WASHINGTON, D.C. -- University of Dayton senior forward Nate Santos, redshirt senior guard Posh Alexander and senior guard Enoch Cheeks have been selected to receive Preseason Atlantic 10 honors, according to a poll of the conference's head men's basketball coaches and selected media.  

Santos was named to the A-10's Preseason First Team, Alexander to the Second Team, and Alexander and Cheeks were both names to the All-Defensive Team.

In the same announcement, the Flyers were picked to finish second in the league's preseason poll.  This news came at the A-10's Media Day held at District E, which is adjacent to Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., the site of the 2025 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship.

The Flyers received 394 out of a possible 450 voting points, with six first-place votes.  Preseason favorite VCU had 421 points, with 14 first-place votes.  Dayton and VCU were followed closely by a tight group of Saint Joseph's (376/5), Saint Louis (371/2) and Loyola Chicago (368/2).  George Mason (262 voting points), Richmond (230) and Duquesne (222) were the next three.  Duquesne also had a first-place vote.

Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Davidson, George Washington, Fordham and La Salle rounded out the preseason predictions. 

Santos was named First Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 after being named to the third team after last season.  The 6-7 forward from Geneva, Ill. was the Flyers' second-leading scorer (11.7) and rebounder (6.3) last year.  He was also second on the team in 3-pt. FG% (.418, 51-122).  Santos was fourth in the A-10 in three-point shooting, and 10th in rebounding in 2023-24.

Alexander is a fifth-year transfer who already has 1,000 career points and 500 career assists.  The fourth recruit from New York City in Anthony Grant's tenure at UD, he led the Big East in steals in each of the last four seasons (three at St. John's and one at Butler).  Last year at Butler, Alexander averaged 11.3 points, 4.9 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game.  He was 16th in the nation in steals per game.  In his three years at St. John's, he averaged 10.9, 13.8 and 10.2 points a game.

Cheeks led the team in steals (40), was second in blocked shots (21), and was third in rebounding (4.7) in his first season at UD after transferring from Robert Morris.  The Providence, R.I. native was the 2023-24 winner of UD's Steve McElvene Award.  Cheeks was consistently assigned the opponents' top perimeter player on defense.  In the 25 games (out of 33) where the Flyer foe's top player was a guard or wing, that player was held under his average 17 times. He started in all 33 games and averaged 8.1 points per game (9.5 in A-10 play).

Dayton returns three starters from last year's squad that posted a 25-8 overall mark and finished third in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings. The Flyers earned a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, advancing to the second round.  UD has five players on its roster who have earned all-conference honors in their careers – Santos, Alexander, Cheeks, Javon Bennett and Malachi Smith.