Dayton Flyers season preview: A closer look at recruiting during Anthony Grant’s tenure

EDITOR’S NOTE: David Jablonski is counting down to the Dayton men’s basketball season opener on Nov. 7 with 25 pieces (one every day until Nov. 7) previewing the 2022-23 season. This is the 16th story.

The Dayton Flyers have received 25 commitments during Anthony Grant’s six seasons as head coach.

The latest player to pick the Flyers, Jaiun Simon, a 6-foot-7 forward from Mableton, Ga., and Pebblebrook High School, announced his decision Thursday. He’s the first player from the class of 2023 to commit to Dayton.

Here’s a by-the-numbers breakdown of every recruit who has committed to Dayton since the spring of 2017.

9: Dayton has added players from nine different states during Grant’s tenure.

• New York (4): Obi Toppin (Ossining/Brooklyn); Frankie Policelli (New Hartford); Koby Brea (Bronx); and Malachi Smith (Bronx).

• Ohio (3): Dwayne Cohill (Cleveland); Ibi Watson (Pickerington) and Lukas Frazier (Painesville).

• Georgia (3): Rodney Chatman (Lithonia); Kaleb Washington (Mableton); and Jaiun Simon (Mableton).

• Florida (3): Zimi Nwokeji (Tallahassee); Elijah Weaver (Cocoa); and Tyrone Baker (Fort Myers, Fla.).

• Tennessee (1): Jalen Crutcher (Memphis).

• West Virginia (1): Chase Johnson (Ripley).

• Maryland (1): R.J. Blakney (Baltimore).

• Arizona (1): DaRon Holmes II (Goodyear).

• Pennsylvania (1): Lynn Greer III (Philadelphia).

9: Dayton has added nine transfers from Division I programs: Watson (Michigan); Chatman (Chattanooga); Jordy Tshimanga (Nebraska); Johnson (Florida); Weaver (Southern California); Toumani Camara (Georgia); Kobe Elvis (DePaul); Richard Amaefule (East Tennessee State); and Baker (Georgia).

8: Dayton has added eight players from other countries: Jhery Matos (Dominican Republic); Tshimanga (Canada); Moulaye Sissoko (Mali); Mustapha Amzil (Finland); Camara (Belgium); Elvis (Canada); Amaefule (England); and Mike Sharavjamts (Mongolia).

7: Seven players recruited and signed by Grant and his staff have transferred from the program: Policelli (Stony Brook); Matos (Charlotte); Frazier (Ohio/John Carroll); Cohill (Youngstown State); Chatman (Vanderbilt); Sissoko (North Texas); and Weaver (Chicago State);

That number doesn’t include players recruited during the Archie Miller era who left the program: Xeyrius Williams (Akron); John Crosby (Delaware State); Jordan Davis (Middle Tennessee/Jacksonville); Jordan Pierce (Odessa/Middle Tennessee State); and Kostas Antetokounmpo and Matej Svoboda, who both left to pursue professional opportunities.

6: Dayton has added six four-star recruits, according to the 247Sports.com rankings, in the Grant era. Take these rankings for what they’re worth. They’re fun to follow, but by no means do they define any of the players. The fact that Toppin, the consensus national player of the year in 2020, wasn’t ranked by any recruiting website is good proof of that.

Nevertheless, here’s how the players ranked:

• Four stars (6): Holmes (No. 39, 2021 class); Weaver (No. 45, 2018); Johnson (No. 85, 2017); Camara (No. 103, 2019); Sharavjamts (No. 112, 2022); and Cohill (No. 136, 2018).

• Three stars (12): Washington (No. 139, 2021); Tshimanga (No. 161, 2016); Smith (No. 197, 2021); Watson (No. 239, 2016); Nwokeji (No. 216, 2019); Greer (No. 248, 2021); Policelli (No. 298, 2018); Crutcher (No. 328, 2017); Sissoko (No. 361, 2019); Blakney (No. 408, 2020); Amzil (No. 471, 2020); and Simon (No. 64 small forward, 2023).

• Two stars (1): Frazier (No. 480, 2020).

• Unranked (6): Matos (2016); Chatman (2016); Toppin (2017); Brea (2020); Amaefule (2020); and Elvis (2020);

1: Matos is the only player to commit to Dayton from a junior college since 2017.

DAYTON SEASON PREVIEW

Part 1: Fans dreaming big as always

Part 2: A-10 changes tournament format for first time in years

Part 3: A familiar face returns to A-10

Part 4: KenPom.com’s math likes the Flyers

Part 5: Three new walk-ons join roster

Part 6: Grant, Martin don’t look forward to coaching against each other

Part 7: Ranking difficult of non-conference opponents

Part 8: Free-throw percentage a stat to watch for Flyers