“They were a special team, a special group of people,” Swerlein said.
Wilson, who scored 11 points that season in 27 minutes, is the only player remaining from the 2019-20 roster who scored that season. Swerlein is the only other remaining player who saw action that season. He played a total of five minutes in four games.
On Saturday, when Dayton plays Davidson at 12:30 p.m., Wilson and Swerlein will experience UD Arena for the final time in a regular-season game. They’re the only senior players who will be honored on Senior Day. They and fellow walk-on Brady Uhl are also the only players from Ohio on the roster this season.
Wilson, a 6-foot-1 guard from Northmont High School who’s majoring in mechanical engineering, has scored more career points (19) than any walk-on in the Anthony Grant era. He averaged 9.1 points per game as a senior in 2016-17. As a freshman at Dayton in 2017, he competed in the walk-on tryouts on the advice of Dayton guard Trey Landers but wasn’t chosen because his school schedule didn’t match up with the basketball schedule. A year later, he made the team.
Now Wilson, who grew up a Dayton fan, is preparing for the emotions of Senior Day.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “It came quick. It’s been a fun time here my past four years. It hasn’t really hit me yet. It will probably hit me when I run out of the tunnel and see all the fans. I’m really excited for my last home game and can’t wait to see all the fans out there cheering us on. Hopefully we get the W.”
Swerlein, a 6-0 guard from Perrysburg and St. Francis de Sales High School, also tried out for the team as a freshman and didn’t make it but did make the cut the following year, the 2019-20 season. He grew up an Ohio State fan and remembers the Aaron Craft years well, but he said coming to Dayton opened his eyes.
“I love everything about this campus,” said Swerlein, a finance major. “It’s been great to be a part of this. I wouldn’t change anything.”
Wilson and Swerlein would like to experience the NCAA tournament before they leave UD. The pandemic robbed them of that opportunity in 2020. The current Dayton team will likely have to win the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament to get there, but that’s a realistic goal for a team that turned its season around fast in November after a 1-3 start by winning the ESPN Events Invitational.
“We’re a really close team,” Swerlein said. “Even when we struggled, we never wavered. We knew we were going to come in and put in the hard work. That’s what we did the entire year. We figured it out when we went down to Florida, but we spent a lot of hard work in this gym trying to figure it out before that. I think that’s a testament to coach (Anthony) Grant and the entire coaching staff for all the hard work they put into righting the ship. This is a great team. The future’s bright for this team and all these players. I’m just excited to be a part of it.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Davidson at Dayton, 12:30 p.m., USA Network, 1290, 95.7
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