Red Scare will hold open practice for TBT fans Sunday at UD Arena

Gruden, who’s entering his second season as the director of basketball operations at Stetson, will arrive in Dayton on Friday. He’ll coach the team for the fifth time. Bonsu, who’s the head video coordinator for the Houston Rockets, will coach with Gruden once again.

Most of the players will arrive in Dayton on Friday. They will hold their first practice at UD Arena, where the Dayton Regional starts with four games on July 26, on Saturday.

“We’ll be putting in a few plays,” Gruden said. “Other teams might not get to do that. We’ll go over things we want to do as a team just so we’re on the same page. A lot of teams roll the ball out there and play, but if we have some sort of scheme and cohesiveness, it helps a lot.”

The Red Scare will also hold an open practice at 3 p.m. Sunday at UD Arena. Fans can watch the practice for free. Players will be available for autographs and photos after the practice.

The Red Scare is the top seed in the Dayton Region and will play No. 8 seed India Rising, a team full of players from India, at 8 p.m. July 26. Tickets range in price from $17 to $42 for the game. Fans who buy tickets to see the Red Scare can also watch the first game of Session 2 at 6 p.m. between No. 4 Carmen’s Crew, an Ohio State Buckeyes alumni team, and No. 5 Team Overtime.

The first game of the day, between No. 2 seed Friday Beers vs. No. 7 Athletics Miami, starts at 1 p.m. No. 3 Team Colorado plays No. 6 Men of Mackey at 3 p.m. Tickets for those games, in Session 1, are sold separately.

The Red Scare roster includes 12 players, four of whom may not play.

Gruden said the chances of former Dayton guard Trey Landers playing are 50-50 because he’s also participating in the new Slam Ball league, which starts this week in Las Vegas, Nev.

The chances of forward Deontae Hawkins, who played at Illinois State and Boston College, and guard Justin Smith, who played at Indiana and Arkansas, playing are 50-50 as well, Gruden said.

Former Dayton forward Josh Cunningham’s status is also a question mark. He just finished a season in New Zealand and will return to the United States on Friday.

“We’re still trying to work on him to come play,” Gruden said, “and at least sit on the bench and be a coach just because he’s awesome to have around. He’s pretty beat up right now. I’m not counting on him to come back and play, but there’s still a small glimmer of hope.”

Gruden reached out to a number of former Flyers — Jalen Crutcher, Ibi Watson and Jordy Tshimanga — who were unavailable or unwilling to play. Even if Landers and Cunningham don’t play, fans will see many familiar names on their old home court.

• Guard Darrell Davis, who played for Dayton from 2014-18, will play for the team for the fifth straight year.

• Forward Ryan Mikesell (2015-20) will make his fourth straight appearance.

• Guard Jordan Sibert (2013-15) will play for the third straight year.

• Guard Scoochie Smith (2013-17), who led the team in scoring last year, will play for the second straight year.

• Guard Rodney Chatman (2019-21) will make his Red Scare debut.

The non-Flyers on the roster who will play are: forward AJ Pacher, a Vandalia Butler graduate who played at Wright State (2010-14); guard Jordan Barham, who played at Davidson (2012-16); and forward Terry Allen, who played at Richmond (2012-16).

Gruden and Bonsu will start turning the individuals into a team on Saturday.

“The first day is more like a welcome back,” Gruden said. “Let’s just run up and down, play together, scrimmage a little bit, sweat together and all that good stuff. By day two, me and Bonsu have out-of-bounds plays we have to put in just so we know what we’re doing. We’ll put in three or four offensive sets just just in case things go wrong or things get stagnant. But we try to focus mostly on defense: certain ball-screen coverages; and how we’re going to guard this; or if we have a big guy what we can do with him. It’s just so we’re all on the same page. We all know it’s a quick tournament and you can lose so if we can get stops and run in transition we’ll be fine for the most part.”

The Red Scare were the No. 3 seed in the Dayton Region last season and won the region before losing 74-69 to Blue Collar U, a University of Buffalo team, in the semifinals of the $1 million winner-takes-all tournament.

Gruden hopes for another good showing by Flyer fans as the tournament returns to UD Arena for the second straight year.

“We made it to the final four last year,” Gruden said. “Without the home UD crowd, we probably wouldn’t have made that far. Hopefully, they come out a little bit stronger this year to give us that extra push to make it all the way to the finals this year. That would be huge. Just seeing those guys play again, I know it means a lot to them and a lot to the fans as well.”