The 2023-24 Dayton Flyers roster involves 12 scholarship players, three of whom are new to higher education basketball.
The 3 freshmen — forward Jaiun Simon, of Mableton, Ga., guard Marvel Allen, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and ahead Petras Padegimas, of Kaunas, Lithuania — were featured at the close of Episode 1 of “Building the Basis,” a 4-aspect video series developed by UD and airing on YouTube to spotlight the Flyers as they put together for the new time.
Listed here are some highlights from their remarks and affiliate head mentor Ricardo Greer’s opinions on every participant:
Greer on Simon: “Jaiun was 17 years aged the entire summer. He was the age of my son. To be 17 decades old and to appear to a faculty campus and have to go by way of all the things that all the other fellas are heading via … Jaiun has a genuinely vivid foreseeable future. I feel he’s a fantastic younger male. I consider that he carries on to get much better every day I see him. I’m not confident, but I assume he’s obtaining taller. I observed Jaiun in large faculty a pair of moments and said, ‘This is a man that we surely need to look at and recruit.’ I think the sky’s the restrict for this younger male, and I’m super enthusiastic he’s right here.”
Simon on what sparked his desire in UD: “I’m not going to lie. It was Obi. … I observed he was a lottery select. I made use of to view Dayton video games, but I did not realize it was Dayton. Then they offered me, and I was like, ‘Oh snap, Obi did go in this article.’ … It was nuts. I like how the crowd was engaged with him and how every thing he did they went mad. He just had a distinct swagger when he performed here, and I seriously favored it.”
Simon on his check out: “It was really chill. We went to a pleasant restaurant. I satisfied a couple of of the guys. I achieved Toumani (Camara) and DaRon (Holmes II). They appeared truly chill and all about company and appeared like men I desired to be about.
Simon on himself as a participant: “I sense like I can do everything on the basketball courtroom. Shoot the 3 ball. I can dribble. I can shoot the mid-array. I can finish. Appear in and perform hard. Be an power man. Be capable to knock down open shots and end at the basket. Just do a tiny bit all the things. Do regardless of what is wanted of me. But undoubtedly power and defense to start with.”
Greer on Allen: “He’s a pitbull. He’s a bull in the china store, a talented child. We acquired on Marvel late immediately after he decommitted from from Georgetown. Marvel’s one of those people children that you could provide everywhere in the region and he’s heading to contend and participate in tough. He has a wonderful smile, fantastic charisma. We’re also super psyched about him.”
Allen on finding Dayton: “The recruiting process, it was a whole lot. I experienced probably more than 20 educational institutions from all conferences. When I to start with manufactured my determination, I dedicated to LSU. Mentor (Will) Wade was there, but owing to unlucky conditions, he bought fired. So I decommitted and explored my alternatives once more, and it sort of led me to Georgetown, and the same circumstance transpired. The mentor acquired taken out. So now I seriously experienced to sit down and feel about what would be the ideal possibility for me. When I came on my Dayton check out, what definitely stood out was how a lot the coaches treatment about you and the loved ones environment and the admirers and that aid.
“When I decommitted from Georgetown, coach (James) Kane came down to Montverde (Academy) that initially day, and then he drove two and a half hours to go see my dad, so that really showed me they wanted me and they cared a whole lot about me. … I would say what actually designed me decide is on my visit soon after my final breakfast with the coaches, I experienced a 1-on-1 converse with coach AG (Anthony Grant) and he expressed that I can rely on him. He is familiar with that I’ve been through a good deal. The dialogue we had, it kind of touched me and created me truly feel psychological. No mentor built me come to feel emotional. This manufactured me think this is exactly where I want to go.”
Greer on Pedigamas: “Petras is appealing since he was committed to the College of Central Florida the entire 12 months, so he wasn’t some dude that we were recruiting from from the starting. This was a person that made a decision late to decommit from UCF. When we noticed that, we manufactured some cell phone calls, and the men and women that he promotions with in Lithuania called and claimed, ‘Would you men be fascinated in Petras?’ We looked at him and mentioned, ‘This guy’s very superior. He can shoot it. He’s an athlete. He’s a dude that we feel that can assist us.’ He’s also younger. He experienced only turned just turned 18. … It was fast for the reason that it was late. We had been competing with a couple of schools, but his mom arrived below, who is a delight. She’s remarkable. And she just fell in love with with mentor Grant and the relaxation of the team, and I believe that served us dramatically.”
Pedigmas on his background: “I‘ve been playing basketball considering the fact that sixth grade, so about 6 or seven yrs now. I grew taller than every person my age, and it is only normal that I acquired into basketball. I would describe my design of participate in as athletic, rapidly and electrical. I enjoy finding out in changeover. I adore getting out in the rapid crack as effectively as just sitting down down on protection and just thieving the ball from any person, having a block, hyping the crowd up, hyping my teammates up. Which is what I enjoy to do most.”
Pedigmas on why he picked Dayton: “The 1st time Dayton arrived at out to me was essentially a week and a half right after I reopened my recruitment, and everything moved tremendous swift. From the time Dayton very first reached out to me right until my check out took only about a 7 days and a 50 percent. The primary thing that set Dayton over the other universities was the men and women. I just experienced these a great time in excess of the course of the take a look at, and I felt like I in good shape proper in with the teammates with the coaches with all the things about Dayton.
Pedigmas on his early impressions of the school: “I honestly didn’t expect Dayton to be this sort of a energetic place. I envisioned it to be a tiny faculty in the Midwest, but it is these kinds of a energetic spot and these a unique position. It is been way more entertaining and way extra fascinating than I considered it was heading to be. I completely adore it in this article. Now I see what the attraction to Dayton is and why individuals appear here.”
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