It was a tough day for Dayton basketball fans as they learned that their starting center Devon Scott and backup big man Jalen Robinson were dismissed from the team. Robinson and Scott were involved in a trespassing incident where they allegedly stole money from someone's dorm. With Scott and Robinson getting kicked off the team, the Flyers now don't have anyone over 6'6".
Dayton's head coach Archie Miller spoke about this incident, "I'm extremely disappointed in Jalen and Devon. Their actions do not reflect the behavior we want in our program. Our student-athletes are given every opportunity to be successful on and off the court. Despite ample opportunity to do so, their actions demonstrate they chose not to take advantage of that. More important than wins and losses, it's about members of our program being committed to represent the University of Dayton in the manner we all expect."
Devon Scott was given his shot this year and was doing well with it on the court. Before this season Scott barely got any playing time as his MPG were 8.9 and 12.6 during his freshman and sophomore year, respectively. This year the big man saw his minutes jump up to 27.7 MPG and he has seen an increase in all of his stats. Scott has had a fantastic year averaging 9.1 PPG on 63.6% shooting and 7.4 RPG, he has also recorded 3 double-double's this year. You hate to see a player with so much potential get kicked off the team for doing something stupid off the court, but that's exactly what we have here. Scott was leading the team in rebounds and field goal percentage before this incident and was making the most out of his shot at starting. This is a big loss to Dayton who is losing their starting center and one of the most talented players on the team.
Losing one 6'9" player is tough, it's even harder when you lose 2. That's what happened to Dayton on Wednesday as Jalen Robinson also got dismissed from the team. Dayton's 2 tallest players got dismissed which will make it very hard for them to match up against taller teams. Robinson, like Scott, is also a junior but is on the bench. During his freshman and sophomore years Robinson averaged 18.7 and 12.7 MPG, respectively; Robinson has averaged 15.3 MPG this year. This is not a huge loss talent wise for the Flyers as he was only averaging 3.2 PPG and 2.4 RPG while shooting a dismal 28.9%. The biggest reason why this hurts Dayton is because they are losing their only other player who is above 6'6". Robinson has seen more playing time than Scott throughout his career until this year. Just like Scott the potential was there to be a good player, but off the court issues stopped them both from reaching their full potential.
Dayton so far this year is 7-2 with both of their losses against teams that have been ranked at some point this year, Uconn and Arkansas. The Flyers currently have no more ranked opponents on their schedule, however, they play a good 7-2 Georgia Tech team on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how teams attack Dayton from now on since they have such a small lineup. The Flyers may need to start using a press defense to try and force turnovers. Another option would be a zone defense because if the other team has someone above 6'6" it will become a nightmare playing man on man. Dismissing Scott and Robinson from the team was the right move but it hurts their basketball team. It's never good to lose your 2 tallest players, especially at the same time. Dayton's schedule is still manageable enough where they could make the tournament come March. However, I think their hopes of being a cinderella team is gone. This team still has talent but you need some size to win big games and that is one thing Dayton is missing.
Dayton's head coach Archie Miller spoke about this incident, "I'm extremely disappointed in Jalen and Devon. Their actions do not reflect the behavior we want in our program. Our student-athletes are given every opportunity to be successful on and off the court. Despite ample opportunity to do so, their actions demonstrate they chose not to take advantage of that. More important than wins and losses, it's about members of our program being committed to represent the University of Dayton in the manner we all expect."
Devon Scott was given his shot this year and was doing well with it on the court. Before this season Scott barely got any playing time as his MPG were 8.9 and 12.6 during his freshman and sophomore year, respectively. This year the big man saw his minutes jump up to 27.7 MPG and he has seen an increase in all of his stats. Scott has had a fantastic year averaging 9.1 PPG on 63.6% shooting and 7.4 RPG, he has also recorded 3 double-double's this year. You hate to see a player with so much potential get kicked off the team for doing something stupid off the court, but that's exactly what we have here. Scott was leading the team in rebounds and field goal percentage before this incident and was making the most out of his shot at starting. This is a big loss to Dayton who is losing their starting center and one of the most talented players on the team.
Losing one 6'9" player is tough, it's even harder when you lose 2. That's what happened to Dayton on Wednesday as Jalen Robinson also got dismissed from the team. Dayton's 2 tallest players got dismissed which will make it very hard for them to match up against taller teams. Robinson, like Scott, is also a junior but is on the bench. During his freshman and sophomore years Robinson averaged 18.7 and 12.7 MPG, respectively; Robinson has averaged 15.3 MPG this year. This is not a huge loss talent wise for the Flyers as he was only averaging 3.2 PPG and 2.4 RPG while shooting a dismal 28.9%. The biggest reason why this hurts Dayton is because they are losing their only other player who is above 6'6". Robinson has seen more playing time than Scott throughout his career until this year. Just like Scott the potential was there to be a good player, but off the court issues stopped them both from reaching their full potential.
Dayton so far this year is 7-2 with both of their losses against teams that have been ranked at some point this year, Uconn and Arkansas. The Flyers currently have no more ranked opponents on their schedule, however, they play a good 7-2 Georgia Tech team on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how teams attack Dayton from now on since they have such a small lineup. The Flyers may need to start using a press defense to try and force turnovers. Another option would be a zone defense because if the other team has someone above 6'6" it will become a nightmare playing man on man. Dismissing Scott and Robinson from the team was the right move but it hurts their basketball team. It's never good to lose your 2 tallest players, especially at the same time. Dayton's schedule is still manageable enough where they could make the tournament come March. However, I think their hopes of being a cinderella team is gone. This team still has talent but you need some size to win big games and that is one thing Dayton is missing.
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