“Someone ran into my face going for the ball,” Key said.
It took time for Key to get used to the mask. He felt there were blind spots at first. Now Key said, “I don’t really see it. It’s just there to make sure no one hits my nose again.”
Key didn’t get hit in the nose on Oct. 20 in a 98-74 loss to Xavier in an exhibition game at UD Arena. He said everyone would know if he took a hit there. That’s how much it would hurt.
Key said he would probably wear the mask all season.
“It’s healing,” Key said, “but when you play in the post, you always get hit in the face. I’ll be fine.”
Dayton may not have suffered any facial injuries during the game against Xavier, but its ego had to take a hit as its old rival dominated the game. Dayton coach Anthony Grant and Xavier coach Sean Miller treated the game as the practice game it was, substituting often and experimenting with different combinations of players in the first chance for both teams to play outside competition.
The loss may have stung a bit for the Flyer Faithful, who had long hoped for another game against the more successful program 47 miles south, but it will be largely forgotten by Monday when Dayton opens the season against St. Francis University (Pa.). That 7 p.m. game and another home game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Northwestern will set the early tone in Grant’s eighth season.
To preview this season, the Dayton Daily News talked to people who know the program as well as anyone. They spoke on Oct. 21, one day after Dayton’s exhibition game against Xavier at UD Arena.
• Larry Hansgen, the voice of the Flyers on WHIO Radio for 42 seasons.
• Brooks Hall, a UD Hall of Famer who will return to the radio broadcast with Hansgen this season after not doing games last season.
• Keith Waleskowski, Hall’s former teammate and also a member of the UD Hall of Fame who also works with Hansgen on the radio broadcasts.
• And Matthew Schwade, the longtime Flyer Hoops writer for Rivals.com.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are excerpts of those conversations:
Q: What are your general feelings about the team after seeing it in action for the first time?
Hansgen: I think the expectation is that they could be really good. That being said, a lot of things have to happen. I think the returning group is solid. Right now, you wonder where the points are going to come from. Nate Santos is going to have to be more of a scorer than he was, and you wonder, ‘Is he going to be comfortable doing that?’ I think rebounding could be a real issue, but I see a lot of potential in that they can probably go a lot deeper than they went last year effectively. I don’t think there’s going to be as much drop off when they sub. For example, if a guy like Posh Alexander doesn’t start, or if a guy like Malachi Smith doesn’t start, or if a guy like Javon Bennett doesn’t start, wow, that’s a pretty good player coming off the bench for you. It looks like Jacob Connor can give them some good minutes.
Waleskowski: It’s going to look different obviously without DaRon Holmes. We don’t have “the man” this year. You’ll have a little bit of “we’re going to do this by committee.” At the same time, there are different guys that will be able to step up each night. You have guys who were solid role players last year — important pieces — but they had their roles, and they’re going to have to kick up their production. It’s going to be increasingly difficult because they don’t have Holmes getting all the attention. They don’t have Koby Brea getting attention and helping spread the floor. They’re going to have to figure out ways around that. When they’re focal points, they’re going to have to figure out how to still find a way to produce. There’s obviously a lot of new guys, some younger guys. They’re getting used to each other.
Hall: It’s going to be one of those years where it’s going to be fun — well not fun for a lot of fans — because it is going to be so unpredictable. It actually will probably be game to game for a while in terms of what team we see on the court because there’s just a lot of new pieces. We lost so much experience. And not only that, the main thing we’ve lost with that experience was the chemistry. At this level, chemistry is so crucial. Chemistry is kind of that tiebreaker when teams are even. That chemistry gets you through when you’re not playing well. Like yesterday, when the ball is not going in the hoop and Xavier’s knocking down everything, chemistry and defined roles are what allow you to overcome days like that. And right now they’re still building chemistry. They’re still defining roles. So you don’t stop the bleeding like you will 10 games into the season when those roles are defined and the chemistry is there. The top end of the potential is they can win the league. They’ve got that much talent on paper. But the flip side is because of everything I just said — lack of chemistry, who’s going to step into those new leadership roles — the team could fall to the middle of the pack.
Schwade: I’ve been pretty adamant with my subscriber base that this is the first time that I’ve heard that the coaching staff feels really great about this team going into the season. I had to kind of take a step back yesterday after taking in what I’ve heard in the offseason, realizing that this was just an exhibition game. This was the first time that they had 13,000 people that they’re playing in front of. So hopefully they settle down after some time and they get comfortable with the atmosphere and all that. The one big thing that I took away from yesterday, that I was hearing in the offseason, was they felt like they had a lot of depth this year. Anthony is usually a pretty tight rotational guy, so the fact that they had 11 who had checked in by the middle of the first half tells me that what I’m hearing about how they feel about the quality of their depth is accurate.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Q: Who do you think will be the team’s go-to guy in crunch time?
