New Dayton recruit hopes to follow in footsteps of Toppin, Camara and Holmes

Toppin played two seasons at Dayton and was the national player of the year as a redshirt sophomore. He’s now entering his fifth season in the NBA and second season with the Indiana Pacers.

Camara played two seasons with the Flyers and was a second-round pick in 2023. He started as a rookie with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Holmes delivered an All-American performance as a junior in 2024, helping lead Dayton to its first NCAA tournament appearance in seven years. He was drafted 22nd overall by the Denver Nuggets in June but will miss his first season after tearing his Achilles tendon in the NBA Summer League.

Friery, a 6-foot-10 forward, ranks No. 149 in the class of 2025, according to 247Sports.com. He’s the first member of Dayton’s 2025 recruiting class, and there could be as many as four more as UD will need to replace at least five players — Nate Santos, Zed Key, Posh Alexander, Enoch Cheeks and Brady Uhl — after the 2024-25 season.

“I’ve seen they’ve had a couple top-100 guys (on campus),” Friery said. “That’s big for Dayton. If we can get a couple of them to commit, we’ll have a really good class.”

Friery received a scholarship offer from Dayton in June 2023. He visited UD twice last season. He was on campus the day the game against UNLV was canceled because of a shooting on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas, Nev. He returned to see a home game against Fordham in February.

“It’s a great atmosphere,” Friery said. “It’s sold out every night, it’s packed. It’s just a great environment. It’s a great place to be.”

Friery experienced UD Arena again in March during his high school team’s run to the Division I state championship. He had a team-high 16 points in the state semifinals in a 55-54 victory against Delaware Hayes. He had nine points and four rebounds in the state championship game in a 66-56 victory against Centerville.

St. Ignatius won its second state title and its first since 2001.

“My sophomore year, we fell short,” Friery said. “We thought we had a team to get there. We had the pieces. And then junior year came around. We lost two starting guards, so we knew a lot of people needed to step up. We got that done, and it was just great experience to do that with my brothers.”

Friery’s high school coach is Cam Joyce, whose older brother Dru Joyce III is entering his first season as the head coach at Duquesne after working on Keith Dambrot’s staff the last two seasons.

“So proud!” Cam wrote on X (Twitter) after Friery’s announcement. “So happy for you and your amazing family! Amanda and Greg you’ve done an incredible job raising this young man! It’s been a joy to coach you, and I’m glad I got one more year left to continue to help get you ready for this next chapter! Congratulations Damon!”

Friery took his official visit to Dayton on Aug. 30-31 with his parents. He said he had meetings with the coaches, watched college football on TV with them and hung out with the current players.

Friery visited Loyola the week after visiting Dayton. He also visited DePaul in June. His first call after making the decision to play for Dayton was to Jermaine Henderson, the assistant coach who played the biggest part in recruiting him. Henderson then asked him to call Grant to give him the news.

“Damon picked Dayton to be a part of a winning program and play in the NCAA tournament,” Damon’s dad Greg Friery said. “He formed a great relationship with the coaching staff over the last year plus. He believes Dayton gives him a great chance to fulfill his dream of playing professionally or even in the NBA. He also feels very comfortable at Dayton. He loves the fan base and how they support the basketball team with such passion. Also, academically, Dayton is a top-notch university to challenge him in the classroom.”

Friery is the third recruit from Ohio to commit to Dayton out of high school during Grant’s tenure, following Dwayne Cohill (Cleveland, class of 2018) and Lukas Frazier (Painesville, 2021). UD has also added Ohio players who started their college careers elsewhere: Pickerington Central’s Ibi Watson (Michigan); and Alter grads Brady Uhl (Cumberlands) and Jacob Conner (Marshall).

According to the UD media guide, past Flyers from Ignatius High School include: Sean McNally (1978-82); Garry Roggenburk (1959-62), the program’s 27th-leading scorer; Norm Schmotzer (1959-60); and Dick Walsh (1954-55).

Throughout the recruiting process, Dayton coaches sold Friery on the idea that he could follow in the footsteps of Toppin, Camara and Holmes.

“They kept bringing up those guys,” Friery said, “and showing the development they had with them and how that could be me. They believed in me a lot, and I wanted to go somewhere where the coaches believed in what I could do, and I also trust them and believe in what they can do.”

Friery averaged 10.6 points and a team-high 4.4 rebounds as a junior. He’s one of two returning starters from the state championship team.

“I can shoot the ball very well,” he said. “I can get to the basket and attack, but also I can rebound and defend at a high rate. I can just do whatever coach Grant needs me to do to win games and stay on the floor.”