The Season Awaits

AUSTIN (TX) — We are only about a week away from the return of college basketball, according to the countdown that Jon Rothstein at CBS Sports has been running and many questions still remain about the Dayton Flyers.

Is Kendall’s knee fulling healed?

Are the sophomores ready to step up?

Can Darrell Davis rediscover his three point shooting stroke?

How much will the absence of Big Steve affect the squad?

Will freshman Trey Landers contribute?

Thanks to the intricacies of the NCAA Clearinghouse, it remains to be seen if 6’ 11” freshman Kostas Antetokounmpo will be eligible for any of the 2016-17 campaign. If so, he will provide an X factor to what is already a very established roster; if not he will benefit from a redshirt year much like Josh Cunningham, Big Steve and Charles Cooke before him.

— Speaking of Rothstein, he tweeted this about the Dayton Flyers a few weeks back:

Dayton has four players — Scoochie Smith, Kendall Pollard, Charles Cooke, & Kyle Davis — that will be 22 during A 10 play. Tough to beat.

— Defending NCAA Champion Villanova felt the sting of the NCAA Clearinghouse when freshman big man and Ohio native Omari Spellman was declared ineligible:

http://www.vuhoops.com/villanova-basketball/2016/9/23/13028976/villanova-wildcats-omari-spellman-ruled-an-academic-redshirt-for-2016-17

— Here is some linky goodness on 2017 recruit Jordan Pierce:

Pierce told David Jablonski of The DDN that UD “feels right.”

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/sports/dayton-flyers-recruit-jordan-pierce-on-ud-it-feels/nsRqC/

Jordan talks about his decision with NJHoops.com:

https://njhoops.rivals.com/news/pierce-talks-decision

Nice video feature on Pierce off the court:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgHXPxSzw8U

— And in the interest of equal time, some equally fine linkronicity for McKinley Wright:

The YouTube video that Wright filmed to announce his decision to attend UD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG-hHIcQWZg

A video of McKinley dunking: