Tag: Dayton Flyers

Duke women’s basketball freshman Toby Fournier off to the program’s best start in a decade

Duke women’s basketball freshman Toby Fournier recorded her fourth straight 10-point game on Thursday, teetering her toward school history.

[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] isn’t the only Duke basketball freshman turning heads in Durham this season.

[autotag]Toby Fournier[/autotag], a 6-foot-2 forward from Canada, scored 15 points in just 19 minutes off the bench in an 84-49 victory over Dayton on Thursday. The performance marked her fourth consecutive game with at least 10 points to open the season, making her the first Blue Devil to accomplish that feat since Becca Greenwell in 2014-15.

Fournier, the No. 10 overall recruit in the 2024 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings from espnW, notched 10 points in her debut against Radford. She followed that up with 13 points against Liberty and 15 points against Maryland to raise her scoring average to 13.3 points to start the year, the highest on the team.

She’s also averaging 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks, and she’s attempted 20 free throws over the last three games despite never playing more than 24 minutes.

“You can see she’s going to be really efficient,” head coach Kara Lawson said after last week’s win over Liberty.

Lawson already brought back her four leading scorers from last year’s team, and the Blue Devils reached the Sweet 16 in that run. With another year of experience and the addition of Fournier, something could be brewing in Durham.

Duke women’s basketball dispatches Dayton thanks to Jordan Wood and Toby Fournier

The Duke women’s basketball team rebounded on Thursday with an 84-49 victory over the Dayton Flyers thanks to two standout underclassmen.

The Duke women’s basketball team bounced back into the victory column on Thursday night with an 84-49 win over Dayton powered by multiple excellent performances off the bench.

After Sunday’s loss to Maryland, head coach [autotag]Kara Lawson[/autotag] and the Blue Devils slipped down to 16th in the newest USA TODAY Sports Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll. Despite returning to the friendly walls of Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke surrendered the first eight points of the game thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from the Flyers.

Dayton’s upper hand completely vanished from there, however. Junior Ashlon Jackson, just one week removed from her 22-point performance against Liberty, made a triple and a layup to take the lid off the basket.

The real boost, however, came from the bench. Freshman forward Toby Fournier, who scored at least 10 points in each of the first three games, notched a go-ahead basket before fighting her way to the basket again on the following possession. All of a sudden, just minutes after not having any points on the board, the Blue Devils led by three.

Fournier finished with 15 points, five rebounds, and three steals, but she wasn’t even the most prolific player off the bench. Jordan Wood ended the evening with a team-high 17 points, including five in the first two minutes of the second quarter.

When Wood buried a 3-point attempt just 12 minutes into the game, the Blue Devils led by 10, and the Cameron Crazies could breathe easy knowing no upsets would take place in Durham.

Duke led by 14 points at the break and outscored the Flyers 47-26 over the last 20 minutes, letting Lawson enjoy a 35-point margin of victory.

“Proud of our group,” Lawson said after the game. “I thought our second half we were able to improve in some key areas. We challenged them at halftime to rebound better so that was nice to see.”

Duke finished with 48 rebounds to Dayton’s 30, and Jadyn Donovan finished with nine by herself. Six different Blue Devils scored at least 10 for the game, and 58 of the team’s 84 points came from the second unit.

The Blue Devils travel again this weekend for a Sunday game against South Dakota State on Sunday afternoon.

Former Dayton star DaRon Holmes suffered torn achilles in Summer League debut

Former Dayton Flyers star and All-American DaRon Holmes II will miss his rookie season after tearing his achilles for the Denver Nuggets on Friday.

DaRon Holmes, a first round pick by the Denver Nuggets last month, suffered a torn achilles and is likely to miss the entire 2024-25 NBA season.

Holmes suffered the injury on Friday in Denver’s 88-78 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. He finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes, before he was seen leaving Cox Pavilion on crutches.

The Nuggets made Holmes the 22nd overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft out of Dayton after he posted an extremely impressive junior season for the Flyers in the A-10.

Holmes averaged 20.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 58.5% from two and 38.6% from the three point line, earning a consensus All-American nod.

His 6’9 frame, high level athleticism, passing skills, switchability on defense, and outside shooting made him a highly sought after prospect, and he was expected to be Denver’s primary backup center this season behind superstar Nikola Jokic.

The injury is of course a huge blow to Denver, who is attempting to win its second NBA Championship in the past three years, as well as for Holmes who now has to spend an entire year rehabbing before he can realize his dream of playing NBA basketball.

LSU baseball adds another power hitter in the transfer portal

Eddie Yamin IV has played catcher before but he spent all of the 2024 season as a first baseman. 

Recently, I mentioned how [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] was turning heads with his power during the MLB draft combine. As every day passes, it looks more likely that he will be drafted and won’t be coming back to LSU.

[autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] may have just found a guy who can fill that role at first base. [autotag]Eddie Yamin IV[/autotag] is a 6-foot-5 infielder/catcher from Dayton. He had a phenomenal year for the Dayton Flyers this season as he finished with a .342 batting average in 53 games played. He had 14 doubles, 13 homers, and 54 RBI and he had a .608 slugging percentage. He has played catcher before but he spent all of the 2024 season as a first baseman.

LSU has gone from a team that lost all of their catchers and their first baseman to a team that has two or three different options at each position. Johnson has been on fire in the portal and I don’t think he is stopping anytime soon.

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All-American DaRon Holmes II among third wave of players invited to draft

Former Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II is among the prospects invited to attend the draft at the Barclays Center.

Former Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II is among the prospects invited to attend the 2024 NBA draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

Holmes was a consensus second-team All-American last season with the Flyers, averaging 20.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 blocks in 33 games. He was also named the Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Joining Holmes in the third group of prospects to be invited to the draft green room on June 26 are Pitt guard Carlton Carrington, Colorado forward Tristan da Silva and Indiana center Kel’el Ware.

Teams with first-round picks each year vote on the players they believe will be drafted early, typically the top 20-25 prospects. Last year, 25 prospects were invited to the green room and only one wasn’t selected in the first round (Rayan Rupert, 43rd overall pick).

The first group of players invited to the green room included French players Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr and Tidjane Salaün; UConn players Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle; G League Ignite players Matas Buzelis and Ron Holland; and Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard.

Included in the second batch of invitations were Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham, Serbian guard Nikola Topić, Duke players Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski, Miami forward Kyshawn George, Baylor center Yves Missi and Kansas forward Johnny Furphy.

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All-American DaRon Holmes rumored to have received first-round draft promise

Former Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II is reportedly gaining traction to become a first-round pick in the 2024 NBA draft.

Former Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II is reportedly gaining traction to become a first-round pick in the 2024 NBA draft, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

Holmes recently canceled predraft workouts with several teams, creating speculation that he has received a draft promise. He was considered a borderline first-round pick but has apparently improved his stock to be a lock to go in the top 30.

Sources told ESPN Holmes recently canceled several workouts, raising strong suspicions that he has secured a guarantee in the back part of the first round. Coming off a productive career at Dayton in which he made strides as a shooter (38% from 3 last season), Holmes appears to have helped himself in the pre-draft process, moving himself into the first-round picture.

Holmes was a consensus second-team All-American this past season with the Flyers, averaging 20.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 blocks in 33 games. He was also named the Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-10 center appears to have had a strong predraft process. It now looks like Holmes will be drafted toward the back of the end of the first round, with teams like Washington, Minnesota, Utah, Denver and Boston positioned in that range.

The 2024 NBA draft will take place June 26-27 in New York City.

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UPDATE: Dayton sharpshooter Koby Brea no longer visiting Duke

Dayton’s Koby Brea no longer plans to visit Duke next week.

After seeing more than nine players leave the program for the portal or professional opportunities since Duke’s season ended, head coach Jon Scheyer has been deliberate in the transfer portal.

However, it seems like Dayton shooter Koby Brea won’t be a part of those plans.

