Last Updated: April 15, 2024
This is a revolving post throughout the 2024 offseason for players going in and out of the Dayton Flyers basketball program, transfer portal updates, and high school recruiting updates. Continue to check back here to see updates to the roster and transfer portal pertaining to the Dayton Flyers:
Current Scholarships Open: 2
Players Leaving the Program:
Zimi Nwokeji (R-Sr)
Zimi was suspended from the team and entered the transfer portal before the Flyers traveled to Salt Lake City for the NCAA Tournament. He has one year of eligibility remaining. This opens up one scholarship for Dayton.
Kobe Elvis (R-Jr)
Elvis is leaving Dayton to enter the transfer portal as a grad transfer. There are also rumblings that Elvis is also looking at overseas pro opportunities, but it looks like he is weighing out all the options. I wish Kobe all the luck in the world and thank him for a fun 3 years with him. He’s a good player and when he is on, it’s amazing to watch. Forever a Flyer. This opens up the second scholarship for the Flyers.
Petras Padegimas (Fr)
Petras entered the transfer portal on the Eclipse Day. He played sparingly off the bench this season, not really generating enough offense at this level, even though he was a true freshman. He has the tools to be a good player as he progresses throughout his collegiate career. We wish him the best!
Players Entering the Program:
Zed Key (Ohio State)
After what it appears to be a fun day in the student neighborhood and on campus over the weekend, Zed Key commits to the Flyers, coming to the Gem City from Ohio State. Power 6 transfers have notoriously worked out well in the past for Dayton (see Jordan Sibert and Nate Santos), and Key looks to continue the tradition. As stated earlier when he was in contact with Dayton, Key is a 6-8, 250 pound center who shot 53% from 2 on the season last year. He has also been known as a good rebounder on the offensive and defensive end. We can see Key being a starter easily on this team next year alongside Nate Santos in the Flyers front court. Zed is also the second player in as many years to play a game at UD Arena against Dayton and then transfer to Dayton the following year. Ohio State and Dayton played each other in a scrimmage this past season, and current Flyer Enoch Cheeks played against Dayton two seasons ago when he was on Robert Morris.
Players Being Targeted From The Transfer Portal:
Sam Alexis (Chattanooga)
Alexis has heard from a variety of schools, including Dayton. He is a 6-9, 230 pound forward who averaged 10.9 points and 9 rebounds. Alexis shot 60.2% from 2 point range and 56.3% in effective FG%. He was also in the top 100 in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage. He has 2 years of eligibility remaining. He has scheduled visits at a few other schools, with Dayton not being on that list as of now. With a possible opening at F/C depending on the decision of DaRon Holmes II, Alexis could be the player to plug in there along with current center, Isaac Jack. A player that shoots at a high percentage effectively and can rebound is right up the alley of Anthony Grant’s system.
UPDATE: Alexis has cut his list to 5 teams and Dayton is not one of them.
Jonathan Pierre (Memphis)
Pierre is a 6-9 Forward who has heard from a few A10 schools including Dayton and VCU. This will be the third school that Pierre will transfer to in three years (DII NOVA Southeastern and Memphis). He averaged 6 minutes per game for the Tigers in a very limited scoring role. Interesting to note that he was a 40% three-point shooter at NOVA Southeastern. He could be a guy that could thrive in the right system. Dayton notably is shooting more threes and Anthony Grant likes his tall three point shooters.
Ra’Heim Moss (Toledo)
Moss is a 6-4, 210 pound guard who is an Ohio native and has heard from a few schools, including Dayton, Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Loyola Chicago. He averaged 15.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game for the Rockets last season. He was First-Team, All-MAC as well. Dayton could use another high scoring guard that can be a slasher to the basket. Moss could be that guy for the Flyers.
Jason Rivera-Torres (Vanderbilt)
Rivera-Torres is a 6-6, 180 pound combo guard/forward from Vanderbilt. He has three years of eligibility remaining. He played 15 minutes per game, averaging 6.3 points and 3 rebounds per game. He is most likely looking for a new home due to the coaching change at Vandy. Anthony Grant likes his versatile position-less players, and Rivera-Torres could fit the bill here. The three years of eligibility remaining is a bonus here too.
