When Mikesell did get a ticket Dec. 5 for the second game of the season against Southern Methodist, he found a completely different experience from what he saw when he last entered the building for his final game on Senior Night.
“There were maybe 150 people, all spaced apart,” said Mikesell, who hopes to start a pro basketball career soon but has seen limited opportunities overseas because of the pandemic. “To go from a completely sold-out arena on March 7 to the amount of people who were there, it was definitely shocking. I kind of expected it. I didn’t fully understand what it was going to be like. At least we get to watch Dayton basketball, though. There’s a lot of college athletes who don’t have that opportunity because of the virus. I miss those guys. I miss those every-day interactions with the players and coaches. I’m excited to watch them all year.”
Mikesell and his family, including his parents Reed and Lisa, got tickets thanks to Larry Connor, the UD athletics supporter who helped finance the arena renovation. Ryan is close to Larry’s son Colin, and Ryan and Collin watched part of the game together from the third row. Ryan was with his family in a corner balcony suite when Dayton lost the game on a last-second shot.
Reed and Lisa saw every home game last season and traveled to all but one road game. They missed only eight games in Ryan’s career. They were fortunate the pandemic didn’t disrupt Ryan’s career until the end and didn’t rob them of seeing any games at the arena because what they saw Dec. 5 didn’t measure up to the typical experience.
“It was pretty flat, personally,” Reed said. “But I was glad to see the people. We talked to the other parents who were there. You’re there to support the kids. We enjoyed ourselves. But it’s not the same.”
Dayton announced before the season it would allow only immediate family members and invited athletic department guests — program boosters, in other words — to attend games. While the limit is 300, there have been closer to 100 fans in the stands. There are no cheerleaders. There is no band. Not even Rudy Flyer can get a ticket.
Taking the place of some fans are hundreds of cardboard cutouts of fan faces. They can buy them for $55 online. A number of dogs and cats have spots in the stands. Several former players, including Mikesell and Trey Landers, who share one cutout, as well as Obi Toppin and Roosevelt Chapman, also have cutouts. UD put those in the stands so the players would be represented.
The fans in the arena enjoy some of the familiar experiences. They see the player introduction video no one else will get to see this season. There are limited concessions. Drinking fountains have been turned off, but complementary cups of water with ice are available.
The fans who have seen games in person are grateful for the opportunity despite the changes to the experience.
“I’m very fortunate,” said Dr. Stephen Levitt, who has been a generous benefactor and supporter for the program for decades. “The feeling is surreal. It’s bizarre. I’ve been coming to games for 42 years, and I’ve only missed two home games. I never thought i would live to see this, but people like Neil Sullivan, Scott DeBolt, Adam Tschuor and Patrick Donnelly have done a great job of trying to create the same type of environment as a full arena.
“The bad thing about it is when we play a game, we have six players. Everybody else has five. Our sixth player is the Flyer Faithful, the sixth man. We don’t have that. They’ve tried to create it, but in reality you can never do what is impossible. The fans here are great. They’ve done a super job. I’ve enjoyed the games, but I miss the intensity, the environment that the Flyer Faithful bring.”
Eric Farrell, Dayton’s director of basketball operations during the Archie Miller era, watched one game alongside Levitt and also provided analysis on the ESPN+ broadcast for the women’s game against Akron.
Farrell was one of the most enthusiastic bench cheerleaders when he was in the program and did his best to bring that energy in an empty arena.
“We were cheering our butts off for the guys,” said Farrell, whose brother Andy is a special assistant to head coach Anthony Grant and the recruiting coordinator. “Regardless of whether there’s 100 people or 13,000 people, we’re Dayton Flyer fans. We can’t help but cheer. We can’t help but be on edge when the game’s on the line. We can’t help but cheer when we go on a 6-0 run. That’s who we are.”
Watching the Flyers play this season at UD Arena, Farrell said, is like watching them in a secret scrimmage. Every year, Division I teams can play one scrimmage without fans or media present. There may be two high-level teams going at it, but the games lack the excitement fans bring.
John McKeon, a UD graduate who has owned season tickets since the arena opened in 1969, is also one of the few fans with tickets this season.
“It’s so eerie,” McKeon said. “We’re used to the big crowds.”
McKeon knows how much it means to have one of the rare tickets. When he was a student, he used to have to wait in line — sometimes overnight, depending on the popularity of the game — with other students outside the UD Fieldhouse for tickets.
McKeon put his name on the waiting list for season tickets when UD Arena was still being built in case he found a job in town after graduation. Although he was serving in Vietnam when the arena opened in December of 1969, he still had season tickets. He didn’t get to use those tickets himself until the arena’s second season in 1970.
McKeon’s seats have improved over the years. He’s gotten closer and closer to the court. Like the other fans in attendance, he tries to make up for the 13,000 fans who aren’t there with extra cheering.
“It’s a little muffled through the masks,” McKeon said. “The first game, there were no students. The last game, they had six from the Red Scare. That added something to it. It’s interesting with the players’ families. You can look around and guess who’s who.”
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