BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — Thanks to the fact that “The First Four Featuring the First Fan” is being held at UD Arena, our Dayton Flyers are required to hit the road for the opening tilt in their quest for the NIT championship. Archie and The Boys will travel to Iowa City, IA where they will take on the Hawkeyes of the Big 10 on ESPN Tuesday night. Somehow, even tho UD is a #2 seed and Iowa is a #7, the homestanding Hawkeyes have been installed as a 3.5 point favorite, according to Las Vegas.

We shall see.

Here are some tidbits as we enter the most exciting week in college basketball:

— Matt Gatens of Iowa was gracious enuf to provide the Flyers with a little bulletin board material:

http://hawkcentral.com/2012/03/11/hawkeyes-make-nit-will-play-dayton-at-carver-hawkeye/

“It’ll be great to go out with a win and to play in front of the fans again and in front of the family on that court.”

Thanks dude.

— If young Mr. Gatens is allowed to look ahead, then what the hell, so are we. If UD and LSU both win their 1st round games, that will set up an LSU/UD tilt at UD Arena later this week. Think LSU transfer/UD redshirt sophomore Matt Derenbecker might be pumped for that matchup?

— The other guy to watch for Iowa is sophomore Roy Devyn Marble, son of the former All-American and and NBA player of the same name. Here is a profile on Devyn (and Kyle Vinales now at Central Connecticut) that I did when he prepped at Southfield Lathrup HS and was being recruited by UD:

https://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9117

— Meanwhile, Jim Jabir and the Flyers’ women’s team only drew a #11 seed and will head to College Station, TX for their opening round contest vs. Arkansas. Conversely, Baylor is headed to Bowling Green, OH to play. I think they got that backasswards, don’t you?

Here is a tournament profile of the Flyers:

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/3503

It would be great if De’Sarae Chambers was able to suit up for the Flyers in this one as they predict.

— The DDN with 10 reasons why Dayton loves college basketball:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/university-of-dayton-flyers/10-reasons-why-dayton-loves-college-basketball-1342754.html?cxtype=rss_university-dayton

— Scout.com’s A-10 Report with a profile of the quality crop of guards in the conference this year:

http://atlantic10.scout.com/2/1166431.html

— This one has created a lot of chatter on the UD Pride Message Board–Butler to the A-10…it’s more likely than you think!

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/53114/3-point-shot-3

— By winning the A-10, St. Bonaventure knocked out one of the bubble teams and gave our conference 4 teams in the Big Dance and four squads in the NIT:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2012/story/_/id/7674666/2012-men-ncaa-tournament-st-bonaventure-bonnies-win-canceled-vote-final-spot

— It’s never too early to think ahead. The Buckeye Report provides profiles of the top 8th graders in the State of Ohio, several of whom hail from the Dayton area:

http://buckeyeprep.blogspot.com/2012/03/8th-grade-top-performers.html

— One of the kids mentioned is Derrick Daniels of Dayton a 6’5” player with some hops, as this video will attest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNcOYz_4vxY&feature=relmfu

— To say that Dayton Dunbar HS frosh AJ Harris is quick is the understatement of the year. Check out the moves on this kid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYB3J2DOq6g

— The Hollywood Reporter with a profile of my old CNN boss, Ted Turner:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ted-turner-jane-fonda-cnn-time-warner-295773

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
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