‘Positive vibes’ at Dayton as summer practice season ends

On Thursday at the Cronin Center, as coach Anthony Grant led his team through its last practice of the summer session, Joey Gruden and Ryan Mikesell, of the Red Scare, watched from the side next to one of Dayton’s biggest fans, Dr. Stephen Levitt, and one of the most legendary Flyers of all time — Bucky Bockhorn.

Bockhorn used to be a regular at practice but had not seen the team in person since before the pandemic shut down the sports world in March 2020. He has new names and faces to learn because the 2021-22 Flyers have seven newcomers, including four freshmen in Dayton’s highest-ranked recruiting class this century.

Grant didn’t get to meet some of the newcomers during the recruiting process because of NCAA restrictions during the pandemic. This summer has been about getting to know the players on and off the court.

“Anytime you have a young group,” Grant said after practice, “it’s about just trying to establish your identity, trying to build a little bit of a culture and then trying to get them to understand how you want to play offensively and defensively. So we’ve tried to lay a foundation. And then I think hopefully we’ve made steps toward that.”

Grant allowed members of the media to watch close to 45 minutes of practice. They saw 10 of the players go through an intense session. Guards Elijah Weaver and Kobe Elvis and forward Richard Amaefule were out with what Grant called minor injuries.

On the court were five of the returning players — Mustapha Amzi, Zimi Nwokeji, Kobe Brea, R.J. Blakney and Moulaye Sissoko — and all four freshmen: DaRon Holmes; Malachi Smith; Kaleb Washington; and Lynn Greer III. Another newcomer practicing was Georgia transfer Toumani Camara, who gave his first interview since he arrived on campus.

“It’s going to be a scary year,” Camara said. “Everybody’s getting better every day. Everybody’s trying to help each other out. There’s a positive vibe around here. It’s going to be a great year, for sure.”

“Scary in a good way?” Camara was asked.

“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “Scary in a good way.”

Although Weaver wasn’t practicing Thursday, he said he’s been practicing most of the summer and had a great summer. He’s the most experienced player on the team with three years — the first two spent at Southern California — in college basketball under his belt.

“Over the last few months, I think I got smarter,” Weaver said. “The game is starting to slow down. Last year was my first year coming into this system. I didn’t really know what coach Grant wanted out of me, but now with a year under my belt, I think I know how he wants things. I know how to run the system, and the game is slowing down so I can see things and making better reads and stuff like that.””