Bryce Pope (UC San Diego)
Pope is a 6-3, 185 pound guard. He is from the Big West Conference, where he won 1st Team, All-Conference this year, scoring 18.3 points per game. He shot 32.7% from three. Pope is a big time scorer looking for a move to a higher level program. Dayton is looking for another scorer, and many high major programs have reached out to him. Compared to the A10, in 2023 he scored 31 points in a win vs George Washington. Pope has one year of eligibility remaining.
AJ Smith (Southern Indiana)
Smith is a 6-6, 215 pound forward from Southern Indiana. He averaged 13.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Smith has 2 years of eligibility remaining. Looking at his list of schools who contacted him, Dayton is easily the biggest program on the list. Nationally, his best skill set was rebounding, where he was top 50 in defensive rebounding percentage. Rebounding is what the Flyers lacked throughout this past season.
Maximus Edwards (George Washington)
Edwards is a 6-5, 215 pound combo guard from George Washington. He averaged 12.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He has 2 years of eligibility remaining. In both seasons, he shot 35% from three and 48% from two. Edwards was the 2023 A10 Rookie of the Year. This past season, he only scored 8 points against Dayton in a game at UD Arena that was not particularly close. In 2023, Edwards scored 15 points on 3-5 shooting from three in a win over Dayton in Foggy Bottom. Due to George Washington having a run and gun offense, Edwards put up a ton of shots, which made him less of an effective shooter. In a Dayton offense that prioritizes a slow and methodical pace of play, Edwards might be able to thrive as an outside shooter and a rim slasher. Anthony Grant has obviously seen him play in person, and he plays in the same league, so there is no mystery to if Edwards can play in the A10. Remember, Grant got a commitment from Enoch Cheeks last offseason from Robert Morris, who played against Dayton the season prior. It could be something that happens again.
Carey Booth (Notre Dame)
Booth is a 6-10, 203 pound power forward from Notre Dame. Booth has 3 years of eligibility remaining. He shot 54.1% from 2 and was not much of a three point shooter (29.7%). He averaged 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He was also one of the top defensive rebounders and shot blockers in the ACC last season. Booth is a former top 60 recruit out of high school. Depending on the decision of DaRon Holmes, Booth could be a nice addition to go along with Isaac Jack.
Trevor Baskin (D2 Colorado Mesa)
Baskin is one if the few D2 players that is looking to make a jump into the D1 ranks. Baskin is a 6-9, 200 pound forward with 2 years of eligibility left. He averaged 18.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game, including shooting 37% from three point range. Baskin was a first team-all conference selection for the past 3 seasons at Mesa, including being named conference player of the year this past season. He was also named to the Division II All-American team this past season. In the DII NCAA Tournament, Baskin averaged 20.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, making it all the way to the regional title game. Obviously this guy can play and can score, but the question is how is the move from D2 to D1 going to affect him. If schools like Creighton, Colorado, and Florida are calling him as well, then those coaches much think he will transition fine to the next level.
Ashton Henderson (Schoolcraft College – JUCO)
Henderson is a guard from Schoolcraft College from the junior college ranks. As a sophomore last season, Henderson averaged 12.2 points and 5 rebounds per game. He did have a subpar 38% from the field overall, including 27.4% from 3, so he is not a very effective shooter. He seems more like a defensive minded guard with a total of 39 steals last season. Junior College to Division I is a big step for anyone, and Grant has not been successful with it in the past, so I would be surprised if Henderson comes to Dayton at all.