After a Friday report from national insider Jon Rothstein that Brea would visit the Blue Devils from Tuesday to Thursday of next week, The News & Observer’s Stephen Wiseman confirmed Brea would not take a trip to Durham.

Brea averaged 11.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game this past season while shooting an NCAA-best 49.8 percent beyond the arc for a Flyers group that posted a 25-8 record and reached the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 before ultimately falling to Arizona.

Duke does still have two transfers so far this offseason. Maliq Brown is officially a Blue Devil, and he adds defensive prowess and energy and is an elite finisher at the rim. Purdue transfer Mason Gillis, who also officially joined the program on Friday, is a sharpshooter who can guard multiple positions along the perimeter. He was the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and brings leadership, toughness, and range to hit big shots.

Duke in the running for former Dayton guard Koby Brea

According to a Monday report from On3’s Jamie Shaw, the Blue Devils are one of five contenders for former Dayton guard Koby Brea.

The Blue Devils aren’t done in the transfer portal.

According to a Monday report from On3’s Jamie Shaw, former Dayton guard Koby Brea listed Duke among one of his final five options.

As a junior last season, Brea averaged 11.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-6 New York native shot 49.8% from beyond the arc, by far the best season of his career.

He scored 20 points in two different games last season, first a 22-point night against SMU in November before a 21-point game against Saint Louis in March. He averaged 14.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.

Brea has played in 113 games across the last four seasons, but he’s only started 21 times.

After the commitments of Syracuse forward Maliq Brown and Purdue guard Mason Gillis, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer still has three additional scholarships to dole out in the portal. One of them could be going to the former Flyer.

Brea is also reportedly considering Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, and two-time defending national champion Connecticut.

Ohio State softball gets win over in-state foe Dayton

It was a winning effort for the home opener. #GoBucks

The Ohio State softball team had a midweek contest on Wednesday against in-state foe Dayton, and came away victorious by a 6-2 score in its home opener.

It didn’t take long for the Buckeyes to get on the board. Kami Kortokrax singled home the first run in the bottom of the first inning to give OSU the early 1-0 lead. Ohio State would add two more runs in the bottom of the second inning on a McKenzie Bump RBI single, followed by a two-out single by Jasmyn Burns that brought Bump around to score.

OSU would add three more runs in the bottom of the third inning and that would be more than enough with starting pitcher Allison Smith tossing 3.2 shutout innings on just one hit. She notched her fourth win of the season with the effort that improved Ohio State’s record to 18-10.

Next up, the Bucks will open up Big Ten play when they host the Northwestern Wildcats for a three game series this weekend.

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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball falls to Dayton on last-second heartbreaker in Charleston Classic opener

The Tigers squandered a major opportunity on Thursday evening in Charleston.

LSU’s men’s basketball team looked like it was going to bounce back from the loss to Nicholls in tremendous fashion with a win over Dayton for nearly 40 minutes on Thursday afternoon, but a gutsy comeback and last-second go-ahead three gave the Flyers the 70-67 win in the quarterfinal round of the Charleston Classic.

After a tightly contested first half that saw the Tigers take a 32-30 lead to the locker room, they stretched that lead to as much as 15 with under 10 minutes to play in the game. But Dayton went on a 17-2 run to get back in the game, and Nate Santos’ shot in the final seconds proved to be the game-winner as a Carlos Stewart three fell short at the buzzer.

LSU finished the game shooting above 50% as a team, but it wasn’t as efficient down the stretch and had eight second-half turnovers.

[autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag] was a bright spot, leading the team with 16 points, while [autotag]Tyrell Ward[/autotag] scored 12 and [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] scored 10. Defensively, LSU held the Flyers under 40% shooting but struggled to contain stars Santos (19 points), Javon Bennett (16) and Koby Brea (13).

It was an excellent opportunity to earn a win over a possible tournament team, but now the 1-2 Tigers will have to look elsewhere to start rebuilding their resume. They will be back in action on Friday morning against North Texas, which lost 53-52 against St. John’s. at 10:30 a.m. CT.

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