“It was great,” Grant said. “Damon’s a guy I’ve known most of my life. We were able to spend some time away from basketball.”
For three seasons (1983-96), Goodwin’s college basketball playing career overlapped with Grant’s at the University of Dayton. Goodwin, who ranks 36th in career scoring (1,191 points), was a sophomore and Grant was a freshman in 1984 when the Dayton Flyers reached the Elite Eight.
In recent years, Goodwin and Grant have coached against each other twice in exhibition games at UD Arena. Grant’s Flyers beat Goodwin’s Capital University Comets 80-42 before the 2022-23 season and 89-71 before the 2018-19 season.
Prior to Grant’s tenure, Goodwin brought his team to Dayton twice. Dayton beat Capital 98-73 before the 2008-09 season and 73-52 before the 2004-05 season.
Each of those four preseason games didn’t count in the official record book. When Dayton (3-0) plays Capital (2-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena in the fourth game of the season, the game and stats will count, though because Capital is a Division III program, the game will not affect Dayton’s spot in the Ken Pomeroy rankings or the NCAA Evaluation Tool, which is first updated in December.
“My whole interest is how can we get better,” Grant said Wednesday after a 77-69 victory against Ball State. “You prepare for your opponent, but it’s more about you, right? What are you doing? And how can you become the best version of yourself. I’m still learning about our group. I’m still learning what combinations work the best. How we can maximize the talent that we have all the way through the team? We’re not there yet three games into it, and I think there’s more that we can do. We’ve just got to figure that out. So Saturday is an opportunity to do that.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Dayton filled a spot in the schedule with Capital because it could not find a 13th Division I opponent. Moving games around late in the scheduling process left Dayton with an open date. that’s why Dayton will play a lower-division opponent for the first time since the 2016-17 season when it beat Division II Saint Joseph’s College 91-59.
“It’s not something that we do too often,” Dayton Athletic Director Neil Sullivan said in August, “but we’re glad we get to do it with Damon Goodwin. We felt (playing Capital) was better than not playing a game.”
Capital will make more money from the buy game than it would have if it had been a preseason game. Goodwin said it’s a “very generous” amount and will be used to fund the program’s next overseas summer trip. Capital travels to Europe every three years.
Goodwin has coached Capital since the 1994-1995 season. This is his 30th season. He missed the 2015-16 season because he was undergoing treatment hairy cell leukemia.
Goodwin also underwent treatment for the issue two years ago but kept coaching that time. He said he’s healthy now and it’s a “controlled situation” but that he has to keep an eye on it.
Goodwin has a record of 448-306. His team finished 16-10 last season. Capital opened the season with a 93-76 victory against Earlham at the Capital Center in Bexley and won 73-58 at Kenyon in Gambier on Wednesday.
Capital lost its leading scorer from last season, freshman Baden Forup (14.7 points per game) to the transfer portal. He’s now playing at the University of Pittsburgh Johnstown, a Division II program that can award scholarships, unlike in Division III.
“He was a legit 6-7 player, which we don’t have now,” Goodwin said. “We also have four seniors, though, that have played a lot of basketball. What we’re doing is a little bit different because we don’t have (Forup) anymore. The bench is pretty raw, pretty new. So we’ll have to figure that stuff out.”
Capital returned its second-leading scorer, 6-foot junior point guard McKane Finkenbine (10.4), of Anna, and fourth-leading scorer, 6-5 senior wing Dom Moegerle (9.2), of Akron. Three other seniors start: 6-5 post Justin Nixon, of Minster; 6-2 guard Alex Eyink, of Marion Local; and 6-7 forward Ryan Suever, of Ottoville.
Finkenbine sprained his ankle in the opener and did not play Wednesday. Goodwin wasn’t sure if he would be available Saturday.
Capital was picked to finish sixth out of 10 teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference. It last won the OAC regular-season championship in 2019, which was also the last time it played in the NCAA tournament.
Capital will bus to Dayton on Saturday and have a shoot-around at the arena in the afternoon. Between the shoot-around and the game, the team will visit the Wright “B” Flyer Hangar/Museum in Springboro. Goodwin likes to make road trips educational when he can.
As opposed to the exhibition games, when Goodwin did not have recent film on Dayton, his team will be more prepared for this game because it can watch film from Dayton’s first three games.
“Those exhibition games are just a guess,” Goodwin said. “At least now we have time to prepare.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Capital at Dayton, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 1290, 95.7
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