Gardner may not make a college decision anytime soon, but the thought of Dayton landing a recruit of his stature for the third straight year — DaRon Holmes II and Mike Sharavjamts ranked in the top 100 of the 2020 and 2021 classes, respectively — has excited the fans. Gardner has the kind of potential that thrills the Flyer Faithful.
There’s plenty of potential on the 2022-23 roster, too — some of it unrealized.
Richard Amaefule fits into that category. A 6-foot-9 forward from London, England, Amaefule committed to Dayton in April 2021 and joined the program last summer after one season at East Tennessee State. He sat out last season as a medical redshirt but was healthy most of the season and throughout the spring until breaking his right foot in May. He landed on another player’s foot while playing basketball at home in London.
“It was a setback,” Amaefule said, “but we’ve been there before.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Amaefule battled another injury issue — torn tendons and a fractured left ankle — earlier in his career. He was still recovering from that injury when he arrived at Dayton, and it’s why Dayton decided to redshirt him last year.
“I think it first started my freshman year of high school,” he said. “I had the same thing that happened with this one. I was playing on it, but I didn’t realize the extent of it. Over a few years, it progressed and kept getting worse. My junior year, I went to see a doctor and he told me it was fractured. I sat out my senior year to rehab and came back and went to East Tennessee State and did little bit more work there and came here and decided it was best to redshirt and make sure everything was taken care of.”
Amaefule trained hard during the season with strength coach Casey Cathrall and trainer Mike Mulcahey to get healthy. He helped the Flyers prepare by working with the scout team.
“I think he really puts work in,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said last season. “I think he’s done a great job, not only working individually but helping this current team be better with what we’re asking him to do with the scout team. We’re really pleased with him.”
The weight room was hell sometimes, Amaefule said, but he would wake up early to work on his legs — often with no other players there — and he stuck with it.
“Everything was feeling good,” Amaefule said. “I was excited for the future.”
The work continued in the spring. He was running, jumping and moving well. He had put the injury behind him. He had Cathrall to thank for that.
“His energy, you just feed off it,” Amaefule said. “It just inspires you to really be great. He tells us how everything translates to our sport, and you’ve just got to commit to it. I committed to it, and I’ve seen the results.”
That’s why it was so hard to call Cathrall after his new injury in the spring. Amaefule said he was “low-key scared” to make the call from England because he and Cathrall had worked so hard to get him healthy.
The injury left Amaefule on the sideline during the early summer workouts, and he won’t be able to do any team workouts this summer. But he’s been out of a protective boot for two weeks now and has returned to doing individual workouts.
“Right now, I’m in the weight room, working on my legs,” he said. “On the court, I’m working on ball-handling and shooting. I’m starting to move into more explosive stuff.”
Amaefule has no problems with his old injury now. Once he’s fully recovered from this injury, he hopes to compete for playing time on a team that returns five starters and seven of its top eight scorers. He said he’s a versatile defender who can shoot well and work in and out of the post.
“Coach has told me what I need to focus on,” Amaefule said, “and that’s mainly what I can bring on the defensive end and how I can impact winning on the team with rebounding. Everything will come together as long as I can do those things.”
When Amaefule finally does return to the court, it will be an emotional moment because of the long road he will have traveled to reach that point. He played limited minutes in his one season at East Tennessee State. He appeared in 19 games and averaged 8.3 minutes. Last season, he didn’t play at all.
“I just want to be back on the court,” Amaefule said. “I miss it. I miss playing the game I’ve always played. You’ve just got to take it when it comes.”
Dayton feels like home now, Amaefule said, even if he hasn’t had a chance to play in a game for the Flyers. He experienced the Dayton basketball brotherhood Wednesday, sitting behind the bench with other current and former Flyers during the the Red Scare’s 83-81 victory against The Money Team in the third round of The Basketball Tournament.
Amaefule sat next to former Dayton star Chris Wright late in the game and talked to him about his professional playing career and post-basketball career.
“I’ve seen the culture that’s developed here,” Amaefule said. “All the great players that have come through, it kind of inspires you to see what you can do.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
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