Dayton’s Holmes getting attention from NBA Draft experts

“Holmes has already had several monster games and he processes the floor at a very high level for his position,” Kalbrosky wrote.

Holmes, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, is averaging a career-best 19.0 points and 8.4 rebounds. He averaged 24.7 points in Dayton’s first three Atlantic 10 Conference games. He also leads the nation with 45 dunks.

In another mock draft published by NBADraft.net on Thursday, Holmes is projected to be taken 22nd overall by the Dallas Mavericks. In December, Sports Illustrated ranked Holmes the 46th-best prospect, and Jonathan Wasserman, of Bleacher Report, predicted Holmes would be drafted 60th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Holmes talked to Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster, of the Field of 68, on Thursday about his season and Dayton’s. Goodman labeled Holmes the favorite to win the A-10 Player of the Year Award.

“He’s been phenomenal,” Goodman said. “Obviously, they got off to a rough start, mainly because of injuries, and they struggled down in (the Battle 4 Atlantis), but it hasn’t been because of a lack of production from DaRon Holmes. He’s special.”

Dayton (11-5, 3-0) won its sixth straight game Wednesday, beating Saint Joseph’s 76-56 at UD Arena. Holmes scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. That followed a career-best 32-point performance Dec. 31 in a 69-55 victory at Davidson.

Holmes and the Flyers return to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Fordham (12-3, 0-2).

“I would just say our level of focus has been higher,” Holmes said. “We’ve been coming in to each game with more focus and intensity. So that’s really been helping out a lot.”

Dayton improved to 8-1 since losing starting guards Malachi Smith and Kobe Elvis to injuries Nov. 25, though that one loss was the most-lopsided defeat in seven years: a 77-49 loss at Virginia Tech on Dec. 7. Dayton coach Anthony Grant has provided no timetable on the returns of Smith and Elvis but said they’re progressing in their recoveries. He expects them to play again at some point this season.

“We’ve had some difficult injuries early in the season, which isn’t the best,” Holmes said. “It’s just been a bunch of building blocks from there. We’ve handled adversity pretty well, especially now. But it’s not the easiest. We had a preseason ranking and everything. Things kind of fell apart a little bit, but we’re picking it up pretty good.”