On January 21, 1971, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and other Cincinnati Reds lost a charity exhibition game 104-83 to the Dayton Media All-Stars, a team featuring mostly former Flyers. Bobby Joe Hooper scored 26 points for the UD team, while Bench, then the best catcher in baseball, tallied 21 points for the Reds, who had won 20 straight games on their winter basketball caravan. “This was the worst game we played in two years,” said Rose, who scored six points and made 4 of 15 free throws. “We were rusty. We haven’t played in two weeks. We canceled four or five games since Bobby (Tolan) was hurt. These other guys were good. They still act like well-coached basketball players.” Pete was certainly the first important sports figure in my life. I grew up in Mount Orab, about 45 minutes east of Riverfront Stadium. My mom let me stay home from church on a Wednesday night in 1985 when I was 8 to watch his record-breaking 4,192nd hit at our neighbor’s house. It was an honor to be one of many people to write a Rose obituary after seeing reports of his death. Only later did I joke that his abysmal free-throw shooting at UD Arena should have been mentioned in the first paragraph. Tom Carroll, of the Dayton Daily News, described Rose’s foul shooting as “devastating.” I doubt we’ll see anything like it in the next exhibition game at UD Arena: Dayton vs. Xavier at 5 p.m. Sunday. After years of secret scrimmages that offered fans nothing, not even a final score, Dayton has found a way to get big-name, in-state opponents to come to the arena for preseason games: Ohio State last year; and Xavier this year. Who could say no to coach Anthony Grant? He has been so courageous, along with his wife Chris, in talking about the death of their daughter Jayda and raising money for mental health and suicide prevention organizations. Grant thanked then Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann last year for bringing the Buckeyes into a sold-out UD Arena and has done the same with Xavier’s Sean Miller. “I’m very appreciative of Xavier and Sean being willing to play us and come here to Dayton,” Grant said. “Certainly, I’m very familiar with that rivalry. I think it’ll be great for both teams to get an early look at an outside opponent. At the same time, obviously, for me personally, this is more about being able to get that message out to our fan base to use what we do and the excitement around what we do for a good cause. I think we can accomplish both.”
First glimpse of the Flyers Dayton fans have gotten more preseason coverage than ever from UD’s social media team since preseason practices began. UD’s Matt Barnes and Ryan Phillips are the people you should thank the most. UD has shared two scrimmage highlight videos on YouTube. The latest — from an Oct. 10 practice — was just over 5 minutes long and was posted on Tuesday. The videos are unprecedented. Typically, fans see only snippets of the Flyers in action behind closed doors. What did fans learn from the latest video? • Brady Uhl and Marvel Allen were the only scholarship players not participating. • Dayton fan Matt Rhein tallied all the baskets (the ones shown in the video, at least) and reported on X (Twitter) that Nate Santos led all scorers with 16 points. Enoch Cheeks scored 12. Javon Bennett had nine points. Jaiun Simon and Jacob Conner each had eight. Malachi Smith had nine assists. Of course, the video did not show the whole scrimmage, so take those numbers for what they’re worth. On Sunday, we’ll get a clearer picture of the Flyers. The last two years the players who started the exhibition games also started the season opener. Eight players received at least 16 minutes of action against Ohio State last season, and with the exception of Smith, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the season opener, those players were the key guys in the rotation all season. Isaac Jack, who played 10 minutes against Ohio State, was the only player whose role during the season was bigger than his role in the exhibition game.
An important discussion begins again The idea of Dayton, Ohio State, Cincinnati and Xavier joining forces for a multi-team event every season has come up numerous times over the years, and it did so again this week during a Zoom interview with Ohio State coach Jake Diebler and UC coach Wes Miller. Their teams play tonight in an exhibition game in Cincinnati. Diebler, like his predecessor Chris Holtmann, restarted the discussion, raising hopes the teams can find a way to play at some point in the future, either in two preseason charity exhibition games under one roof or in regular-season games that count. It would be a great thing, in my opinion, but I’ll believe it when I see it. The Big Ten, Big East and Big 12 all play 20-game conference schedules these days, limiting other non-conference opportunities. That’ll be one of the excuses if this event never happens in the regular season. Cincinnati’s willingness to start a series with Dayton last season does offer more optimism that the four schools can get this done. Seven years ago when Holtmann talked about the idea, Dayton wasn’t playing any of the other top schools in the state. Also, with Northwestern and Cincinnati on the schedule last season and both of those schools, plus Marquette, on the schedule this season, it’s obvious Dayton is getting more respect from other schools looking to schedule games. One of the inspirations for Ohio’s four teams getting together was the Crossroads Classic in Indiana. That event, featuring Butler, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Purdue, ended in 2021 because of a lack of interest from Notre Dame and Indiana, according to reports.
Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans: 🏀 Kansas ranked first in the Associated Press preseason top-25 poll. I was one of 11 voters to give the top spot to two-time defending national champion Connecticut. Homerism is discouraged, so I didn’t vote for Dayton, knowing no one else would be. I gave my token A-10 preseason vote to Virginia Commonwealth. 🏀 The NCAA shortened the transfer window from 45 to 30 days last week. That means there will be a shorter time I’ll have to carry my laptop with me wherever I go, in case I have to write news about Dayton transfers at a moment’s notice. 🏀 Rhode Island and former UD coach Archie Miller lost 105-72 to UConn and former Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley in an exhibition game Monday. Miller was 6-3 against Hurley when both coaches were in the A-10.
What do you want to know about the Flyers? I want to hear from you. Reach out to me directly at david.jablonski@coxinc.com with your questions and feedback on the team or this newsletter. Also be sure to follow our Flyer Nation Facebook page for the latest news on the team. I’ll have updates, photos and videos on Twitter, as well. | 
