Feb. 27, 2007
Four decades after the Dayton Flyers caught the nation by storm and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Tournament, the Flyer Faithful has their chance to say thank you for all of the great memories.
At halftime of the Flyers' regular season finale on Saturday against the Saint Louis Billikens, the University of Dayton will honor the 1966-67 men's basketball team to commemorate its 40-year anniversary.
The event will reunite coach Don Donoher with former Flyers like Don May, Dan Sadlier, Gene Klaus and Bobby Joe Hooper.
Before the game, the Flyers will host a banquet for the players and their families. During halftime of the game, the Flyers will uniquely honor the squad with a special presentation discussing each player and their memorable achievements in a UD uniform.
The 1966-67 team was the NCAA Tournament Runner-Up and finished the year 25-6 overall.
There are four UD Hall-of-Fame inductees (May, Sadlier, Klaus, and Hooper) and two 1,000-point scorers (May and Hooper) on the squad.
In addition to the 1966-67 team celebration, the Flyers will also honor the careers of its graduating seniors, Monty Scott and Nick Stafford, eight minutes before tip-off.
Earlier this season, Scott became the 40th player to score more than 1,000 points in a UD career. The Reynoldsburg, Ohio native finishes 36th in career scoring at UD, with 1,054 points. This year Scott averaged 10.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in 25 contests.
Stafford has been a valuable leader and mentor for the Flyers during his career. The native of Springfield, Mass., made 12 starts in the 2004-05 season as a freshman and ranked second on the team in blocks with 11. In 2006-07, Stafford is averaging 1.1 points and 0.9 points per game in 14 contests.
UD is 14-2 at home this season. Saturday's game is sold out. It marks the second straight sellout for the Flyers at home this season.
After Saturday's game, UD advances to the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The tournament begins on March 7 and concludes on March 10.
