The expectations are always high for Dayton because of its history and its resources. They are always high in the locker room, and that’s the case this season as usual.
“I always expect a high level (of play) and a lot of wins,” forward Mustapha Amzil said after a 94-60 victory against Cedarville. “But I really feel like the team we have this year is actually pretty good. Even though people say we’re young, we’ve got a lot of basketball players who can play. Experience matters, but if you can hoop, you can hoop.”
Time will tell just how well Dayton can hoop. Four of their biggest fans, who host the Talking Out Lowd podcast, talked to the Dayton Daily News last week on a Zoom call about their hopes and expectations for the season.
Dan Sullivan, Kevin Tuleta, Drew Westerheide and Justin Hinders, all UD graduates not shy about sharing their opinions on Twitter and on their podcast, expect a successful season but are wary of the question marks — with the possible exception of Hinders, the most optimistic fan in the Flyer Faithful universe.
Q: Kevin, what’s the ceiling for this team? What’s the floor?
Tuleta: What’s exciting is we don’t know what we have here. This team could just blow the doors off of a lot of other teams, and we don’t know that yet. What I’m looking forward to this year is we have one of the best recruiting classes we’ve ever had. There’s no doubt about that. But again you just have no clue what to expect. We’ve got to trust that (Anthony Grant) will put the boys in position, but I’m excited to see what this team looks like.
Q: Justin, how does this team win 31 games and then nine more?
Hinders: For me, it’s probably the versatility. Looking back at all the Dayton teams, this is probably the most versatile team Dayton’s ever had. How many times can we roll out with a starting lineup of all guys over 6-6? ... This team is built like — I hate to say Power 5 because that just makes me mad — but like a Big 10 team. Guys can play multiple positions. I think they’re just going to play a kind of an NBA freestyle basketball where anybody can bring it up the court and they can press it, run it. I just hope they all mesh together. With that many freshmen, I’m sure we’ll have our bumps and bruises in the (non-conference schedule), but once conference play comes around, we’re rolling. I really think they could make the tournament, and I think next year they have top-15 potential if (Toumani) Camara and all those guys come back.
Q: Drew, is there any pressure on this coaching staff?
Westerheide: “I get the hot seat question? I will say it’s time for Anthony Grant to start earning his money a little bit. (Grant’s) got his guys in here now, and he’s starting to utilize the transfer market now that it’s more open, and you get a Camara. You bring in a DaRon Holmes. You’ve got it cooking a little bit. You’ve got the height coming into the season, but it’s all about what you can do with it. But if he does, I do think this team is good enough to win the Atlantic 10. I think that is the ceiling. I think they can easily win the Atlantic 10 If the talent rises. The Atlantic 10, it’s got some good teams in it, but let’s not get it twisted. This isn’t the Atlantic 10 back when like Scoochie (Smith) was playing. That league, night in, night out, you were getting into a dog fight. It’s just not that anymore. A lot of these lower-end A-10 teams who are trying to talk themselves into, ‘We can be better than we think we are,’ I think they’re going to get hit with a dose of reality. I just think the talent’s there. If we play well in the non-con like I think we have the capabilities to, there’s no reason why we can’t be among the top two or three in the Atlantic 10.”
Q: Dan, what has to go right for the Flyers to be successful?
Sullivan: “I think it’s honestly easier to say, ‘Here’s where the season’s going to get derailed because things went wrong.’ The guys that have played minutes — Elijah Weaver, Amzil and Camara — we’re all pretty sure those guys are going to stir the drink. I think things can go off track if like Weaver doesn’t play well. You’re going to get those three guys as the core of the team. You’re going to have some other guys like (R.J.) Blakney, like (Koby) Brea, that have had minutes on Dayton’s team, and then you have to get a contribution from at least two or three of the other guys on that bench. It doesn’t really matter which guys. It just has to be a contribution from two or three of them, I would say.”
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