Grant touches on Dayton’s seniors’ decisions, Cohill’s departure in first offseason interview

In his first interview since his fourth season at Dayton ended March 20 with a 71-60 loss to Memphis in the first round of the NIT, Grant touched on that topic and many others Tuesday. This is part one of the interview with The Dayton Daily News. Part two will focus on Grant’s thoughts on the 13-man roster, the recent transfer additions and the offseason coaching changes.

Q: Did any of the seniors seriously considering coming back to Dayton?

A: No. We were fortunate with Jordy, Ibi and Rodney all being fifth-year guys, they were able to get their degrees. We all know basketball is a piece of it, but the other big piece for me is making sure those guys were able to earn their degrees. Now they’ve got options. For Ibi and Jordy, there’s the opportunity to go and make money. Those guys have aspirations to play professionally, and those opportunities, hopefully, will present themselves at varying levels.

Jalen was in the same boat. Jalen got his degree, graduated and wanted to move on to start his professional career. I fully support that. I think that’s the goal: to go through college, earn your degree and to be able to put yourself in position where you can move on and have success. All those guys will be in position to do that.

For Rodney, he missed over half the season this year with an injury. It kind of derailed his plans. He had the opportunity to get another year. He wanted to try to take advantage of that and felt like, in his circumstance, having a chance to see what options would be available through the transfer market with a new rule being in place with the extra year and him being a graduate was worth pursuing.

Q: Is there something Chatman will gain by playing for different coaches, against different opponents?

A: Rodney will be 21 or 22 next season, so he’s still young. I think he has aspirations to play at some level professionally. He chose Vanderbilt. Coach (Jerry) Stackhouse, I don’t know him personally, but I certainly know his history and what a great player he was. He has coached at varying levels in the NBA and the G League. The opportunity to join his program was something that was enticing to Rodney. I don’t know much about the team, but we spoke about him being a sixth-year guy and trying to get in a situation where he could impact a team and maybe make a difference and be able to have some success with other pieces around him that maybe are similar to him. I think he’s going to be able to get a master’s at Vanderbilt, so I think he’s able to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Q: Maybe the one surprising bit of roster news was Dwayne Cohill transferring to Youngstown State after missing last season with a knee injury. What went into that decision?

A: Dwayne was here for three years, and obviously, he got injured I think a week before we started practice (last fall). That and Dwayne just personally, his family, they went through a lot with COVID and some personal things. It was a really challenging year for Dwayne on several different fronts. He kind of had to grow through some things. I think at the end of the day, our conversation was, it was probably good for Dwayne to get a fresh start, and the opportunity for him to do that presented itself at Youngstown State. Dwayne was an integral part here for the three years. There’s just some things you go through as you mature through this process of being a college student-athlete. I always say we get them from 17 to 21 or 22, so there’s maturing that we all do and that we all have to go through when we’re in that phase. I think Dwayne’s growth here and what he learned here and what he experienced here hopefully will help him in this next opportunity.

Q: A couple of players were injured at the end of last season. How are Moulaye Sissoko (knee) and R.J. Blakney (calf) doing?

A: I think (Sissoko’s) on schedule. Mike (Mulcahey) and our training staff do a great job. ... We feel like (Blakney’s) on the path as well. Since those guys finished school, everybody went their separate ways. Everybody went home. We’ll see when they get back here where they’re at exactly, but based on the projections, we expect them to make a full recovery and be ready to go.

Q: Following all the players on Instagram, it appeared they all got to return home, including Sissoko to Mali? How important was that after a challenging season?

A: I think it’s the first time he’s been home to see his family in three or four years. We’ve all this past year have had different family members we weren’t able to see. A lot of people were just trying to keep their family safe and stayed away from interacting with grandparents and sometimes parents and extended family. That was challenging for not only our guys but for everybody across the country so you appreciate it a little differently. I’m sure those guys appreciate having the chance to spend some time with their loved ones as well.