Dayton will play old rival in second annual charity exhibition game

The exhibition will once again cap a weekend of “community engagement events championing adolescent and young adult mental health and suicide prevention,” according to UD. All net proceeds will benefit Jay’s Light, the mental health and suicide prevention initiative created in honor of Grant’s daughter Jay, as well as the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation and other charities in the Dayton and Cincinnati area.

CareSource will sponsor the game and events.

“Every day we are moved and inspired by generosity and support from others,” Grant said in a press release. “At the top of that list is CareSource. CareSource has been our lead partner from day one and joined our cause on supporting mental health in immeasurable ways. Their impact on our community has been extraordinary. I also want to express my heartfelt thanks to Sean Miller and Xavier for their sincere interest in this event. For longtime rivals to join forces on this game as an effort to help raise awareness, generate conversation, and increase access to mental health services in Ohio and beyond, speaks volumes to the importance of this issue.”

Xavier and Dayton played each other 158 times between Feb. 20, 1920 and Feb. 16, 2013. The teams have played only once since Xavier left the Atlantic 10 Conference for the Big East Conference after the 2012-13 season.

On Nov. 29, 2015. Xavier used a 21-0 run in the second half to roll to a 90-61 victory against Dayton in the championship game of the AdvoCare Invitational at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla.

The exhibition game will bring the third-year coach Miller back to UD Arena for the first time as Xavier coach since his first stint at the school. From 2004-09, he was 9-3 against Dayton. He was 2-3 at UD Arena.

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Miller visited UD Arena last season when his brother Archie Miller, the former UD head coach who’s now at Rhode Island, brought his team to Dayton for an A-10 game. Now the program will make its first appearance at UD Arena since a loss to North Carolina State in the First Four in 2014.

“Raising awareness and increasing access to mental health services needs to be a priority nationwide,” Sean Miller said in a press release. “We are excited to partner with the University of Dayton and CareSource on this initiative to shed light on this issue that impacts lives in Southwest Ohio and across our entire country.”

Xavier finished 16-18 last season. It was the program’s first losing season since the 1995-96 season.

Xavier lost leading scorer Quincy Olivari (19.1 points per game) to the NBA. Second-leading scorer Desmond Claude (16.6) transferred to Southern California.

Xavier returns one double-digit scorer, guard Dayvion McKnight (12.4), a graduate student, and returns two key players who missed last season with injuries: fifth-year forwards Zach Freemantle (15.2 points per game in 2022-23) and Jerome Hunter (7.8). Xavier also added seven transfers.

Last year, in Dayton’s first charity exhibition game, Ohio State pulled away in the final 10 minutes for a 78-70 victory in the first meeting between the programs since Vee Sanford lifted Dayton to a 60-59 victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2014 with a bank shot in the final seconds. A sellout crowd of 13,407 watched the game.

The idea for the charity exhibition game came about after the death of Grant’s daughter, who died at 20 in 2022. Four days after Jay’s death, Grant released a statement in which he said, “At the appropriate time, my wife (Chris) and I plan to advocate for more comprehensive mental health care and to do all we can to increase awareness around these issues.”

Grant talked about Jay publicly for the first time in May 2023 in an interview with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Medical & Health Symposium.

At the exhibition game in November, fans saw videos and public service announcements on the scoreboard during the game about mental health and suicide prevention.

Three days before the game, Grant and his wife Chris were among the speakers at UD Arena at an event titled “The Spotlight, To Shine A Light On Mental Health.” .

“There were a lot of things we experienced over about an 18-month period as our daughter experienced her struggles that we didn’t ever imagine we would have to go through,” Grant said then. “Our thought is we realize we’re not the only ones. Because of what I do for a living, we have a platform, an opportunity to maybe have people listen differently because of what I do. I quickly realized as my daughter was going through her struggles that I needed help. We needed resources. We needed more information about where to go and what to do. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the help in time for our daughter. Our hopes is we can bring some purpose to the pain my family is going through right now.”