The resurgence

Scoochie Smith has the coolest name in college basketball, but he may not have attended UD without Jordan Sibert. My freshman year at UD, Brian Gregory was the head coach & the two touted freshmen were Juwan Staten & Brandon Spearman. Before I even set foot on UD's campus, I held hope for the team as they were the 2010 NIT Champions. Instead, the team disappointed, as they lost in the NIT first round, Gregory left to become the head coach at Georgia Tech, & Staten & Spearman transferred. The following season, Jordan Sibert sat out per NCAA transfer rules & the team finished with a record of 17-14. Finishing with a sub-.500 record in conference play & losing to Butler in the first round of the conference tournament brought nothing for fans to celebrate.

The 2013-14 season was where Archie Miller, Jordan Sibert, & the Flyers took fans on a magical ride, pulling upsets, busting brackets, & celebrating every special moment along the way. With a mix of players such as upperclassmen Devin Oliver, Sibert, & Vee Sanford combined with the addition of talented freshmen Kyle Davis, Scoochie Smith, & Kendall Pollard, the team appeared better than the previous season. A season full of highlights began when Jordan Sibert hit a buzzer-beating three to give the Flyers a home court season opening victory. My favorite part of that game is the fact that Mom, Dad, & I attended, & the craziness of the play resulted in a very jubilant UD Arena.

Around the Thanksgiving holiday, Dayton beat #11 Gonzaga in the opening round of the Maui Invitational. Because the game took place in Hawaii, the game began at midnight Eastern Time, & Joe Wooley & I watched it. We agreed if UD began to lose heavily, we would turn off the TV & go to bed. After all, Gonzaga was nearly a top 10 team & while Dayton was undefeated, they poorly finished the previous season. In my final Creative Monday Status as a UD student, Joe terrifically wrote, “Mine's an easy one: staying up until 3am watching Dayton beat ranked Gonzaga! Being the only two people awake in the house, trying not to scream as Dayton picked up a crucial early win. Having a 9am class very soon on the horizon, but not caring a bit. Now that was a great night!” Yes, Dayton won 84-79, & because of the closeness of the game, Joe & I watched the whole game, cheering on Dayton but trying to let our other roommates sleep!

While Dayton lost for the first time that season to Baylor in the semifinals of the tournament, they briefly trailed but lost by 1 to #18 team in the nation, & they thoroughly rebounded by beating California by 18 for a 3rd place finish in the Maui Tournament. Their performance earned them #25 ranking, showing the improvement of the team from the previous season. Their last non-conference game ended in a road overtime buzzer-beater 3 by Devin Oliver to defeat Ole Miss. Again, the game winning shot ended up on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays. They entered a midseason struggle as they finished January with 1-5 conference record & their overall record slipped to 13-8. They found their stride in February as they lost once, improving to 19-9 & 7-6 in conference play. In their last road game, they defeated #17 SLU 72-67, strongly improving their NCAA Tournament candidacy. While they lost in the A10 conference tournament quarterfinals, they entered the tournament as #11 seed.

Their first game in the NCAA Tournament was also the first game in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. Countless UD students crammed their way into KU Hangar, watching the game, & I proudly skipped a class to watch the game. Vee Sanford scored a layup with seconds remaining & UD won 60-59. Students in KU erupted following the layup & the noise level amplified when the Buckeyes missed their final shot. When I arrived in class later that afternoon, the professor immediately asked, “Who do we play next?” Naturally, everyone whipped out their bracket & informed her most likely Syracuse. While Jordan Sibert did not score the game winning layup against Ohio St., there had to be a strong level of vindication as he defeated the school he originally attended. After feeling neglected by Ohio St. coach Thad Matta in terms of minutes, Sibert was a starter for a team advancing to the Round of 32. What joy that must have been. The following day, The Dayton Daily News celebrated the victory with the headline The University of Dayton, mocking the defeated Buckeyes. My graduation present from Marycrest was a t-shirt that says The University of Dayton.

