The Florida offer, which RJ announced Monday, is likely a sign of more offers to come from major programs.
“It’s been a dream come true,” RJ said Thursday. “I always dreamed of getting my first college offer, let alone an offer from my dream school, Florida. It’s been great.”
Greer has loved Florida since he saw the Gators play when he was a kid. He remembered it being a game against Pittsburgh, his dad’s alma mater. Ricardo played at Pittsburgh from 1997-2001. He scored 1,753 points in his career and ranks eighth in school history.
Ricardo, who has played a role in recruiting everyone from Toppin to Malachi Smith to Dayton, said it’s amazing to see his son go through the recruiting process, and he’s happy to provide advice. In the mid-1990s when he was growing up in the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan, he didn’t have the same support system.
“I didn’t have a dad or mom,” Ricardo said. “My mom had passed away. My dad was in the Dominican Republic. My sister was basically the one that was helping me through this process, and I look back at it and wish I had more guidance and had somebody to give me more knowledge of what I was doing. For him, I’ve always said, as your father, I want you to make the best decision possible. I’m not a coach when it comes to you. I’m your dad.”
RJ received his first scholarship offer from Western Carolina last August. An offer from Stetson, where former Dayton assistant coach Donnie Jones is the head coach, followed that same month. Then came an offer from Radford, where former Dayton director of basketball operations James Haring is an assistant coach.
Those three offers came before RJ had played a high school game. He said the first offer was very unexpected, and he had no clue what was going on. He’s got a better idea about how it all works now and is leaning on the advice of his dad, who tells him to keep working so he gets more scholarship offers and more options.
“He just says to stay humble and stay hungry,” RJ said.
Ricardo and Misty Greer remind RJ he hasn’t accomplished anything yet despite the recruiting attention.
“My wife and I preach to him, ‘You haven’t made it,’” Ricardo said. “The grind is even harder.”
Ricardo said Misty didn’t let RJ use social media until he was 14.
“She’s been really really strict on trying to make sure that he does everything the right way,” Ricardo said, “and as for myself, I always tell him that every day you step on the court, somebody is going to want to take what you have, so the moment you get content and think that you’ve made it and everything is easy, that’s the minute they take it, so stay hungry and stay ahead of the game. To his credit, he works. He loves it. As a dad, that makes me proud because I don’t have to force him to do it.”
RJ wears No. 14 because that was his dad’s number throughout his Hall of Fame career in France, where RJ was born.
“He’s definitely my inspiration,” RJ said. “He’s the reason I play basketball.”
RJ will play for Midwest Basketball Club’s 15-and-under team this summer.
“I just I think they fit my play style really well,” he said. “It’s a team known for playing the right way.”
When he’s not playing games himself, RJ, of course, follows his dad’s team closely. He traveled with the team to the Maui Invitational in 2019 and was disappointed he couldn’t go to Orlando in November, but his own high school season prevented that. He’s close to the current players and remains close to Toppin, who’s now in his second season in the NBA, and Crutcher.
“They are like big brothers to him,” Ricardo said. “If he has a problem or issue or whatever, he’ll call them and ask them advice, which I think is amazing. He loves the team, loves the guys, loves the coaches and just loves being a part of the Dayton community.”
Of course, RJ knows he will get questions in the years ahead about whether he wants to play for his dad’s team.
“I definitely consider it,” RJ said, “but I don’t want people to think I’m just going to play for him wherever he’s at. It’s obviously an option.”
“At the end of the day, it’s his journey and not dad’s journey,” Ricardo said. “People are always like, ‘He’s going to play for his dad,’ and I’m not sure about that. It’s up to him. Like, I’m not gonna tell him you have to do something. You decide what you want to do, and we’ll figure out what’s the best opportunity for you as a college basketball player. I think every coach in America would like to coach their son, but I just want to be his dad.”
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