Grant said the decision was made last week after Baker played seven minutes in an 80-42 victory against Capital in an exhibition game Oct. 29.
“It’s an opportunity for him to learn our system and to grow and get better,” Grant said. “He has some really good guys ahead of him. He has some improvements that he has to make physically and mentally in order to be able to do the things that we feel he’s capable of doing and that he feels he’s capable of doing.”
Obi Toppin was the first player to redshirt in the Grant era. He sat out the 2017-18 season as an academic redshirt.
The following season, Dayton had four transfers on the bench: Ibi Watson; Rodney Chatman; Jordy Tshimanga; and Chase Johnson.
In the 2019-20 season, Dayton decided to redshirt freshman Moulaye Sissoko, who would have received limited minutes if he had played, and Zimi Nwokeji also redshirted that season after joining the team in January.
Dwayne Cohill earned a medical redshirt in the 2020-21 season after injuring his knee in October. Last season, Richard Amaefule sat out the season as he recovered from an injury he suffered before he transferred to Dayton in 2021.
Baker appeared in two of Georgia’s first three games last season but then didn’t play again until Dec. 29. His season ended Jan. 19 when he broke his hand in practice. He entered the transfer portal in April and announced his commitment to the Flyers later that month.
Grant said the ideal approach to a redshirt season was Obi Toppin’s approach.
“Everybody’s different,” Grant said. “Some guys, the opportunity is offered, and they elect not to take advantage of that. When (Toppin) was forced to redshirt, he could have taken it as a disappointment that he didn’t get to play. But he put in work every day in practice, staying an hour after practice and getting more work in, coming in to shoot around when the other guys were going to get their meals, working on the weekends when other guys were resting. He was in the weight room working to build his body to get ready to play. He understood how to approach practice as if it were his game. You want to see guys approach it the right way. When you’re dealing with young people, sometimes the maturity of an 18- to 19-year-old guy to understand that, it varies. This is an opportunity for Tyrone to to take advantage of this and get better.”
The decision to redshirt Baker seems to signify Dayton is confident it won’t be as short-handed as it is now for long, though Baker’s minutes would have been limited as long as the forwards ahead of him — DaRon Holmes II, Toumani Camara and Mustapha Amzil — are healthy.
Malachi Smith, Koby Brea and Amaefule missed the opener with lower-body injuries, and all three have been out of practice for weeks — Brea and Amaefule for almost the entire preseason. Forward Kaleb Washington remains suspended for an undisclosed reason.
Dayton started the season with 12 scholarship players. It now has seven of those players available with a game at home against Southern Methodist at 7 p.m. Friday.
“Our injuries are more in the backcourt than they are in the frontcourt,” Grant said. “We hope to get healthy and somewhat whole here hopefully as we move forward. I don’t have a timetable for when that will be.”
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