| My 5-year-old son Chase and I stopped at a Shell station on Livingston Avenue near our house in Bexley to pick up a Valentine’s Day gift for my wife Barbara earlier this week. I described it as a ridiculous gift. She agreed. A Minnie Mouse stuffed animal, a heart-shaped balloon and a couple different kinds of chocolate for $45. Multiple people saw my photo of the gift and said they always wondered what type of person stops at a gas station for a Valentine’s Day gift — and now they know. The balloon, by the way, lasted five seconds in Chase’s hands before escaping and flying in the direction of Pickerington. Not even his crying fit could slow its ascent. Maybe it soared all the way to Richmond, Va., where I traveled last week for Dayton’s game at Virginia Commonwealth. In one of the weirdest games all season, Dayton lost 49-47 to VCU despite not allowing a point in the last six minutes. The next game had a strange ending, too. After struggling for 34 minutes to take control of a game against Duquesne, Dayton scored 22 straight points and won 75-59. There was another odd occurrence in between the games. Dayton climbed two spots in the Associated Press top-25 poll despite the loss to VCU. I vote in the poll, and I dropped the Flyers one spot, but it wasn’t easy finding someone to pass them (Baylor was my pick). The bottom 10 teams in the poll all lost. Few teams on the fringe are tearing it up either. I moved Saint Mary’s, which has won 13 games in a row, into my top 25. One glance at social media after a Dayton loss will tell you the sky is falling, but the fact is Dayton is one of 11 teams in the country with 20 victories and four or fewer defeats. One fan sent me a list of complaints last week. My advice was to enjoy the ride. This team isn’t perfect. Outside of Purdue and Connecticut, the only two top-25 teams going 2-0 every week, no one is. DaRon Holmes II is a national player of the year candidate, and he’ll be Dayton’s second A-10 Player of the Year. Fans still find reasons to complain about his play. I guess that’s just a part of sports, but part of being a player and a team is navigating the ups and downs. Dayton and Holmes have done a fine job of that. Dayton welcomes Fordham to UD Arena on Saturday Credit: David Jablonski It’s unlikely any Dayton opponent has played more games at UD Arena without winning than Fordham. It is 0-16 against the Flyers at the arena. Fordham’s only victory in Dayton came on Jan. 3, 1953, three days before my dad was born. In front of a crowd of 5,753 at the UD Fieldhouse, Fordham won 64-59. *** *** “The score was none too flattering to the New Yorkers,” Joe Burns wrote in the Dayton Daily News, “who clearly were the better team in racking up their ninth win in as many outings this season.” Fordham returns to Dayton this weekend. The Flyers (20-4, 10-2) and Rams (10-14, 4-7) play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Dayton will try to improve to 13-0 at home. The A-10 race has been interesting all season and should continue to be in the next three weeks. Dayton and Loyola Chicago are tied for first at 10-2. Richmond (9-2) is a half game back because it has played one fewer game. VCU (8-3) is in fourth but is 3-0 against the three teams above it. I think Dayton will lose one more game, either at George Mason or at Loyola Chicago. I think Loyola will lose one more game, probably at St. Bonaventure. I see two more losses ahead for Richmond and one for VCU. That would leave Dayton and Loyola tied for the regular-season championship. Dayton will get to play in Maui in November Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer Until Thursday, no one knew for sure if the 2024 Maui Invitational would be played in Maui. The 2023 event moved to Honolulu on the island of Oahu after a wildfire in Lahaina claimed 101 lives last August. The wildfire destroyed the city where the tournament takes place, but left the Lahaina Civic Center, where the games are played, untouched. Dayton has played in Maui four times and will make its fifth trip there in November as tournament organizers announced Thursday the event will return to the home it has known since 1984. The 2024 event will certainly have a different feel. Fans congregated in Lahaina in previous years. The restaurants, the bars, the shopping, all of it was there, and now the city is gone. When Dayton played there in 2019, I stayed close to the center of Lahaina in an AirBnB with an outdoor shower. It was a beautiful area and a great experience. It’s too early to tell what kind of team Dayton will take to Maui. If DaRon Holmes II enters the NBA Draft, it will need to find a replacement for him in the transfer portal. I would be surprised if any of the other players in the current rotation transfer, but you never know in this day and age. Dayton will need a strong team to compete. The Maui field includes No. 16 Dayton and four other teams currently ranked in the top 25: No. 1 Connecticut; No. 7 North Carolina; No. 10 Iowa State; and No. 13 Auburn. The three other teams are high-profile programs, too: Michigan State; Memphis; and Colorado. Fast Break Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans: 🏀 The Athletic listed Dayton as a Tier 6 team in its College Basketball Power Rankings this week. Seventeen teams ranked above a group of four teams fitting into the Cinderella category with Dayton. “Dayton won 13 straight after a loss to Houston and its only two defeats since Thanksgiving have been nail-biters on the road against good teams,” Brendan Marks and Kyle Tucker wrote. “The Flyers are 19-4, have six top-100 wins and an All-American in DaRon Holmes II. Saint Mary’s has turned its 3-5 start into a distant memory by winning 17 of 18, including the nation’s longest active win streak (12). Among their five top-100 wins: likely tournament teams New Mexico, Colorado State and Gonzaga, the latter two on the road. 🏀 ESPN’s Jay Bilas ranked Dayton No. 19 on his list of the top 68 teams. “Dayton is not overwhelming in any area,” Bilas wrote, “but a very good, solid, fundamentally sound basketball team that will be a challenge in the NCAA tournament.” 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. *** | 