Hall: I think it will be Malachi. A healthy Malachi. We pray for his health. We forget he was that guy in terms of making the play. You want the ball in his hand just to make the right play in terms of late-game situations. I’d put him in a pick-and-roll situation and let him make the right play. I think he has the ability to take over a game. Now we just don’t know what that’s going to look like. What Malachi are we going to get post-injury? But if he is fully healthy, he is the guy that I think could potentially have that kind of Jalen Crutcher feel where you just trust him with the ball in his hands at the end of games.
Waleskowski: That’s tough. I don’t know if we have a go-to guy like that. I think Nate Santos has the opportunity to be a really good senior leader, but at the same time, he’s still getting back into his rhythm, coming off of hip surgery.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Q: What was your first impression of freshmen Amaël L’Etang and Hamad Mousa?
Schwade: (L’Etang) really surprised me yesterday. He’s got a lot of potential. He’s got a great looking stroke. That one 3 he hit yesterday, I’m sure it opened a lot of people’s eyes that this guy’s got a lot of talent, and certainly he’s got size, so he could be a force to be reckoned with. There’s just not a lot of guys with that skill and size in the Atlantic 10.
Hall: You could see the potential. There are going to be growing pains, right? But it was clear that they’re as good as advertised. How they fit into the rotation is going to depend on how quickly they pick things up. It doesn’t matter if you can put the ball in the basket. If you can’t defend, he’s not going to play you.
Q: Is this the best non-conference schedule you’ve seen for Dayton?
Hansgen: I can’t recall any better ones. You look at the Maui field alone, but then on top of that, having Northwestern, UNLV and Marquette all at home and a game against Cincinnati at the neutral site, those are great opportunities right there. The fans have got to love it because a lot of times they don’t get to see these games. Unless you go to Maui, you’re not going to get to see some of the best matchups and best opponents. The opportunity is there. If they have any kind of success against this non-conference schedule, they would almost be starting A-10 play, having to play themselves out of the NCAA tournament.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Q: What is the attitude of the Dayton fan base entering this season? Many fans throughout college basketball, UD fans included, have complained about the transfer portal and roster turnover. On the other hand, UD sold out the season for the fourth straight year.
Hansgen: It’s reminds me of how people are about politics. You go out and talk to someone, and they say, “Everyone in Washington is a crook. We should get rid of them all.” Then they’ll vote for their incumbent. “They’re all a bunch of crooks, except my guys.” I think Dayton fans look at the state of college basketball and say, “This is terrible. But I like the Flyers.” I think there’s something to that. I wouldn’t say they’re embracing this new way of doing things. That would be too affectionate a word. But I think they are accepting it. They’re saying, “OK, if this is how it is, we’re going to do it our way. We’re not going to go out and get a bunch of knuckleheads. We’re not going to go get guns for hire. Guys are going to have to go to class. They’re going to have to do things our way.” That’s not just a coach, culture thing. I think that’s where the fans come into play. I don’t think this fan base is a “we don’t care as long as they win” type of fan base.
Waleskowski: You can say that you’re not happy, but you’ll still show up because you’re interested. There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way. That’s the state of the college game, and every year it’s different. All the headlines don’t necessarily fit the identity of the Dayton community, in my opinion. But, regardless, I think it’s something that we need to embrace because that’s the way the college game is going. As a community, we can get very set in our ways, but at the same time, over the years, there has been a lot of innovation that has come through the Dayton community. If we look at that side of the identity — that we have a tremendous opportunity to not only participate, but to also excel if we are to embrace it and if it is handled correctly —we’re certainly on the right path.
Hall: I think the fan base is excited, and that’s a testament to the trajectory that this program has been on under AG, in terms of flash and flare — NBA draft picks and players of the years and national ranks. There’s a buzz around Dayton basketball. The flip side is I think they’re nervous, as they should be, because there’s a lot of unknowns going in. There’s no emotional connection because a lot of these guys we don’t know at all. We don’t have a sense of trust in this team. You don’t know these guys. They’ve never played together. You knew that we were going to be able to rely on DaRon. You knew you could rely on the Kobes (Brea and Elvis). There was a sense of familiarity with those guys.
