Dayton Flyers coach Anthony Grant familiar with A-10 coaches

Dayton Flyers coach Anthony Grant made his first appearance at Atlantic 10 Media Day on Tuesday, though he was hardly a newcomer — not to many of the 13 other coaches who joined him at the Capital One Center.

Grant coached with new Massachusetts coach Matt McCall at Florida. Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley said he has known Grant for 30 years, going all the way back to the early days of Grant’s coaching career in Miami, Fla. Davidson’s Bob McKillop and Grant coached together with the Team USA Under-17 team in 2008.

“Being in college basketball for so long, I feel like I know everybody,” said Grant, who was hired in March to coach his alma mater. “Maybe not on a personal level, but our paths have crossed along the way.”

Starting Dec. 30, when Dayton opens conference play against Duquesne in Pittsburgh, Grant will get his first taste of the A-10. His team enters the 2017-18 season with lower outside expectations than the last two years when they were picked first in the preseason poll. The A-10 coaches and select media members voted Dayton fifth.

“I don’t really put stock in the predictions,” Grant said. “At the end of the day, decisions and outcomes are determined by the work you put in on a daily basis. It’s just trying to get better every day with what we’re doing in practice and get prepared for the first time we’ll face outside competition on Nov. 4 and build from there.”

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Rhode Island, the defending A-10 tournament champion, is the preseason favorite. It earned all but one of the 28 first-place votes. St. Bonaventure, which earned the other first-place vote, was picked second and was followed by St. Joseph's and Virginia Commonwealth.

Following Dayton in the poll were Davidson, Saint Louis, Richmond, La Salle, George Mason, George Washington, Massachusetts, Fordham and Duquesne.

Dayton finished 14-4 in the A-10 two seasons ago and shared the regular-season title with St. Bonaventure and VCU. The Flyers beat VCU on Senior Night last March to clinch their first outright championship and finished 15-3.

Anthony Grant said Josh Cunningham is out about a week and a half with a sprained wrist. Wore a brace Saturday at fan fest. pic.twitter.com/Q65p7qYsBV
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) October 17, 2017

As Grant approaches the start of his first season, he’s less focused on the opponents ahead than the players in his practice. Dayton held its first practice Sept. 29 and opens the season Nov. 10 against Ball State.

“I think we’ve definitely made progress,” Grant said. “I think we’re better than we were two weeks ago. We’re still dealing a little bit with the injury bug. We’ve had some setbacks. Josh Cunningham will be out for another week and a half or so with a sprained wrist. Our numbers are thin in practice. We’ve got to manufacture opportunities to get up and down the floor with our limited roster. Kostas (Antetokounmpo) is still non-contact. He’s not a full go as of yet, but we feel he’s making progress as well. It gives our young guys a lot of experience and opportunities to grow and get better.”

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Antetokounmpo suffered a bone bruise and hyper-extended knee in the summer and then left campus for a week and a half when his father, Charles, died Sept. 30 in Milwaukee.

“From an emotional standpoint, he’s really come back and been strong,” Grant said. “He’s moving forward and trying to get ready to take the court again. That’s somewhat emotional healing for him. He’s been through a lot in terms of the injury and losing his father.”

Coach Grant multitasking...Getting interviewed by @DavidPJablonski while photobombing @A10MBB Live #A10MBB #GoFlyers pic.twitter.com/wQwZEx30mS
— Dayton Basketball (@DaytonMBB) October 17, 2017