2015–16 Dayton Flyers men's basketball team

2015–16 Dayton Flyers men's basketball
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#17
AP	#19
2015–16 record	21–3 (11–1 A-10)
Head coach	Archie Miller (5th year)
Assistant coach	Kevin Kuwik
Assistant coach	Allen Griffin
Assistant coach	Tom Ostrom
Home arena	University of Dayton Arena

The 2015–16 Dayton Flyers men's basketball team will represent the University of Dayton during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Flyers, led by fifth year head coach Archie Miller, play their home games at the University of Dayton Arena and are members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Previous season

The Flyers played most of the season with arguably the most limited roster in Division I men's basketball. Before the start of the season, one player was declared academically ineligible, one was lost for the season to a knee injury, and another ended his playing career on medical advice due to post-concussion symptoms. In December, two more players were dismissed from the team after having been charged with theft. This left the Flyers with only six players who began the season on scholarship; in addition, no player on the remaining roster, whether on scholarship or a walk-on, was taller than 6'6" (1.98 m).^[1]

Despite these roster limitations, the Flyers finished 27–9 overall and 13–5 in A10 play, ending in a tie for second place in the league. They advanced to the championship game of the A-10 Tournament where they lost to VCU. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Boise State in the First Four and Providence in the second round before losing in the third round to Oklahoma.

Departures

Incoming transfers

Incoming recruits

Name	Home town	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
John Crosby PG	Baltimore, MD	New Hampton School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sep 22, 2014
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 79
Sam Miller PF	Arlington, VA	Gonzaga College High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jul 30, 2014
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Xeyrius Williams PF	Huber Heights, OH	Wayne High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jun 22, 2014
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Ryan Mikesell SF	Saint Henry, OH	Saint Henry High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jul 3, 2014
	Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2015-07-14.

Recruiting Class of 2016

2016 recruits
Name	Home town	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Trey Landers SG	Huber Heights, OH	Wayne High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Mar 2, 2015
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 79
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2015-07-14.

Roster

2015–16 Dayton Flyers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown 1.5 !G 1 Davis, DarrellDarrell Davis 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 168 lb (76 kg) 2.0 !So Douglass Academy Detroit, MI 3.5 !F 2 Miller, SamSam Miller 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 244 lb (111 kg) 1.0 !Fr Gonzaga College Washington, D.C. 1.5 !G 3 Davis, KyleKyle Davis 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 3.0 !Jr Morgan Park Chicago, IL 1.5 !G 4 Cooke, CharlesCharles Cooke 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 3.5 !RS Jr Trenton Catholic Academy James Madison Trenton, NJ 5.0 !C 5 McElvene, SteveSteve McElvene 83 !6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 268 lb (122 kg) 1.5 !RS Fr New Haven New Haven, IN 1.5 !G 10 Dupuy, WilliamWilliam Dupuy (W) 68 !5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 157 lb (71 kg) 2.0 !So Grapevine Colleyville, TX 1.5 !G 11 Smith, ScoochieScoochie Smith 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 3.0 !Jr Putnam Science Academy New York, NY 1.5 !G 14 Bonsu, JeremiahJeremiah Bonsu (W) 71 !5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 3.0 !Jr Pickerington North Pickerington, OH 1.5 !G 15 Crosby, JohnJohn Crosby 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 1.0 !Fr New Hampton School Baltimore, MD 3.5 !F 20 Williams, XeryiusXeryius Williams 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1.0 !Fr Wayne Huber Heights, OH 3.5 !F 21 Pierre, DyshawnDyshawn Pierre 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 223 lb (101 kg) 4.0 !Sr Anderson CVI Whitby, ON 3.5 !F 22 Wehrli, BobbyBobby Wehrli 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 4.0 !Sr Benet Academy Naperville, IL 1.5 !G 23 Westerfield, JackJack Westerfield (W) 73 !6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1.0 !Fr St. Xavier Cincinnati, OH 1.5 !G 24 Schwieterman, MichaelMichael Schwieterman (W) 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1.0 !Fr Alter Kettering, OH 3.5 !F 25 Pollard, KendallKendall Pollard 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 3.0 !Jr Simeon Career Academy Chicago, IL 3.5 !F 33 Mikesell, RyanRyan Mikesell 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1.0 !Fr St. Henry St. Henry, OH 1.5 !G 44 Gruden, JoeyJoey Gruden (W) 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 163 lb (74 kg) 3.0 !Jr Sycamore Leesburg, VA 3.5 !F Cunningham, JoshJosh Cunningham (I)  79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 216 lb (98 kg) 2.0 !So Morgan Park Bradley Chicago, IL	Head coach Archie Miller (North Carolina State) Assistant coach(es) Kevin Kuwik (Notre Dame) Allen Griffin (Syracuse) Tom Ostrom (Minnesota) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule ^[3]