2024-25 Dayton men’s basketball roster
No. 0, Javon Bennett, 5-10, junior guard
No. 2, Nate Santos, 6-7, senior forward
No. 3, Jaiun Simon, 6-6, redshirt freshman forward
No. 5, Posh Alexander, 6-0, fifth-year guard
No. 6, Enoch Cheeks, 6-3, fifth-year guard
No. 7, Evan Dickey, 6-3, sophomore guard
No. 8, Marvel Allen, 6-4, redshirt freshman guard
No. 10, Hamad Mousa, 6-8, freshman guard
No. 11, Malachi Smith, 6-0, redshirt junior guard
No. 13, Isaac Jack, 6-11, junior forward
No. 21, Brady Uhl, 6-2, senior guard
No. 23, Zed Key, 6-8, fifth-year forward
No. 24, Jacob Conner, 6-10, junior forward
No. 25, Will Maxwell, 6-4, sophomore guard
No. 33, Makai Grant, 6-1, sophomore guard
No. 54, Atticus Schuler, 6-4, junior forward/guard
Dayton’s 2024-25 schedule
Date, Opponent, Time, TV, Location
Sun., Oct. 20, Xavier (Exh.), 5 p.m., TV TBA, UD Arena
Sat., Oct. 26, Ashland, 6 p.m., TV TBA, UD Arena
Mon., Nov. 4, Saint Francis (Pa.), 7 p.m., TV TBA, UD Arena
Sat., Nov. 9, Northwestern, 7:30 p.m., WHIO-TV, UD Arena
Weds. Nov. 13, Ball State, 7 p.m., TV TBA, UD Arena
Sat., Nov. 16, Capital, 7 p.m., TV TBA, UD Arena
Weds., Nov. 20, New Mexico State, 7 p.m., TV TBA, UD Arena
Mon., Nov. 25, vs. North Carolina at Maui Invitational, 11:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, Lahaina, Hawaii
Tues., Nov. 26, vs. Auburn or Iowa State, 8:30 p.m. or 11 p.m, ET, ESPN networks, Maui Invitational, Lahaina, Hawaii
Weds., Nov. 27, vs. Memphis, Connecticut, Colorado or Michigan State at Maui Invitational, time TBA, ESPN networks, Lahaina, Hawaii
Tues., Dec. 3, Western Michigan, 7 p.m., TV TBA, UD Arena
Sat., Dec. 7, Lehigh, 2 p.m., WHIO Ch. 7, UD Arena
Sat., Dec. 14, Marquette, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network, UD Arena
Tues., Dec. 17, UNLV, 7 p.m., Peacock, UD Arena
Fri., Dec. 20, vs. Cincinnati, TBA, TV TBA, at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati
A-10 games
Tues., Dec. 31, vs. La Salle, 2 p.m., TV TBA, UD Arena
Sat., Jan. 4, at George Washington, noon, USA Network, Washington, D.C.
Weds., Jan. 8, at UMass, 7 p.m., Peacock, Amherst, Mass.
Weds., Jan. 15, vs. George Mason, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network, UD Arena
Sat., Jan. 18, vs. Loyola, time TBA, CBS Sports Network, UD Arena
Tues., Jan. 21, at Duquesne, 7 p.m., TV TBA, Pittsburgh
Fri., Jan. 24, vs. Saint Joseph’s, 7:30 p.m., ESPN networks, UD Arena
Tues., Jan. 28, at St. Bonaventure, 8 p.m., TV TBA, Olean, N.Y.
Fri., Jan. 31, at Saint Louis, 7 p.m., ESPN networks, St. Louis
Tues., Feb. 4, vs. Davidson, time TBA, TV TBA, UD Arena
Friday, Feb. 7, vs. VCU, 7 p.m., ESPN networks, UD Arena
Weds., Feb. 12, at Fordham, 7 p.m., TV TBA, Bronx, N.Y.
Sat., Feb. 15, vs. Duquesne, 2:30 p.m., USA Network, UD Arena
Friday, Feb. 21, at Loyola Chicago, 7 p.m., ESPN networks, Chicago
Weds., Feb. 26, at Rhode Island, time TBA, CBS Sports Network, Kingston, R.I.
Sat., March 1, vs. Richmond, CBS Sports Network, time TBA, UD Arena
Tues., March 4, vs. Saint Louis, time TBA, TV TBA
Fri., March 7, at VCU, 7 p.m., ESPN networks, Richmond, Va.
March 12-16, A-10 tournament at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
About the Author