Dayton then faced Syracuse, consistently one of the best college basketball programs in the nation. I watched the game with friends in Campus South & as Dayton again stayed close, like in previous games against IPFW, Ole Miss, & Ohio St., & everyone’s blood pressures rose. Jordan Sibert scored 10 points, including a clutch 3 with less than a minute left, & like the Buckeyes, the Orange missed their last shot, which would have resulted in their win. Bryan Westerlund recorded the madness that burst forth from our excitement! We were going to the Sweet Sixteen! As we pranced around the floor with pure joy, we heard chants coming from the Ghetto. Looking at Jacob, I said, “Ghetto?” & he answered, “See you there,” as he frantically put on his shoes. We bolted down the stairs, albeit he faster than I, & sprinted with a conglomeration of ecstatic students. As we raced towards the Ghetto, a police officer with the biggest grin on his face stuck out both hands, high fiving as many people as possible.

This night is Top 5 greatest nights of my college career. The celebration was spontaneous & respectful as the UD community celebrated. I called my roommates & told them where to meet me. When they arrived, we all gathered together celebrating as if we’d hit the walk-off base hit to win the World Series. At one point I bumped into a hallmate form my freshman year whom I rarely saw. We high fived & in celebration he handed me a beer & we toasted to the Flyers’ success. During the celebration, I sat with Joe on someone’s front porch, repeating we’re going to the Sweet Sixteen, & we sat there watching students celebrate in style so much so that pictures ended up all over social media, some video made it on SportsCenter, & after Dayton defeated Syracuse, not a single perfect bracket remained. While Joe & I sat watching the merriment, UD president Dr. Dan Curran walked down Kiefaber with a massive smile. What a special night that must have been for him. His beloved Flyers were going to the Sweet Sixteen, his students rejoiced without problems, unlike the fiasco that occurred on St. Patty’s Day just over a year ago. As he reached the end of Kiefaber, the horde of students lifted him, & Dr. Dan crowd surfed! As a student then & as alum now, I can tell you that is what I love about Dr. Dan. He came out to celebrate that night rather than to end the festive atmosphere, & when his students began to lift him, he did not act as if he was above us students; although he was physically, he celebrated as a fan, smiling, waving & high fiving students; proud students gladly photographed the events of the evening. How many university professors do that? Dr. Dan does!

That evening when I finally returned home, I turned on the TV & saw analysts dissecting the Flyers victory. Sadly, Charles Barkley claimed the Flyers did not deserve to be in the tournament. We defeated Syracuse & Ohio St., what more proof did he need? From that point on, I hate Charles Barkley. Luckily for the Flyers, Stanford upset Kansas, & so the Flyers were the favorites. We watched the game in a house in the Ghetto, & eerily, when I opened the door at halftime, you could hear a pin drop in the Ghetto. It was very quiet as everyone watched our beloved Flyers. Finally, in a pressure-filled game, the Flyers easily won, 82-72. Guess who scored the most points for the Flyers? That’s right, Jordan Sibert, who scored 18 points & logged the most minutes for the Flyers.

This celebration differed. When the Flyers upset Syracuse, the celebration erupted so spontaneously the celebration stayed peaceful. Against Stanford, everyone knew what would happen when the Flyers won. We would all party in the Ghetto. This resulted in the celebration becoming unruly much faster, something I disliked. Sure, celebrate the victory, but let’s celebrate, not riot. Unlike the victory over Syracuse, I left the party before it concluded & returned to watch the outcome of the game whose winner would face Dayton. Florida won that game, & if the Flyers fought all game against Syracuse & Ohio St., they needed to play the game of their lives to advance to the Final Four. I signed up to attend a retreat the weekend the Flyers played the Gators, & I texted one of the retreat leaders inquiring if we would watch the game while on retreat. Honestly, if his response was no, I may have not attended the retreat. It was my Senior year & the Flyers were in the Elite Eight! Fortunately, he held similar thoughts, & during the retreat, we, the retreatants, traveled to a nearby restaurant to watch the game. While we cheered our hearts out, the Flyers played feeling intimidated by the Gators, & therefore they made mistakes that they did not make all season, & they fell 62-52.

