Top-100 2023 recruit visits UD during TBT

A crowd of 2,619 fans watched the game. That’s a long way from the sold-out crowds of 13,407 that watched every home game last season, but this crowd cheered louder than its size during an intense TBT game.

““I’m sure he loved it,” said Red Scare guard and former Flyer Scoochie Smith, “and that was just a glimpse of what’s going to happen in November.”

Gardner sat between current Flyers Mustapha Amzil and Koby Brea during the second half. In the same row, to Brea’s left, sat former Flyers Obi Toppin, Jalen Crutcher and Ibi Watson as well as Toppin’s dad Obadiah. To their left sat more current players: Mike Sharavjamts; Brady Uhl; and DaRon Holmes II.

Toppin and Holmes, the only two Dayton players to win the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year Award, posed for a photo with Gardner. His dad Jelani Gardner, a McDonald’s All-American in 1994 who came to Dayton with him on his visit, shared the photo on Twitter.

Jelani also shared a photo of he and his son with Dayton associate head coach Ricardo Greer, recruiting coordinator Andy Farrell and Ryan Phillips, UD’s Assistant Director of Digital Strategy and Brand Enhancement, inside the arena.

“Good people here at (Dayton),” Jelani wrote. “Eye opening visit; love what they’ve built!

“Great experience so far,” Jazz wrote.

The Gardners flew into Dayton on Wednesday morning. They were scheduled to arrive Tuesday but had their flight delayed and stayed in Atlanta for the night, according to Jelani’s Twitter posts.

At Dayton on Wednesday, the Gardners toured UD Arena earlier in the day and then had dinner with the current team in the Flight Deck at UD Arena before the Red Scare game, which started at 7 p.m.

Dayton offered a scholarship to Gardner in April. He ranks 80th in the 2023 class, according to 247Sports, 81st, according to ESPN, and 106th, according to Rivals.com. Illinois, Saint Mary’s, Pepperdine, Texas Tech, and USC are among the other schools recruiting Gardner, he told 247Sports.com in June.

Gardner attended Los Altos High School, near San Jose, Calif., last year but is transferring to West Ranch High School in Santa Clarita, his dad announced in May.

As a junior, Gardner averaged 19 points and 13 rebounds for a team that finished 26-7.

Dayton has not received a commitment from a member of the 2023 class.