DAYTON (OH) — Exiting the Schottenstein Center last Wednesday night after Dayton’s 74-63 loss to Ohio State in the quarterfinal round of the NIT, I had a lot to think about. In a season of Himalayan peaks and Death Valley lows, it’s hard to wrap arms and brain cells around four tumultuous months of Flyer basketball, but it doesn’t mean I’m not about to try.

Wednesday’s game felt like déjà vu all over again. I remember sitting at UD Arena one game away from the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden as Perry Watson’s Detroit Titans thoroughly dismantled the Flyers from start to finish in a game that was never close. While Dayton offered a competitive first half against Ohio State, the home stretch seemed very familiar and by the last media timeout, the only detail remaining was the final score. Wednesday’s effort was much better; it was on enemy turf and the fellas gave us 20 minutes of solid ball. But the result was the same and the season ended without a signature accomplishment such as a trip to the Big Apple to hang our hat on. The 80-55 win over Pittsburgh seems like it happened three seasons ago. To their credit, Dayton picked up the midseason pieces and played better ball late in the year. Still, it wasn’t enough. The loss of Chris Wright was unfortunate and unrecoverable, but the result in Columbus typified other frustrations Flyer fans digested all season: poor shooting, questionable decision-making, suspect ball-handling, lack of polish in the frontcourt, and an overall void of balance and dynamism good enough to wear down solid foes. In a season of faded dreams and ambitions, the Flyers faded in the final 20 minutes like a car out of gas signaling to the berm so healthier traffic could move on by.

If the NIT loss was hard to swallow, consider the loss of Brian Roberts – a player whose personal accomplishments will be looked upon in the same glean as the all-time Flyer greats, but whose team success suffered in perpetual goodness without the taste of honest greatness. B-Rob did everything but tote the team luggage on the bus for this program over the last four seasons. Nobody ever suggested he was a defensive specialist or rebounding fool, but the Toledo Rifle did everything he could do to give the Flyers a fighting chance. All too often when the wheels spun, it felt like he was pushing the back bumper alone. He had help, but it was spotty. He was a shooting guard accepting a career change at point guard in order to fill a gaping hole from departed transfers, missed recruiting targets, and unready replacements. Brian Roberts was not a point guard, but he played the position better than many naturals. With the tools that he had, it’s hard to suggest Roberts left anything on the table. He walks away from UD as the #4 all-time scorer, #1 all-time long-ball jumpshooter, and one of the steadiest rocks at the FT line in program history. Had Dayton collected a steady point guard to leave Brian free to run off picks for four years, it’s no stretch to say he may have broken Roosevelt Chapman’s career scoring mark.

Still, it’s hard to swallow bitter pills. The Flyer Faithful have been on the meds for nearly 20 years just waiting for one magical carpet ride for all of their support and enthusiasm and discretionary dollars. Watching teams like Western Kentucky, UT-Chattanooga, Davidson, Xavier, Hampton, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Butler, Winthrop, VCU, Weber State, Nevada, Bucknell, Kent State, Miami OH, Bradley, George Washington, Northwestern State, Wichita State, George Mason, Pacific, Vermont, St. Joseph’s, Manhattan, UNC-Wilmington, and Tulsa all ride the lightning and give fans a postseason to truly remember in the annals of their college basketball program leaves everyone in Red and Blue Nation wonder if it will ever happen again — even a trip to Madison Square Garden for the not-so relevant NIT semifinals. Anything to feed a starving basketball nation.

The Flyers are anorexic and looking for fresh meat. While the tribe embraced the NIT after the Cleveland State win, there’s no getting around the fact that nobody cares about the NIT on a national scale. The online sports portals are devoting their entire bandwidth to March Madness while the NIT is buried under the latest figure skating headlines. As much fun as fans tried to have, even an NIT championship is an entirely different cut of steak from a first or second round exit in the Big Dance. Bottom line: major college programs measure success by the damage done in the NCAA tournament. Everything else is details.

To realize that potential, Chris Wright must be at the center of it. The local hero is so potentially talented they don’t make scales large enough to measure. But he can’t do it all because that long and winding road has been heavily traveled. Help must come from frontcourt and backcourt teammates. Veterans must step up and polish significant holes in their game. Newcomers must be ready to contribute right away and do it in a manner befitting a BCS-level recruit. It’s been five seasons since Dayton made the Field of 64 and NIT banners are just placeholders for far larger dreams and ambitions.

While Wright is next season’s focal point, London Warren is the key. A prescription of 1500 jumpshots and 1000 free throws a day should be written. And when London is not shooting, he’s rebounding for Charles and Kurt running the same drill. These issues alone can reclaim four wins from this year’s loss column. Brian Gregory doesn’t need any heroes, just some legitimate marksmanship to keep opponents honest beyond five feet of the basket. With the three-point arc getting pushed back, things will only get more difficult from the Land of Plenty.

Though it’s easy to suggest areas for improvement, it’s not so easy to consider this year’s team as one of the more resilient. I think it’s a fair assessment of the effort every player gave from start to finish. The Flyers always took the floor with a lunch pail mentality. It’s now critical that both the execution and ability catch up with the effort and hustle. Those forces of nature are not mutually exclusive. Simply trying hard isn’t enough. Giving 110% is a baseline expectation.

The Dayton basketball program is about doing damage in the NCAA tournament, mopping the floor with rivals, and graduating players. National programs do just that. But it would be nice to sail on a magic carpet ride even in the tepid years, just to know how it feels. Flyer fans shouldn’t have to ask the groupies at Pacific or UNC-Wilmington if it really tastes as good as it looks. Rather, they should be approaching us and requesting the secret recipe. It’s been so long since fans have tasted the sweetness however, the sour taste is hard to get rid of.