“He committed to you?” Grant was asked. “How did he do it?”
“I think I just asked him, ‘Have you decided what you’re going to do?’” Grant said. “He had already decided he was coming to Dayton, and it was just a matter of whether or not he wanted to commit to the basketball end of it, so I was pretty excited when he committed.”
Grant told the story Wednesday after a press conference to announce a game between Dayton and Cincinnati at the Heritage Bank Center on Dec. 16. It was his first interview since UD announced the addition of 11 newcomers, including four walk-ons, one of whom is Grant’s son.
Grant said he has never coached any of his kids before now. Makai, a 6-foot-1 guard, appeared in 27 games as a senior at Chaminade Julienne last season and averaged 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds.
“He’s just a great teammate,” Grant said, “and he’s a kid that loves the game and loves helping in any way he can. So I’m excited to have him.”
The walk-on group, as a whole, is the deepest and strongest Dayton has had in years. It includes returners Brady Uhl and Atticus Schuler and three other newcomers in addition to Makai: Bishop Fenwick graduate CJ Napier, a 6-6 grad transfer who scored 1,279 points in four seasons at Ohio Northern; Evan Dickey, a 6-3 guard from CJ; and Will Maxwell, a 6-4 guard from Oakwood.
All the walk-ons have been practicing with the scholarship players this summer. In most years, Dayton adds walk-ons in tryouts early in the fall semester.
“It’s been great,” Grant said. “You can look at past years where we’ve been short on available bodies. Just having a group that is able to help move us around in practice and then having some guys like Brady and Atticus who have experience in our program to help some of those younger walk-ons understand how they can help us, it’s been really good for them. It’s been good for our guys. This is the first time we’ve really had a group of walk-ons available for us in the summer. It’s exciting that we were able to get quality guys to come into the program.”
Dayton has 12 scholarship players on the roster. Eleven are on campus, with freshman Petras Padegimas scheduled to join the team during its trip to Spain and France from Aug. 4-13. Two of the players, Koby Brea and Malachi Smith, are making progress in their return from offseason surgeries, but Grant said it is “doubtful” either plays in games on the overseas tour.
Grant said practices have been a combination of skill work and system work. Seven of the scholarship players are newcomers who have to learn the plays and the sets.
“I think the guys have responded well,” Grant said. “They have to get acclimated to the classroom and the weight room and the training room. They have done a pretty good job of helping each other.”
This will be Grant’s seventh season at Dayton. He’s 124-64. In his previous stop at Alabama, he was 117-85 after six seasons. The Flyers return five scholarship players, including four starters, from a team that finished 22-12.
“I’m excited about the group,” Grant said. ”I think we’ve got a really, really good group of guys. They get along really well. I think they like to compete. We’re excited about the potential that we have.”
Grant also shared his quick thoughts on the seven newcomers who are on campus in the interview Wednesday.
• On Buffalo transfer Isaac Jack, a 6-11 sophomore center: “Isaac’s a guy that works really hard. He’s picking things up quickly. He’s got a relatively short level of experience in the game. He started playing a little late.”
• On Robert Morris transfer Enoch Cheeks, a 6-3 senior guard: “He comes in with a good deal of experience at Robert Morris. The thing about Enoch is he’s always going to be one of the hardest workers. He’s a guy that’s able to impact the game in a lot of different ways. As he learns us and we learn him, I think it’s going to be a great fit.”
• On Merrimack transfer Javon Bennett, a 5-11 sophomore guard: “Javon had a great year as a freshman at Merrimack and I think he’s taken that experience and moved forward in terms of learning what he’s got to do here in terms of fitting in and helping us to do what we need to do. He’s a guy that can impact the game on both ends.”
• On Pittsburgh transfer Nate Santos, a 6-7 junior forward: “Nate’s been really good. He came in a little later, but he’s a guy that’s got versatility in terms of playing multiple positions for you. He’s got a skill set from an offensive standpoint that will fit very well to how we want to play.”
• On Marvel Allen, a 6-4 freshman guard: “As a freshman, he’s coming in and doing a good job of trying to understand what the expectations are in college athletics from the classroom to the weight room to the training room to the court. And I think he’s picking things up.”
• On Jaiun Simon, a 6-7 freshman forward: “With Jaiun as a freshman, it’s about understanding all those things we talked about with Marvel. I think he’s doing a good job of picking things up as well.”
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