Kolby King (Tulane)
King is a 6-2, 175 pound guard from Tulane. He spent his freshman season at St. John’s and then transferred to Tulane for this past season. Now he is back in the portal looking to find his third school in three years with 2 years of eligibility left. Last season, King averaged 10.4 points per game on 56% from 2 and 36.8% from 3, with an effective FG% of 55.7%. He also had a steal percentage of 2.7% registering 42 total steals last season, including a game high of 4 steals against Northwestern State. I really think King would fit well with Grant’s system of being an effective shooter, shooting above average from 3, and being a good defender. Those are the three big things that I have noticed that Grant likes in his on-ball guards. King would fit nicely with Javon Bennett, Enoch Cheeks, and Malachi Smith.
Eric Acker (LIU)
Acker is a 6-2, 160 pound guard who comes from LIU-Brooklyn. He was a freshman this past season, so he has 3 years of eligibility left. He averaged 12.7 points and 3.8 assists per game last season for the Sharks. He did not shoot it that well from three (28.3%) and was less than average from 2 (43.2%), but he did have an assist rate of 24.7%, so I would bet without seeing his tape that he is mainly a distributor of the ball. I’m not sure how he fits into this offense coming from one of the worst teams in the country last season (343 on KenPom). Scoring 12.7 points a game is a good average for a freshman, so I would imagine he would be a project for Grant to develop if he came to Dayton.
Selton Miguel (South Florida)
Miguel is a 6-4, 210 pound combo guard from South Florida. He is transferring as a graduate student after spending the last two seasons at South Florida and his first two years in college at Kansas State. Selton averaged 14.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game this past season. His specialties was shooting the three ball, shooting a 39% from range. Miguel fits the type of player that Anthony Grant likes for his transfers: from a top 10 conference, can shoot the three ball well, and a tall combo guard. He did struggle in his last game of the season in the NIT against VCU, so maybe that is not the best for Dayton after all.
Garwey Dual (Providence)
Dual is a 6-5, 190 pound shooting guard from Providence. He was a freshman this past season who saw limited minutes at Providence. He only averaged 3.3 points per game last season. His best game was a 14 point performance early in the season against Milwaukee. Apparently he also has some NBA workouts planned in addition to being in the transfer portal. Dual received an offer from Dayton in high school. He was a former 4 star and a top 50 national recruit. Dual would be a great piece for the Flyers as he probably thought he would get more playing time at Providence. These kinds of players have worked well as transfers at Dayton in the past. He is number 1 on my board of transfer hopefuls to come to Dayton as of right now.
Zed Key (Ohio State)
An instate transfer from Ohio State. Sound familiar, Flyer fans? Key is a 6-8, 250 pound center who is transferring as a graduate student after 4 years at Ohio State. He shot 53% from 2 on the season last year. He has also been known as a good rebounder on the offensive and defensive end. Zed did see a decrease in minutes this season. Zed would be a decent pick up if Holmes were to leave to replace him. Dayton has had great success over the years with hig major transfers, so Key would be an intriguing player coming to Dayton.
UPDATE: Key is taking an official visit to Dayton on Friday, April 12th
Jalen DeLoach (Georgia)
Another former A10 player from VCU, DeLoach has bounced around from VCU to Georgia and is now back in the portal. DeLoach is a 6-9, 220 pound center, who is known for his shot blocking and steals, especially when he was at VCU. He is a above average shooter around the rim, shooting about 50% in all three collegiate seasons so far. DeLoach has one year of eligibility remaining.
Update: Taking an official visit to Loyola this week.
High School Recruiting (Class of 2024):
Kameren Wright (Gainesville, FL) – Offered
Wright is a 6-4 shooting guard from Olympia High School in Gainesville, Florida. He also holds an offer from VCU. Wright is graded as a 3 star recruit. He is ranked #217 in the class of 2024.
Other Recruits:
Alex Lloyd (Class of 2025) – Visited and Offered
Lloyd is a 4 star recruit ranked #46 overall in the nation. He is in the class of 2025. Lloyd is a 6-4, 160 pound shooting guard from Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He holds offers from Dayton, Florida State, FAU, Miami, and FGCU. Lloyd is listed by On3.com as a 70% prediction toward Dayton. Lloyd would be the highest rated recruit to commit to the Flyers since DaRon Holmes II in 2021.
