BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — It happens this time every year:

Finals Week

That seven day period when there are no Flyer games on the schedule, so that the guys can focus on wrapping up their studies for the first semester. Dayton Daily News UD beat writer David Jablonski used the pause to hit the beaches of southwestern Florida with his family, including a stop at “FTS” favorite Sanibel Island.

How did you spend your finals week break from UD basketball?

If you are like me, you kept a close eye on the scoreboards to see what Top 25 teams lost and would enable the Red and Blue to move up even further in the rankings. There was more than enuf excitement to maintain your interest, as Chris Mack and #1 Louisville got smacked in the face by Texas Tech; #4 Maryland was beaten by Penn State; #5 Michigan lost at Illinois and #11 Baylor barely snuck by #18 Butler.

But, as we all know there is only one thing that really matters to the Sons of Anthony Grant right now:

Win the next game

Elsewhere in hoopdom:

— Hot off the presses, the AG interview with Jim Rome from this afternoon:

https://www.jimrome.com/articles/anthony-grant

Hopefully, Coach Grant is chilling and enjoying his afternoon latte as you read this.

— Speaking of Jablo, here are his “Fourteen reasons for the Flyers’ No. 14 ranking”:

https://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/dayton-basketball-fourteen-reasons-for-the-flyers-ranking/m4OaQBakxPJWpvdmHauwRJ/

— For your pre-game reading enjoyment, here is a link to the DrakeNation.com MB regarding the Dayton game:

https://www.drakenation.com/138934/Drake-Bulldogs-Dayton-Flyers-Sat-12142019-6-PM-CT

The Drake game is yet another sell-out. This could be habit forming!

— Some absolutely insane highlights of Class of 2020 UD recruit RJ Blakney:

https://www.thehoophustle.com/news_article/show/1070355

— The transfer portal is already up to 75 names and it’s only December!

https://watchstadium.com/news/college-basketballs-2019-20-midseason-transfer-list-10-31-2019/

— The ESPN College basketball transfer rankings for 2020-21 and 2021-22 include old friend Jordan Davis, GW transfer Jordan Mazzulla, Fordham transfer Nick Honor and Duquesne transfer Eric Williams as well as former UD recruiting targets Evan Gilyard of Chicago and Neftali Alvarez from Puerto Rico:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/28167956/college-basketball-transfer-rankings-2020-21-2021-22

— The one and only Bill Walton confusing his recruiting experts in a convo with his ESPN PBP partner:

Bill Walton: “Now Paul Biancardi is not the guy from Philadelphia that lives in a cave, right?”

Roxy Bernstein: “No. That’s Joe Lunardi.”

— A-10 Talk.com looks ahead at the most important remaining Atlantic 10 non-conference games and of course the 12/21 date with Colorado in Chicago is amongst them:

https://www.a10talk.com/a-look-ahead-at-the-most-important-remaining-atlantic-10-non-conference-games/

— Sports Illustrated dives into the stats to explain “What’s Behind All the Chaos in College Basketball This Year?”

https://www.si.com/college/2019/12/12/college-basketball-upsets-offense-stats

— Jon Rothstein writing for The New York Times: College Teams Tout Stars. They Need Early Matchups to Brag About, Too. No mention of UD, but that’s okay:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/sports/ncaabasketball/cincinnati-nonconference-schedule.html

— “Why five college basketball teams were overhyped, why five were undervalued” with Dayton not included in either list:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/28258332/why-five-college-basketball-teams-were-overhyped-why-five-were-undervalued

— Former NBA Commish David Stern is hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage:

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/david-stern-hospital-brain-hemorrhage-nba-commissioner/nuqqwd1296pb1id45odvuhbv9?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

— DNP: Avacado

https://twitter.com/Keith_Langlois/status/1205281300065792001

— “The Sweet Tweet of the Week” comes to us from Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports:

Many athletes in college sports despise the “redshirt” year.

Others choose to expand their game and develop both on and off the floor.

The latest example?

Dayton’s Obi Toppin.

Sat out in 17-18.

Now he’s an All-American.

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: [email protected]