Grant: Sending Flyers home for holiday ‘the right thing to do’

Dayton explored scheduling a game next week before Christmas but chose not to do so. Coach Anthony Grant explained the decision in his postgame press conference. He said quite a few of the players will head home for the holiday, while a few will stay in Dayton. The team will get back together Dec. 26.

“At the end of the day, the decision was made in my opinion in the best interest of the players,” Grant said. “They’ve been here since July 12. I just felt (it was best) for their mental health. They are student-athletes. They have families. We’ve asked them to sacrifice a great deal in the middle of the pandemic to try to help us move the season forward, and they’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do. For them to spend the holidays with their loved ones was really important. I’m asking them, obviously, as we have all the way through, to make sure they continue to do the things we need to do: wear your mask; social distance; don’t put yourself in harm’s way. Do everything you can to make sure you keep yourself safe and your family safe so when we do get back together we can move forward as planed. I feel it was the right thing to do as their coach, as a father myself.”

Dayton debut: Southern California transfer Elijah Weaver was the second player off the Dayton bench in the first half and played eight minutes. He had one rebound and an assist and didn’t take a shot.

Weaver’s presence alone was the most important thing. He didn’t find out until two hours before tipoff that he UD’s compliance department had cleared him to play. That decision came three days after the NCAA issued waivers to all transfers, making them immediately eligible.

Grant praised Weaver’s selfless play. He said Weaver understood this game was about fitting in with his new teammates. Even though Weaver has been preparing for more than a week to play, knowing it was a possibility, he didn’t get much time with the starters in practice.

“Today was probably the most he’s played with Jalen (Crutcher) and Rodney (Chatman) and Ibi (Watson) and those guys,” Grant said. “Most of the time so far in practice he’s gone against them. Not knowing what his availability today would be, we didn’t do too much of that in practice because we had to make sure the guys who could potentially get the bulk of the minutes were ready.”

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Roster news: Dayton’s 13th scholarship player, Mustapha Amzil, joined the team Saturday and was on the bench. The 6-foot-10 forward from Finland signed with Dayton in November.

“Once we get back, we’ll do our best to get him up to speed and try to get him ready. The plan is to play him.”

• Freshman guard Koby Brea, who has been sidelined by an upper body injury, was in uniform for the first time Saturday. He missed six weeks, Grant said, and returned to full practices Thursday and Friday.

“He still has to get his rhythm back,” Grant said. “He has to get his wind back. He has to get a better grasp again of the system, but it was good to have him back. He looks good. I think he may have grown a little bit too.”