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Dayton Flyers (2001: 21-13)

The following team preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the nation's most comprehensive look at this and all Division I teams, be sure to order the 2001-02 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518.

Program overview

With four starters returning from a 21-13 club that made a run at the NIT title, Dayton coach Oliver Purnell has plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

"We have lots of quality players and quality depth," he says. "These guys have been there. They know what it takes. The key will be making sure we can stay consistent."

Purnell has methodically built Dayton into a contender. In his first three seasons, the Flyers were 35-48. Since then, Dayton has won 75 games in four years and been invited to two NIT Tournaments and one NCAA Tournament.

The Flyers are battle-tested. They finished third in the Maui Invitational -- the premier preseason tournament in college basketball -- and beat two of the three ranked teams they played there, including eventual Final Four participant Maryland.

They also went 9-4 in non-league play, and they beat a ranked team (Connecticut) to open the regular season and another ranked team (Xavier) to close it.

With an experienced team returning, Dayton looks to make its fourth postseason appearance in five years, something not seen at the school in three decades.

Backcourt

Back is three-year starter Brooks Hall, a 6-6 junior wing who averaged 9.2 points despite suffering a stress fracture in his right tibia. He came back for the final five games and actually increased his scoring to 12 points per game in that span.

David Morris, a 5-10 junior guard, is back for his second year as Dayton's starting point guard. He has led the Flyers in assists the last two seasons (5-1 last year, 3.5 in 1999-2000) and was second in the Atlantic 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio last year (2.12-to-1).

Nate Green, a 6-6 junior forward, was one of five Flyers to average at least nine points last year and will start for the third consecutive year. Green led Dayton in field-goal percentage at .565 and was voted its defensive player of the year.

Ramod Marshall was a solid fill-in during Hall's absence last year, averaging 8.6 points. The 6-2 sophomore guard really picked it up down the stretch, averaging 12.3 over his final 12 games. He will provide Purnell with a quality reserve with experience.

Two newcomers round out the backcourt.

Mark Jones is a 6-1 point guard who signed last fall and then led Norwich (Conn.) Free Academy to the state championship game. He was chosen Connecticut's top prep player by the Hartford Courant after averaging 16.4 points and 5.3 rebounds.

D.J. Stelly, a 6-4 wing, was voted to the all-region team at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., averaging 17 points and 7.1 rebounds.

Frontcourt

The top returnee is 6-8, 230-pound sophomore center Keith Waleskowski (11.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg), who made the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team last year. Waleskowski has a reputation for being a blue-collar, grinder-type player who can score. He led Dayton in rebounding, field-goal percentage (.552) and free-throw percentage (.843) and was second in scoring to Tony Stanley (15.9), the lone departed starter from last year's team.

Waleskowski made a dent in the program's record book. He was just the third UD freshman to lead the team in rebounding and the third to lead in free-throw percentage. His 385 points were third best by a Flyer freshman, behind only Tony Stanley (431) and Johnny Davis (415).

Waleskowski looked terrific in Dayton's five-game Australian tour last May, averaging a team-high 18.6 points. He averaged 24.3 over the final three games, providing what Flyers fans hope is a sneak preview of things to come this winter.

Yuanta Holland (9.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg) thought he had played his last game for the Flyers last year, but the 6-7, 225-pound senior forward regained a year of eligibility after graduating from Dayton last May. Holland was second on the team in rebounding. He started 19 games last year.

Holland is the first Dayton player to take advantage of the NCAA rule which passed in 1999-2000 that allows Prop 48 players ineligible as freshmen to regain a fourth season of eligibility. The legislation that eventually became the rule was originally sponsored by the Atlantic 10.

Sean Finn is the only Dayton holdover without starting experience, but the 6-11 sophomore center raised a few eyebrows when he averaged 10.4 points and shot .786 from the field during Dayton's Australian tour in May. Quite an improvement over last year, when he averaged a meager 1.1 points and 1.7 rebounds.

The final holdover from last year's team is 6-5 swingman Sammy Smith (1.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg). Last spring, Smith told Purnell that he wanted to transfer. In July, he called the coach and said he had made a mistake and asked to return. Purnell said yes.

Newcomer Jason Osborne, a 6-7 forward/center, redshirted last season after knee and shoulder surgeries. He averaged 13.1 points and 14.2 rebounds as a senior in high school and worked hard in the offseason to shed some of his 260 pounds.

Bottom line

The question mark going into last year was the inside game. But all Green, Holland and Waleskowski did was average a combined 29.4 points and 17.2 rebounds while shooting .548 from the field. And all three return this year.

Morris and Marshall are solid but unspectacular guards. Their job will be getting the ball inside and letting the big men do their job.

The Flyers ended last season with three straight sellouts, and their regular-season average of 12,718 is the school's highest since 1971-72. Marshall coach Greg White would sooner have a root canal than play in Dayton.

"I've been at every arena in the country with the exception of North Carolina," he said, "and this is, without a doubt, in the top five or six."

There's a positive vibe about this team, and with good reason. With a veteran lineup and a seasoned coach, Dayton appears headed for another 20-win season. The Flyers will play in the West Division as the Atlantic 10 splits in two, and they should give Xavier a run for the division title.

Dayton went deep into the NIT last year. This time, with one of the most veteran clubs in the Atlantic 10, the Flyers' sights are on the NCAA Tournament.

"Consistency, period, is our question mark," Purnell said. "We had some great moments last season, but we weren't consistent.

"Now the guys are a year older. They have the ability. So now it's a question of commitment-and consistency."