Simon healthy and ready to contribute for Flyers after redshirt season

Few teammates know Simon, a 6-foot-6 forward from Mableton, Ga., better than his roommate, guard Marvel Allen, who also sat out his freshman season as a redshirt.

“He has a lot of upside to him,” Allen said. “He’s a big guard. He can shoot the mid-range. He’s capable of making the 3. And he has good size.”

Isaac Jack, one of seven newcomers on the roster last year along with Simon, knows his game well, too.

“He has some size I think we were missing a little bit last year at the 3 or 4 spot,” Jack said. “He loves to guard. He can hit open shots. I think he’s got a lot of potential.”

Then there’s Simon’s own take on his game.

“I’m very versatile,” he said. “I can guard multiple positions. I can rebound really well. I’m vocal. I can hit the open shot. Just doing whatever the team needs, that’s really what I can bring.”

Of course, finding playing time in the 2024-25 season will be a challenge for Simon and many of the players on the roster.

Dayton returns three starters: Cheeks, a fifth-year guard; senior forward Nate Santos; and junior guard Javon Bennett. Jack, a junior forward, was another key piece of the rotation last season.

Malachi Smith, a redshirt junior who started his first two seasons and was the starting point guard in the season opener last season, also returns after missing all but a few minutes of his junior year with a knee injury. Dayton also added three transfers with a combined 10 years of experience in college basketball: fifth-year guard Posh Alexander; fifth-year forward Zed Key; and junior forward Jacob Conner.

Simon, Allen and freshmen Hamad Mousa and Amaël L’Etang are the four players on the 13-man roster who have never appeared in a regular-season game.

“The advantage I have is I already know the system,” Simon said. “I know what they expect of me. I just have to do what they expect me to do.”

Another edge Simon has is health. He’s been full-go in summer practices for the last month after undergoing surgery in March.

“I’m just getting back in shape and getting the feel back,” Simon said.

Simon had an extra bone in his left ankle that had to be removed. In March, he said it was a chronic injury that started bothering him in December. He fought through the pain so he could help the team in practice. He was told he would need surgery in February.

Simon underwent surgery on the same day Dayton played its regular-season finale against Virginia Commonwealth at UD Arena. Simon did not attend that game and did not travel with the team to Brooklyn, N.Y., for the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. He had enough recovery time to make the trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, for the NCAA tournament. He sat in the stands with the walk-ons during the games against Nevada and Arizona, wearing a protective boot.

Simon spent extra time in the training room with trainer Mike Mulcahey and strength coach Casey Cathrall in the spring, rehabbing the ankle in preparation for summer workouts.

“We would have 20-minute workouts and then build up to 30 and 45,” Simon said.

Simon committed to Dayton in October 2022. He was the first member of the 2023 recruiting class. As a senior at Pebblebrook High School, he averaged 19.3 points per game, 8.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

Dayton decided to redshirt Simon, preserving a year of eligibility, in the first week of the season. UD made a similar decision about Georgia transfer Tyrone Baker a season earlier, and Baker left the program December 2022. Prior to Baker, the last Flyer to take a redshirt for non-medical reasons was Moulaye Sissoko, who sat out the 2019-20 season.

Looking back on the redshirt year, Simon said he definitely felt he could have contributed but the year away from game action will help his game make the jump this season.

“It was definitely helpful,” Simon said. “I learned a lot of stuff, and just knowing the system is good. It’s really helped me right now because I get to teach other guys, although I’m probably the second youngest player on the team.”

Simon turns 19 in August. He’s more than four years younger than some of the fifth-year seniors on the roster. He’s not letting that stop him from trying to be a vocal leader in practice. He knows that will help him get on the court as well.

Playing against All-American forward DaRon Holmes II helped Simon last season as well.

“It definitely made me a better player,” Simon said. “He would try to use his size, and it definitely helped me stay more disciplined in the post. I would try to reach for the ball and try to steal the ball from the big man instead of staying solid and holding my ground.”

Dayton lost Holmes to the NBA, though he’ll miss the 2024-25 season after tearing his Achilles tendon earlier this month in his NBA Summer League debut. The Flyers also saw four players enter the transfer portal.

Simon never considered entering the portal.

“I’m set here,” he said. “I redshirted. I know what I need to do.”

By staying at Dayton, Simon is sticking to a strategy he’s had his whole career. He’s not someone who likes to jump around from program to program.

“When I started playing basketball, I played for the same middle school and high school branch all the way,” he said.

By returning, Simon also hopes to experience the NCAA tournament as a player. He was just an observer last March but said it was a surreal experience. His early impressions of the new team are that it can compete with anybody.

“We’ve got size,” he said. “We’ve got skill. It’s not a matter of who we play. It’s about doing what we need to do to be successful.”