Playing at his old home, UD Arena, where he starred for two seasons, was too big of an opportunity to pass up.
“I’m just enjoying it,” Sanford said Tuesday night after a 62-56 victory against the Golden Eagles in the second round. “I’m enjoying playing with these guys. I’m the oldest one on the team.”
Sanford, 31, played college basketball from 2009-14. He saw limited action in two seasons at Georgetown and then transferred to Dayton in May 2011. He was the second recruit (after Alex Gavrilovic) landed by Archie Miller, who was hired that spring, and the first transfer.
After sitting out the 2011-12 season because of transfer rules, Sanford started 31 games and averaged 12.3 points in the 2012-13 season. The following season, he accepted a sixth-man role and averaged 9.6 points in 37 games. He cemented his place in Dayton basketball history with a bank shot in the final seconds to beat Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2014.
Happy Vee Sanford Day. It’s been eight years since his shot against Ohio State. pic.twitter.com/VYON0O30gG
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) March 20, 2022
Quite the prediction by Dayton sports writing legend Ritter Collett in this Feb. 20, 1984, Journal Herald story about The Shot by Ed Young. The "unborn future Flyer" making the "miracle" shot in 2014 mentioned in the last graf was Vee Sanford (@Veesanford44). pic.twitter.com/7twV6inSdl
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) June 14, 2022
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Sanford made another last-second shot Tuesday. His 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer cut the Marquette alumni team’s lead to 29-28 and gave the Red Scare momentum heading into the second half.
Sanford had five points, two rebounds and an assist in 11 minutes. He had seven points, five rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes Sunday in a 75-70 victory against CitiTeam.
“I’m just staying ready,” he said. “I know I don’t have to do too much on this team. Just play my role and hit the shots when I’m open.”
Sanford started practicing with the Red Scare on Friday. If the Red Scare keeps winning, he’ll play six games in 10 days and then head back to Europe on Aug. 4 with his wife Jordane, who he met in France, and their son, 2, and daughter, 6 months. He hopes to get time to travel to his hometown of Lexington, Ky., while he’s in the United States.
This is Sanford’s first visit to Dayton since he graduated in 2014. He had not stepped foot in UD Arena since March 8 that year when the Flyers beat Richmond 60-48 on Senior Night. He scored 14 points and got a hug from Miller as he left the court for the last time.
“It’s actually pretty cool to have my kids here on the campus where I graduated,” Sanford said. “My wife gets to see how the universities are in America.”
After starting his career in Iceland and Germany, Sanford played for four different teams in France from 2017-21 before moving to Italy last season. He played for Victoria Libertas Pesaro, averaging 11.5 points in 29 games. He has has averaged in double figures every season in professional basketball.
This is Sanford’s second experience with the Red Scare. He played for the team when it made its TBT debut in 2019 at Capital University in Bexley. This is the third time in four appearances it has won its first two games. A victory Wednesday would give it three victories in the tournament for the first time.
“It took some time for us to gel,” Sanford said, “but I think we’ve got some good momentum now, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it progresses.”
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