Here are some things to know about the team and their season so far.
A No. 7 seed
Dayton (24-7) earned a No. 7 seed in the West Region and will play No. 10 seed Nevada (26-7) in the first round at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time Thursday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dayton and Nevada have never played. The Wolf Pack, coached by Indiana Hoosiers great Steve Alford, finished second in the Mountain West Conference. They won their last seven regular-season games but lost 85-78 Thursday to Colorado State in the Mountain West quarterfinals.
If Dayton wins, it will play No. 2 seed Arizona (25-8) or No. 15 Long Beach State (21-14) in the second round on Saturday.
The regular season
The long road to March began in early November for the Flyers.
A 31-game regular-season schedule was trimmed to 30 by the cancellation of a home game against UNLV in December after a shooting incident on the UNLV campus earlier in the day. Dayton suffered an early setback with a loss at Northwestern but built momentum with a comeback victory against LSU in the Charleston Classic and then an impressive performance a day later against St. John’s.
The Flyers won 13 straight conference games at one point and were in the Associated Press Top 25 for much of the season.
Star player
The Dayton Flyers have one of the best players in the country, DaRon Holmes II.
The soft-spoken 6-foot-10 post player was named the Co-Player of the Year in the Atlantic 10 Conference this season and the A-10′s Defensive Player of the Year. He led the league in scoring (20.2 points per game); was second in rebounding (8.3); fourth in blocked shots; and fifth in field goal percentage.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
He was named a second-team All American by The Sporting News. Earlier ESPN had named him a third-team All American.
He’s one of 20 finalists for the Naismith Award and one of 15 in the running for the Wooden Award, both of which recognize the nation’s top college player. He’s one the five finalists for the Karl Malone Award, which goes to the game’s top power forward.
Coach Anthony Grant
Dayton Flyers coach Anthony Grant was one of 15 coaches named to the 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List in February.
Grant, the Naismith Coach of the Year in 2020, has compiled a 146–70 record over his seven seasons leading the Flyers.
He played in 105 games for UD from 1983-87. He averaged 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Grant didn’t play much as a freshman when Dayton reached the Elite Eight but was a starter the next three seasons.
During his Flyer career, Grant became captain and team MVP as a senior and was part of two NCAA Tournament teams, including the Elite Eight squad of 1984, as well as an NIT team.
Historical data
• This is the 19th NCAA tournament appearance in school history.
• This is the first NCAA tournament appearance in coach Anthony Grant’s seven seasons. That number would be two if the 2020 tournament had not been canceled because of the pandemic.
• This is the first NCAA tournament appearance for the program since 2017 when it also received a No. 7 seed and lost to Wichita State in the first round in Indianapolis.
The university
The University of Dayton is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton
Founded in 1850, it is the second-largest private university in Ohio, with more than 11,000 students enrolled.
Its campus is located in southern Dayton and spans 388 acres on both sides of the Great Miami River.
