Posh Alexander becomes third transfer to commit to Dayton Flyers this spring

The Dayton Flyers picked up their third transfer of the spring Friday night when former Butler and St. John’s guard Posh Alexander announced his commitment to the program.

Here are five things fans should know about the addition:

1. Experienced player: Alexander, a 6-foot guard from Brooklyn, N.Y., and Our Saviour Lutheran School, played his first three seasons at St. John’s. He was a starter each season and averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 84 games. He was the Big East Freshman of the Year and the Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman.

“Posh is a prototypical New York City point guard,” St. John’s coach Mike Anderson said on Signing Day in 2019. “He is a gritty player and quality ballhander with great court vision and he likes to get his teammates involved. Not only is Posh a great distributor of the basketball, but he also has a scorer’s mentality, as he can attack the rim and score on the perimeter.”

In April 2023, a month after St. John’s fired Anderson and hired Rick Pitino, Alexander transferred to Butler. He averaged 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.2 steals and started all 32 games for a team that finished 18-15. He improved his 3-point shooting percentage from 23.2% (16 of 69) in his third season at St. John’s to 33.3% (30 of 90) in his season at Butler.

“The thing that impresses the most about him is how much he cares about people and his teammates. He has just done a tremendous job from Day 1 of helping freshmen,” Butler coach Thad Matta said in January. “There’s a hidden thing in him, that he wants to win like nobody I ever coached before. He’s got dreams, he’s got his aspirations, but he loves to see his teammates play well. That’s a great attribute that he has.”

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2. Second transfer: Alexander entered the transfer portal again on April 25. According to a report Friday by Adam Zagoria, Dayton, Saint Louis, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Utah and Seton Hall were the schools that reached out to Alexander.

Alexander ranked 121st on The Athletic’s list of top transfers.

“Causing turnovers has always been his greatest skill, ranking in the top 50 in steals rate in three of his first seasons,” The Athletic’s C.J. Moore wrote. “He’s one of the best there is at heating up his man and taking the ball. Alexander plays with physicality on the offensive end. He likes to get his body into his man on the drive, using his shoulders and backside to make space for himself. He sees the floor well and does a good job setting his teammates up. He can make the occasional 3 but shooting isn’t his strength. He’s a career 27.6 percent 3-point shooter. Most of his shots come in the paint, using his burst and strength to get where he wants to go. He’s a solid option as a veteran starting point guard, especially if he’s surrounded by shooters and his scoring isn’t really needed.”

3. History with Dayton: Dayton recruited Alexander when he was in high school, offering him a scholarship in July 2017. He missed most of his junior season after breaking his arm. He visited Dayton in February 2019 and sat behind the bench during a game against Duquesne. He shared photos on Instagram of his tour of the the Dayton locker room at the Donoher Center at UD Arena.

Alexander put Dayton on his list of final five choices in July 2019 along with St. John’s, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall and Illinois. At that point, he ranked 83rd on ESPN’s list of the top-100 recruits in the class of 2020.

4. Big Apple recruiting: Alexander becomes the latest New York City-area recruit to commit to Dayton during coach Anthony Grant’s tenure. Obi Toppin (Brooklyn and Ossining), Smith (Bronx) and Koby Brea (Washington Heights) are the others.

5. Third addition: Alexander joins Ohio State transfer Zed Key, a 6-foot-8 forward, and Marshall transfer Jacob Conner, a 6-10 forward on what is now a 10-man 2023-24 roster, assuming DaRon Holmes II keeps his name in the NBA Draft and does not return to Dayton. UD has three open scholarships if Holmes doesn’t return.

Like Key, Alexander is entering his fifth and final season in college basketball. Both players have an extra year of eligibility because their freshman season, played in 2020-21 during the pandemic, didn’t count against their eligibility. One of Dayton’s returning guards, Enoch Cheeks, also is entering his fifth season.

The current roster looks like this:

Guards: Posh Alexander; Malachi Smith; Enoch Cheeks; Brady Uhl; Javon Bennett; and Marvel Allen.

Forwards: Zed Key; Isaac Jack; Jacob Conner; and Jaiun Simon.

Alexander is the 16th Division I transfer who has entered the program since Grant took over the program in 2017. Here’s the list of the other transfers:

• Jacob Conner, Marshall, April 27, 2024.

• Zed Key, Ohio State, April 17, 2024.

• Enoch Cheeks, Robert Morris, March 30, 2023.

• Nate Santos, Pittsburgh, June 13, 2023.

• Isaac Jack, Buffalo, April 24, 2023

• Javon Bennett, Merrimack, April 10, 2023.

• Tyrone Baker, Georgia: April 26, 2022.

• Kobe Elvis, DePaul: May 14, 2021.

• Richard Amaefule, East Tennessee State: April 12, 2021.

• Toumani Camara, Georgia: April 8, 2021.

• Elijah Weaver, Southern California: May 25, 2020.

• Chase Johnson, Florida: Jan. 6, 2019.