Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the University of Dayton Media Day for Men’s and Women’s basketball. With brief conversations with Coach Jim Jabir, Coach Brian Gregory, and many of the players and assistant coaches, the commitment that the University of Dayton has made to the sport of basketball is obviously in good hands with the staffs and teams that walk the halls of the Donoher Center.

At 3:30 Coach Jim Jabir, Atlantic 10 All-Conference 3rd teamer senior Stefanie Miller, and senior Cyndi Stull came out to speak to the media. One thing that was obvious is that the two seniors are ready to get out and hit the court. For months now the players have been running and playing in open gyms, but come Saturday at 9:00 a.m., the whistle is going to blow and Coach Jim Jabir will lead his first practice for the 2003-04 campaign. Coach Jabir is going to look to his two seniors to help him bring the level of play up in the women’s program. His goals for this year centers on improving the perception of the program. Much like the men’s program, the women’s program lacks name recognition across the country. Many recruits don’t understand the outstanding facilities that the University of Dayton has built, and Jabir’s plan is to build a reputation for the Flyer Women’s program to sell.

Building this reputation begins by playing basketball at the highest level that can be achieved. To do this, Miller and Stull will look for support from players such as junior Emily Williams and sophomores Lyndsey DeWitt and Angela Cape. Williams, a 5’10” guard from Beavercreek, OH, saw limited playing time last season playing behind Miller, and departed Flyers Sarah Schloss, Chrissy Donovan, and Sarah Allen. While playing just 130 minutes in ’02-’03, Williams grabbed 21 rebounds, came away with 7 steals, but committed 14 turnovers. DeWitt, a transfer from Louisville who sat out last year, begins her career at UD with a reputation for scoring. In 2001 she was named the Division II Player of the Year in the state of Ohio after averaging an eye-popping 29.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and 4.5 assists at Upper Sandusky High School. Cape, a 6’3″ center from Warren, OH, played just 111 minutes in 15 games and gathered 23 rebounds (8.3 rebounds per 40 minutes) and a respectable 5 assists from the post.

Williams, DeWitt, and Cape as well as Freshmen Amber Peterink, Amber Robinson, and Jennifer Strong will be the beginning of a strong foundation that Coach Jabir and his staff hope to build. With a tough schedule including games in the Buckeye Classic (Pennsylvania and either Ohio State or St. John’s), at Notre Dame on December 13, at Marquette on December 29, and a home game against a tough Cincinnati team on December 6th, the Flyers will have a tough road in front of them before the Atlantic-10 conference schedule.

Just before 4:00 the Flyer’s 18th men’s head coach walked into the halls of the Donoher Center with his staff and team. With big things expected for this team, Coach Gregory expects nothing less than what many of the fans expect — championships. In Gregory’s words, if you are going to put a team on the floor to compete, then you better try to win championships.

Gregory sees a core group of four returning players (Marshall, Finn, Waleskowski, and Jones) that have proven themselves at the Atlantic-10 level. All the other players he has challenged to raise their level of performance to prove their ability to compete. As such, there were a lot of words flying around the Donoher center including “renewed energy,” “fresh start,” and “higher level of intensity.” Sophomore Marques Bennett looks at Coach Gregory’s hiring as a new beginning. Bennett went on to say that every player on the team needs to prove himself. While no one spoke of specific players that the Flyer faithful can expect to step forward, as many of us already know, the players themselves believe Monty Scott could be the biggest surprise in the program.

A new focus of Media Day for this year was trying to figure out who is going to win the Slam Dunk and 3-point shoot-out contests. Believe it or not, when I asked the question of who’s going to win, I got 13 different answers and each player got one vote (everyone thinks they’re going to win). One thing is definitely for sure though, on Saturday morning at 12:01 a.m., these players are going to be competing for the pride and bragging rights of the team. Keith Waleskowski seems to have some “special” dunks up his sleeve, but Frank Igoudala jokingly stated that Keith is going to need a trampoline to beat him. The dark horses in the slam dunk race are going to be Marques Bennett and Monty Scott. Bennett, the only player on the team to have named a dunk, says everyone is going to have to show up to see the “Dude.”

Chris Spears is up for the challenge of the 3-point contest, but Mark Jones might have something to say about that. Spears, known as a 3-point marksman, is ready to help the team in any role he can and he is anxious to prove his abilities to the Flyer fans. Ramod Marshall, outwardly the most confident Flyer during Media Day, stated that he has a challenge for all his fellow teammates in both the 3-point shootout and the dunk contest.

On a side note, this was my first time to actually have a conversation with many of the team members and coaches associated with the Flyer program, and I must say that I am extremely impressed. Just sitting back and observing the actions of the team shows the unity and friendship that each and every player has with each other. Then you watch the interactions that the assistant coaches — Billy Schmidt, Mike Jackson, and Mo Cassara — have with the players and you see the respect that all of the players and coaches have for one another. These kids that are in the UD program are quality people and UD fans should be proud to have them playing for our team.

During Media Day as I was waiting for players to get done with interviews I had the opportunity to talk to Coach Cassara for awhile and I must say, it is easy to see why recruits like our coaches. They are all extremely personable people. Good quality men that represent the program well. They have several things in common: passion to compete, desire to get better, and a will to win. This coaching staff is made up of men that will prove to the world that they are the best around, and that they will work hard and do what it takes to be successful. The good news for Flyer fans is that success to this staff is championships.

Things to watch for the 2003 – 2004 season:
• Keith Waleskowski needs 35 offensive rebounds to move into 2nd all-time (currently has 279)
• Ramod Marshall needs 34 three pointers to move into 3rd all-time (currently has 174)
• Sean Finn needs 28 blocks to lead the University of Dayton in career blocks (currently has 101)
• Keith Waleskowski needs 17 rebounds to move into 11th all-time (currently has 765)
• Keith Waleskowski needs 5 blocks to move into 10th all-time
• Ramod Marshall needs 6 assists to move into 11th all-time (currently has 332)
• Ramod Marshall needs 4 points to move into 32nd all-time (currently has 1,071)
(Keith Waleskowski is currently 31st all-time in points with 1,076)
• Sean Finn needs 11 baskets to qualify for FG% Leaders (Finn currently leads this category but does not have enough made shots to qualify)

[Originally written by Aaron Miller]