BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — Back in the late 1960s I attempted to follow college basketball recruiting as best as I could, under the circumstances. Which is to say, I absorbed Street & Smiths College Basketball Yearbook cover to cover and saved every issue for later reference. I can recall reading the glowing reviews of Dayton Roth HS star Donald Smith and hoping that, like me, he would come to UD. I would scan the list of top HS recruits and try and figure out which players with whom the Flyers might have a shot. Outside of Smitty I didn’t do a very good job in predicting Coach Donoher’s eventual signees. Donald’s class of 1973 was the best UD had seen since Roger Brown and Bill Chemlewski hit campus in 1961. There would be others, most notably the Scoochie, Kyle Davis and KP trifecta that Archie pulled off in 2013.

But nothing like this

Today’s surprise announcement of the signing of 6’10” Mustapha Amzil caps a four man recruiting class that includes Scoochie’s little bro Malachi, Top 50 prospect DaRon Holmes and Top 150 signee Kaleb Washington.

Four outstanding players. In the middle of a pandemic. At a supposed “mid-major” university.

— The excitement started with Amzil’s announcement on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MustaphaAmzil_/status/1328412916069126147?s=20

— Next AG made it official:

https://mobile.twitter.com/DaytonMBB/status/1328428329096130566

— Then Jablo let us know that Mustapha had not only signed a LOI but that he would be eligible in January:

https://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/dayton-flyers-pick-up-6-10-recruit-from-finland/FQUJEPZHBBD25NQODHOCMWPCDU/

— Zagsblog let the rest of the country know about Amzil’s signing:

https://www.zagsblog.com/2020/11/16/mustapha-amzil-commits-to-dayton-will-enroll-in-january/

And who else had offered him a scholarship: Amzil chose Dayton over offers from Indiana, Marquette, SMU, Illinois, N.C. State, DePaul, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Oklahoma State, Boston College, St. John’s and Maryland.

— Here is some game film of Mustapha in action:

HS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3UyfOmOI24

U-16 Finnish Team: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRYnRR23NPU&feature=emb_logo

Prep School: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI2y4tudx6E&feature=emb_logo

— The signing of Mustapha, Malachi, DaRon and Kaleb harkens back to AG’s days as head recruiter for Billy Donavan at Florida and “The Oh Fours”:

https://floridagators.com/news/2020/6/25/mens-basketball-the-oh-fours-2004-06.aspx

How do you top a news flash like Amzil’s commitment? How about when your National POY and soon-to-be NBA lottery pick drops this outstanding piece in The Players’ Tribune entitled “The Next Generation”:

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/the-next-generation-obi-toppin

As if that article didn’t seal the deal on what a class act Obi One is, check this video out:

https://twitter.com/DamonDurbin/status/1328427303265857542

And this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHoemXyBOid/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

It is truly a great day to be a Flyer!

As UD Pride poster hawkoo said on the MB:

This is insane

That’s it “From the Swamp”
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