The Dayton Flyers added three transfers in a six-day stretch in April 2025 but needed much more time to pick up commitments from three more transfers in what was then the biggest transfer class in school history.<\/p>\n
Malcolm Thomas joined Adam Njie Jr., Jordan Derkack and De\u2019Shayne Montgomery in the class on April 24.Bryce Heard committed on May 2.Keonte Jones rounded out the class on July 31.<\/p>\n
Fans eager for recruiting news didn\u2019t have such a drawn-out experience this year. From April 16-21, six players from the transfer portal announced their commitment to Dayton.<\/p>\n
Looking back on that period on Wednesday, May 6, in his first interview since the season ended in March, University of Dayton Director of Athletics Neil Sullivan told the Dayton Daily News, \u201cThese things move fast. I can\u2019t say it was 100% choreographed, but it was pretty much a military-type operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sullivan worked with head coach Anthony Grant and his staff, as well as senior associate athletics director PJ Hubert and Jim Paxson, the senior advisor of basketball operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a map and a plan of attack,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cWe were able to do it in a window. We didn\u2019t think we\u2019d drag it out too far. A lot of it was planned, but sometimes these things move fast, so I can\u2019t say that it went exactly according to plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dayton\u2019s flurry of transfer additions started April 16 when Travis Perry, a 6-1 sophomore guard from Ole Miss, and Jalen Haynes, a 6-8 fifth-year forward from Cincinnati, committed to Dayton within two hours of each other.<\/p>\n
Two days later, Murray State transfer Tristian Ford,<\/p>\n
a 6-3 freshman guard, announced his commitment to Dayton, hours before Marquette transfer Zaide Lowery, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, picked the Flyers.<\/p>\n
On April 20, Grant Randall, a 6-9 sophomore forward from Quinnipiac, committed to Dayton.<\/p>\n
Finally, on April 21, Landen Joseph, a 6-foot-2 guard who played his freshman season at Marshall, became the sixth transfer to commit to Dayton.<\/p>\n
As of Monday, May 4, all of the players except Haynes had officially signed with Dayton.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a lot more than six days in terms of when that process started,\u201d Grant said. \u201cThere was a lot behind the scenes in terms of watching film, talking to coaches, agents and players, trying to get real-time information. It culminated in a lot of success in a short period.<\/p>\n
\u201cCredit to our coaching staff. These guys did a tremendous job, as did our support staff, the people organizing things here on campus, to make sure that the experience was good for these guys to be able to get a good picture of what this place is about. And there was the commitment from the administration to allow us to have the resources to put it together. That was big time as well. It was just a collaborative effort all the way around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dayton turned an eight-man roster that included five returning players and three incoming freshmen into a 14-player group. It\u2019s the first time Dayton has had more than 13 scholarship players on the roster. The limit changed from 13 to 15 last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the group we put together,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cWe\u2019re happy where we are. That said, the business is about performance, plain and simple. There are a lot of teams that are happy on draft day. We believe in what we\u2019ve done so far. Now it\u2019s got to go to the execution level.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was the first time Dayton had Paxson, the program\u2019s sixth all-time leading scorer, on staff during the transfer season. Sullivan said the coaches still are in charge of recruiting and identifying talent. Paxson is involved in contract negotiations and the valuation of players. For example, he plays a part in helping everyone decide how much to spend on specific positions or players.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe support the coaches on the business side,\u201d Sullivan said.<\/p>\n