Dayton Basketball: In-depth look at sophomore center Daron Holmes II

The Atlantic 10 has always been treated as one of the premier mid-major conferences in the NCAA even when the teams in the league don’t always play like it. Last season was a year in which the Atlantic 10 was one of the best mid-major conferences in the country and it was due in large part to a team who had a ton of question marks heading into the season but was able to put together a great season and just missed the NCAA tournament.

The Dayton Flyers were that team, heading into the year last year, I had them ranked in my preseason mid-major top 25, but after three terrible losses early on they were dropped from the Rankings. Then with the win over Miami and Kansas, everyone started to take notice of the Flyers again. Even though they eventually would miss the NCAA tournament heading into the 2022 season they are going to be an overwhelming favorite to win the Atlantic 10 and head to the NCAA tournament.

Dayton entered the year with a very young and talented class. Many believed the talent would provide quick results but may take a while to gel. That is exactly what happened as Dayton struggled out of the gates but ended up playing their best basketball towards the end of the year.

Out of all of the freshmen and the transfers, there is one player for Flyers who is going to be primed for a breakout and has a chance to be in the National player of the year conversation and win the Atlantic 10 player of the year.  Daron Holmes II enters the 2022 season as not only one of the best players in the Atlantic 10 but as one of the biggest breakout players in the entire country.