Pre-Season

News

• Dyshawn Pierre suspended for first 10 games of the season.^[4]
• For the first time in the history of the men's program, every game will be broadcast on TV.^[5]
• Flyers named preseason favorite in Atlantic 10.^[6]
• All home games to be broadcast in Mandarin Chinese.^[7]

Games

The season kicked off, as it does every year, with the Red and Blue game on October 24, 2015. This is a free scrimmage and meet and greet event for the fans. An estimated 3,200 Flyer Faithful showed up for the first opportunity to see new and veteran players on the court.^[8]

The Flyers defeated Saginaw Valley State, a Division 2 school who competes in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, 96–69 in the only exhibition game this season.^[9]

Non Conference

November

Dayton's season kicked off with 3 home games before heading down to Orlando to participate in the AdvoCare Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday. Game one, against Southeast Missouri, gave the Flyer Faithful a potential glimpse of the future as Freshman Ryan Mikesell, later named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the week,^[10] led all Dayton scorers with 21. Dayton, which won it's 23rd straight home game, started off the game on a 16-1 run and never looked back.

Dayton welcomed SEC foe Alabama to the UD Arena for game two of the season in an ESPN Tip-Off Marathon game.^[11] The Flyers were led by Charles Cooke with 21 points and led the game by as many as 34 points to up their season record to 2-0. In game three, the Flyers played host to the Tribe of William & Mary and extended their home winning streak to 25 straight with a 69-66 victory. The Flyers sealed the victory with 5 free throws in the final minute of play.

AdvoCare Invitational

Coming into this season in the four exempt tournaments coached by Archie Miller, the Flyers were 9-3 and crowned champions of the Old Spice Classic (now the AdvoCare Invitational) in 2011. The first round game match UD up against the Big Ten's Iowa Hawkeyes. The Flyers closed the game on an 11-2 run to start the season 4-0, dropping Iowa to 3-1. UD was again led in scoring by Charles Cooke with 22 points.^[12]

The second round game, played the following night, was against the Monmouth Hawks. The scrappy Hawks had just come off of a victory over the then ranked #17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and already had posted an away victory this season against UCLA. The Flyers, behind Scoochie Smith, extended their second half lead to 16 points and survived a late Hawks rally to head into the title game against long time rival Xavier.^[13]

In the 161st meeting between UD and #23 ranked XU, the Flyers were done in by 22 turnovers. The Musketeers went on a 25-4 run to open the second half on their way to the title.^[14] For his efforts, Flyers PG, Scoochie Smith was named to the all-tournament team.^[15]

December

In the first game after the break, the Flyers welcomed Atlantic Sun regular season and Tournament champions, the North Florida Ospreys men's basketball team to the UD Arena. The Flyers went on a 25–7 run in the second half to put the game away to make their record 6–1. Dayton had 5 players in double figures, led by Charles Cooke's career high 24 points. Steve McElvene was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the week with 14 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks.^[16]

Dayton headed to Nashville to face #21 Vanderbilt in the first true road game of the season. The Flyers rallied back from a 16 point first half deficit to upset the Commodores. Dayton was led by Kendall Pollard with a season high 21 points. It was the programs first victory over Vandy in it's 5th try. Dayton has won 12 of the last 15 games against SEC foes.^[17]

Chattanoga snapped Dayton's 26 game home winning streak in a 61–59 game. The Flyers struggled from the 3 point line, only hitting 3–13 shots, and were outrebounded by the Mocs 33–30. Kendall Pollard scored 20 points to lead Dayton. In the next contest, the Flyers rebounded nicely with a 70–50 victory over Furman led by a pair of double-doubles by Charles Cooke and Steve McElvene. Rival Miami Ohio came to UD Arena for the 132nd game between the two programs. In typical fashion this game came down to the wire with Kyle Davis hitting a jumper with 2.1 seconds left to give the Flyers the 64–63 victory.^[18] Dayton leads Miami in the all-time series 71–61.

Dyshawn Pierre returned in the final non-conference game against SEC foe the Arkansas Razorbacks. In the back and forth contest, Arkansas hit a 3 with 1.2 seconds left to force overtime. But, the Flyers closed the game on a 10–2 run to secure the 85–81 victory in OT. In a balanced attack, the Flyers placed 6 players in double figures, led by Charles Cooke with 18. The Flyers closed out the non-conference portion of the season 10–2. Coach Archie Miller won his 100th game as the head coach of the Flyers.^[19]

Conference

January

Rankings

See also

2015–16 Dayton Flyers women's basketball team

References