizer of pieces of steak that you cooked yourself on a black lava rock at the table. All of us would probably have avoided ordering that if any of our kids had been at the table. My son Chase, 5, would surely have burned a few fingertips.
I brought Chase a squishy, stretchable Sonic the Hedgehog toy home from Charleston. It was a good choice. That thing hasn’t left his sight this week. He was happy to see me — in fact, I made a cameo at his preschool not long after stepping off the plane Monday — but he loves his toys as much as dad.
The Flyers delivered an even better gift to their fans: a runner-up finish at the Charleston Classic. Victories against LSU and St. John’s raised hope Dayton can do enough in November and December to build a NCAA tournament resume. I think they can afford maybe one more loss in non-conference play. They could go 1-1 against SMU and Cincinnati but need to win their five remaining non-conference home games.
If the Flyers finish 10-3 in non-conference play, they would need a 14-4 or 15-3 record in the A-10 to feel good on Selection Sunday, assuming they don’t win the A-10 tournament. From 2014-17 when Dayton received an at-large berth every season, they were 12-3, 10-2, 10-2 and 9-3 in non-conference play.
Youngstown State coach shocked Dayton isn’t in Big East
Youngstown State coach Jerrod Calhoun, whose team plays the Flyers at 7 p.m. Friday at UD Arena, had some interesting comments about Dayton in his postgame press conference Sunday.
“I put it up there with anybody,” he said. “There’s 13,000 at every game. It seems like it’s a party. I’ve been to games (at UD Arena) scouting. It’s incredible. Great, great program. Elite Eight, NCAA tournaments, it’s a basketball school. Shocked they’re not in the Big East. I look at as a power five. They’re paying us $90,000. There’s going to be 13,000 people screaming against us. They’re the elite class of mid-major basketball, if you want to even call them that. They’ve already beat two power fives, so it’ll be a really good test for us. They’re going to pressure us, and they play with a style. We’ve got to be ready. It’s another great game that gets you ready for conference play, which is next after that. That’s what we’re here for.”
The Big East comment got people talking on social media — as it always does.
“Dayton is routinely top 25 in College Basketball attendance,” one fan wrote. “They are private, catholic, and within the geographical footprint of the Big East. If the Big East were to expand, Dayton should definitely be near the top of the list.”
The mention of the payment Youngstown State will receive will also interest some fans. It’s rare for a coach to be so open about the financial part of these games. An investigation by AthleticDirectorU.com found $90,000 to be the most common amount paid in these type of games in the 2019-20 season.
UD Arena book on sale at arena tonight
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
I paid $50 to check an extra piece of luggage for the trip to Charleston and filled it with about 45 copies of my book: “The Epicenter of College Basketball: A History of UD Arena.” I sold them all to Flyer fans at TD Arena. The book went on sale Sunday at UDArenaBook.com. I was at the post office Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday shipping the books and will be there again today.
Of the book, one happy customer wrote on X, “What a book! Every freshman at the University of Dayton should be required to read this. I shed a few tears by the time I got to the chapter on the 2019 season. This book captures the loyalty of a thriving fan base! Thank you, David! Now let’s go win the A10!!!”
I’m interested to see how many books will sell at the UD Arena gift shop tonight because this is the first home game since I put the book on sale.
UD grad Mo Egger gave me the chance to promote the book on his ESPN 1530 radio show in Cincinnati on Tuesday. We also talked about the upcoming Dayton vs. Cincinnati game on Dec. 16 at the arena formerly known as Riverfront Coliseum. I told Egger I was looking forward to seeing a game in the old arena, and he said I was saying that “tongue in cheek.” The place isn’t well regarded. But I do want to see a game there because it’s the first place I saw a college basketball game back in the 1980s when Tony Yates as the UC game.
One thing I mentioned to Egger was a little-known story about the arena involving a security guard who lived at the arena in its early years. Here’s what I wrote in the book:
Charlie Rathburn moved into the arena just before it opened. His official job title was building security supervisor. He looked over the place after everyone went home, making sure the 100 or so doors were closed, and then unlocked each and every door in the morning. Rathburn lived in a small first-aid room for the first three months and then moved upstairs. He had two couches, two end tables, a bed and a TV. The university provided him with a refrigerator and small stove.
“Everything a man needs,” Rathburn said.
A former truck driver, Rathburn, then 60, talked about his job to the Journal Herald in 1975. The headline read, “Bachelor Charlie sees it all from UD Arena pad.” A photo with the story, fittingly, showed him playing solitaire. He called his apartment,” Charlie’s Crow’s Nest,” and said it gave him a great view of all the games and concerts.
“Sometimes I don’t stay here for the ballgames,” Rathburn said. “Watching as many of them as I have, it kind of gets tiresome.”
Fast Break
Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans:
🏀 Dayton is scheduled return to the Maui Invitational in 2024 for the first time since 2019. The tournament was moved to Honolulu this week because of the Lahaina wildfires. Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen told Andy Katz, of NCAA.com, officials would like the tournament to return to Maui next year. Auburn, Colorado, Iowa State, Memphis, Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut will join Dayton in the 41st annual Maui Invitational.
🏀 Former Flyers Obi Toppin and Toumani Camara will play against each other in the NBA for the first time Monday in Indianapolis. Fans can buy discounted tickets and sit with other UD fans by visiting this link.
🏀 Camara ranked 13th on a list of the NBA’s top rookies. Sam Vecenie, of The Athletic, wrote Camara “has been one of the three best defenders in this class, consistently taking on tough wing assignments and earning his minutes in Portland.
What do you want to know about the Flyers?
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