What a marvelous run it was though. When the Flyers received a bid into the tournament, the UD Bookstore sold t-shirts. When the Flyers defeated Ohio St., new t-shirt designs were sold, but I disliked the design. I love the t-shirt Marycrest Dining Staff gave me. When we beat Syracuse, Sweet Sixteen t-shirts became available, but I held off buying one in case we advanced further. If we lost the next round, I would have purchased a Sweet Sixteen t-shirt. When we finally lost to Florida, I purchased two t-shirts. One reads, “Dayton Flyers 2014 NCAA Elite 8,” & another reads, “The Road to the Elite 8” & it contains the scores from the Flyers’ victories to reach the Elite 8. While I own far too many t-shirts, & a good percentage of them are from UD, those two, along with my t-shirt I received from Marycrest, are three out of my favorite four UD t-shirts. Wearing those still to this day brings out my UD pride.

I graduated in May 2014 & in September moved to Philadelphia. As a result, it became a challenge to follow the Flyers as closely. Nevertheless, I followed the team on Twitter, Facebook, & routinely checked in on them on ESPN.com. Due to the graduation of four players, the dismissal of two players, & two players lost for the season due to injuries, the Flyers were left undersized & undermanned, with their tallest player being walk-on Bobby Wehrli. CBS Sports journalist Gary Parrish called the Flyers roster, "To put this into perspective, consider that Kentucky has seven scholarship players taller than 6-8, and that UK's starting backcourt (Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison) is just as tall as Dayton's starting frontcourt (Dyshawn Pierre and Kendall Pollard).” Despite the adversity, the Flyers overachieved, finishing second in the A10, advanced to the A10 conference tournament final, & finished the regular season 25-8.

In an odd twist, Dayton received a bid to the First Four, which is played in Dayton, at Dayton’s home court. This had never occurred before, where a tournament team played on their home court. After the NCAA allowed the occurrence, they created a rule to prevent further situations. Dayton defeated Boise St. 56-55, & who hit the game winning three? Jordan Sibert of course! Sibert averaged 16.1 points his last season while dealing with an injured wrist since December 2014 which prevented him from shooting in practice & I imagine hurt when he shot during games. Gritting out the pain & leading the Flyers demonstrates the importance of Sibert to the Flyers. While the Flyers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, & played their other two tournament games in nearby Columbus, Sibert revitalized the Flyers.

In his last two seasons, the Flyers won five NCAA Tournament games, & Archie Miler became a popular name for many head coaching vacancies. I like to think that partially because of the resurgence of the Flyers, Archie signed a contract extension with the University of Dayton, & he will certainly keep the Flyers competitive. According to the University of Dayton, Sibert played all 73 games of his UD career, played the most minutes in a single season in his Senior year, & led the Flyers in scoring both years. While an NBA team did not draft him, the Flyer Faithful certainly will fondly remember him. As previously noted, the Flyer Faithful will forever his clutch shots.

When I began this writing, I thought it would be more persuasive about the importance of Jordan Sibert to UD basketball. While I hope to have done that, I also hope you enjoyed reading about my love of UD basketball, especially in my Senior year during that magical Elite Eight run. Furthermore, as the Flyers tip off this season tonight, I sincerely desire this increased your affinity for the Flyers. Recently, I texted Joe Wooley in regards to the Flyers’ season, “We overachieved last year with an undermanned undersized roster. Even if we’re average, we’re taller & deeper. Should at least stay the same as last year... plus they’re in A10. Do well out of conference, average in conference, should be in tournament.” With the success of the past two seasons, one must be excited for the upcoming season of your Dayton Flyers!