By Doug Harris '79

DAYTON -- Former University of Dayton walk-ons and best friends Joey Gruden and Jeremiah Bonsu have a slew of basketball memories they'll get to savor over time, suiting up for teams that won Atlantic 10 titles and advanced in the NCAA tournament.
But the relationships they developed during their UD years are what they'll cherish most — not only the bonds they have with their ex-teammates, but also those with recent stars who still have strong ties with the program.

"During the summer every year, all these guys would come back to play with us — like Devin Oliver, Vee Sanford, Chris Johnson, Chris Wright. It really is a family," Gruden said.

"I still text and talk with Kendall Pollard and Scoochie Smith. It's crazy how close you get playing college basketball. I don't know if it's like that at every school. But at Dayton, especially, we stay close. It's pretty cool to see."

Gruden and Bonsu tapped into those connections to put together a team of alums for The Basketball Tournament, a five-on-five, single-elimination event that's growing in popularity because of its top-notch national field, exposure on ESPN and $2 million grand prize.

They've gotten commitments from Kevin Dillard, Dyshawn Pierre, Kyle Davis, Josh Cunningham, Darrell Davis, Oliver, Sanford and Pollard. Gruden and Bonsu, who aren't competing, are serving as the team's general managers. 

The 64-team bracket will be released on June 11, but the UD gang — who named themselves the Red Scare — have been accepted to begin regional play July 19-21 at Capital University. The Columbus regional also includes a team of former Ohio State standouts, who drew sold-out crowds for their two games last year.

The quarterfinals, semis and finals will be held August 1-6 in Chicago.

"I like our team a lot," Gruden said. "Not only were these guys all really good players at UD, but a lot of them are having great (professional) careers overseas."

A handful of ex-Flyers have played in the event in the past — Pierre averaged 20.5 points in two games in 2017 — but they're representing UD for the first time.

"The payday would be amazing, obviously. But if we can win the region at Capital, we'll get paid some from ticket sales for those three games, which would be a good payday for the players," Gruden said. "But everyone is most excited about getting back and playing with their old friends and teammates and playing for Dayton again."

The ex-Flyers could have a rematch of sorts with Ohio State. When the teams met in the 2014 NCAA tourney, UD prevailed, 60-59, on Sanford's floater with six seconds left.

That propelled them to wins over Syracuse and Stanford and a trip to the Elite Eight for the first time in 30 years.

"We wanted to put a team together because we'd get to play the Ohio State team with many of our Elite Eight guys," Bonsu said. "Winning it all hasn't even crossed my mind. I just want it to be a reunion of Dayton basketball."

While Gruden and Bonsu are both embarking on coaching careers — Gruden is in his second year as a grad assistant at Louisville, while Bonsu spent last season as a player development intern with the Dallas Mavericks — they've recruited another former Dayton great, longtime Capital coach Damon Goodwin, to lead the team.

"Me and Bonsu thought about coaching, but we played with all these dudes, and they're all older than us. We're too close to them, and I don't think they would listen to us as much as an experienced coach," Gruden said.

Dan Friel, the tournament co-founder, has been hounding Bonsu since he graduated in 2017 to form a team, hoping to attract UD fans to Columbus.

Once Bonsu decided he finally had room in his schedule to make it work, one of the first calls he made was to classmate Kyle Davis.

"When he pitched it to me, I said 'Of course I'll play,'" Davis said. "Anything to represent Dayton, I'm always willing to do whatever I can."

The others apparently felt the same way. The only players who declined had scheduling conflicts.

"I think we have a good chance," Gruden said. "I wish we could get one more big guy, but it's hard to find a 6-11 guy from Dayton. There's not a lot of them."

They'll clearly have to rely on small ball with their lack of inside punch. But that worked in 2016 — they won a pair of NCAA games with the 6-6 Pierre and Pollard as their tallest players — and they may have something more important than size.

There probably won't be a more close-knit group of players in the field.

When past or present Flyers come together, as Gruden pointed out, it really is a family.

Note:  The entire tournament field will be announced on June 11, including the remaining six teams in the Columbus regional.  While pairings are not yet set, game times are set and tickets can be purchased now.  For more information, go to the TBT Columbus regional website here.