“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” a reporter told Makai. “You don’t have your dad’s number, right?”
Grant finally revealed why he was hesitant to answer.
“I do have his number, but it hasn’t been released yet,” he said.
Makai wore No. 52 in the exhibition game against Ohio State two days earlier. He surprised his dad by revealing his new number, 33, on Oct. 27, one day before Dayton played Cedarville in an exhibition game at UD Arena.
Anthony doesn’t remember exactly why he got the No. 33 back in 1983 when he arrived at UD, but it’s a prestigious number. Ryan Mikesell, Chris Wright, Brooks Hall, Dan Sadlier and Tom Frericks are among the Flyers who have worn No. 33.
Dayton does not retire numbers, though no one has worn Obi Toppin’s No. 1 in the last four seasons.
This is the first year college basketball players can wear numbers with 6, 7, 8 and 9. The NCAA rulebook previously allowed the use of these numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 00, 10, 11, 12, 13,14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42,43, 44, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55.
That rule was in place to make the job of the officials easier. They only had to use two hands to signal a number: one hand for No. 1 and one hand for No. 5 to signal No. 15, for example. That rule, which was not followed at the NBA or high school levels, is no more.
Dayton players now have more options for uniform numbers, but not all of them took advantage. Some had very good reasons for picking their numbers. Others went with what was available. Here’s what they had to say about their choices:
No. 0 Javon Bennett: “I wanted to wear No. 2 because I wore that last year, and they were trying to figure out if Toumani (Camara) was going to come back. So I was like, ‘I’m going to think of another number.’ I wore 0 all the way through middle school, so I decided to go retro a little bit.”
No. 2 Nate Santos: “I was just looking for a switch (from No. 5). (No. 2) was actually my brother’s uniform number, so when I saw it was available, I jumped on it. He played at UIC and Missouri.”
No. 3 Jaiun Simon: “My favorite number is one. I’ve got a tattoo on my leg of the Roman Numerals one, three and 11. Those are just my favorite basketball numbers to wear. I knew if I’m not getting one or 11, I’m going to wear three.”
No. 4 Koby Brea: “My favorite number has always been six because my birthday’s Nov. 6. When I first got to college, six wasn’t allowed. I just went with four because it was my little brother Tyler’s birthday. His birthday is January 4. That’s my little man. He’s 7 now.”
No. 6 Enoch Cheeks: “Last year, I wore No. 5 for my late teammate, Terrence Clarke. This year, on a new team, I decided to change it to six because of the six members of my family.”
No. 7 Evan Dickey: “As the new numbers came out this year, you could pick any number that you wanted, basically. I just picked seven because that’s like the number for God. I wore zero in high school.”
No. 8 Marvel Allen: “I usually never play without No. 4, but Koby Brea had No. 4. I had to find a new number, and I picked eight because nobody ever at UD has had No. 8. I can say that I’m the first Flyer to wear No. 8.
No. 11 Malachi Smith: “I don’t think anybody had my number (the previous year). Nobody wanted No. 11. Everybody knows I wear No. 11 because of my brother (Scoochie Smith). I think everyone would let me wear that because of my brother.”
No. 12: Petras Padegimas: “I got assigned number 12 randomly back when I was 15, and it stuck with me.”
No. 13 Isaac Jack: “It was my go-to number when I was younger. Last year, I had to make the switch to 31, which was my mom’s birthday, so I didn’t mind, and it’s 13 backwards. But luckily this year I was able to get 13 again. It’s unlucky for the other team.”
No. 15 DaRon Holmes II: “It’s just my birthday: August 15.
No. 21 Brady Uhl: “I have my dad’s and grandfather’s number. Richard Amaefule had it the year before I did. When I told my dad, it was his Father’s Day present, and he was actually a little emotional.”
No. 22 C.J. Napier: “Twenty-two has been my number my entire career. I wore 21 my freshman year of college because an older guy had 22, but 22 is always my number, so it’s cool to have it.”
No. 24 Kobe Elvis: “The first year, I wanted to have No. 1 or 3, but I came in pretty late. Obi, obviously, had 1, and Lynn (Greer III) had taken 3. Coach (James) Kane presented 24 to me, and I took it.”
No. 25 Will Maxwell: “Sean (Damaska) texted me at the beginning of the summer and said, ‘What number do you want?’ I was looking at what was available, and I thought, ‘A new opportunity, a new jersey, a new number’ I was 23 in high school. I thought I’d go with something fresh and new.”
No. 45 Zimi Nwokeji: “I just picked 45. ”
No. 54 Atticus Schuler: “My number was just assigned to me. I’m rolling with it. Fifty-four is unique because not too many people have it.”
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