Dayton Basketball: Why Flyers 2019-2020 season has special meaning

Dayton was knocked down over and over again in 2019, but the city has rallied around Dayton Basketball in an attempt to help the healing process, here’s just how much the Flyers mean to the city of Dayton.

May 25th, 2019 Dayton was in the spotlight as members of the KKK flocked downtown to host a rally. Just a few days later on May 28th, a series of devastating tornadoes destroyed everything in their path all around the city of Dayton. August 4th, a tragedy rocked the city to its core once again as a mass shooting claimed the lives of nine individuals and injured dozens more.

The city was in the spotlight this past year a lot more than it’s used to and it was for all of the wrong reasons. The spotlight went away shortly after but the hurt and damage didn’t.

November eventually rolled around and it was basketball season. If you’re from the Dayton area you know just about everyone is fans of the home town team. Expectations weren’t crazy for the Flyers this season, many thought they would be competitive this year and competing at the top of the A-10, they were only picked to finish third in the A-10 preseason poll.

To kick off the brand new basketball season, the Flyers unveiled the final upgrades to their new $72 million dollar renovated arena. A home opener in which the Flyers escaped with a narrow victory over Indiana State. A few wins against lesser opponents had the Flyers at 3-0 heading into Maui. They weren’t on anyone’s radar yet.

Maui came around and of course the Dayton faithful traveled well, they always do. Dayton rolled in the first round against Georgia and crushed Virginia Tech in the second. Dayton had piqued the interest of the nation as they prepared for a clash with Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks in the Maui Final.

What a game it was. The Flyers battled hard in what was ultimately one of the best games of the entire season, Dayton would fall short in overtime but they had everyone’s attention. Obi Toppin and the Flyers were stars. Many probably put Dayton on the back burner after Maui but the Flyers kept their head down.

The Flyers strung together a few wins but in a game where they should have won, Colorado broke Flyers fans hearts on a buzzer-beater in Chicago. Maybe the Flyers weren’t as good as people thought.

Again this team continued to battle and here we sit at the beginning of March, the Flyers have ripped off nineteen wins in a row looking for twenty against George Washington this Saturday where they look to finish off the conference season unbeaten. The Flyers have already been crowned the A-10 regular-season champs.

Expectations have been more than exceeded for this Flyers team yet their journey is just beginning, the team wants more, the fans want more. The Flyers have their sights set for Atlanta in April.

Before the second half of that journey begins comes senior night. Trey Landers, Ryan Mikesell, Jhery Matos. These guys get it, they know how much the city needs them. Trey Landers especially. The Flyers will honor these three seniors as they play their last game at UD arena but they won’t be the only Flyers playing their last game in Dayton. Obi Toppin.

The lottery pick will likely forgo his senior year and head to the draft but rest assured the city will follow his NBA career under a microscope, they’ll be his biggest fans. Obi Toppin has been the face of this Flyers team all season, the fans love him. The junior has averaged almost 20 points per game and eight rebounds. Many think he might win the Wooden Award.

Whether he wins or not to Flyers fans, he is undoubtedly their player of the year. He’s been the hero and the icon the city of Dayton needed. A true fan favorite. He’ll go down in history.

If you drive around the city you still see tarps and fallen trees as the city continues to clean up after those May tornados. The Oregon District has begun to return to the normal nightlife and happy place it was before the tragedy. The city is healing.

There’s a lot of good teams in Ohio but there’s something special about the Flyers. It’s not Cincinnati’s team, it’s not Columbus’s team, it’s Dayton’s team. The city owns them, they have stuck with them through the highs and the lows and they always will.

College Gameday will be there Saturday for the Flyer’s final home game, the atmosphere for gameday and for senior night will likely be the best of the season. Whatever happens this next month, enjoy it Flyers fans, drink it in and enjoy the ride. Dayton fans deserve it.