Can Dayton survive its first 10 games without Dyshawn Pierre?
If Dayton is going to compile an NCAA tournament-caliber resume in non-league play, the Flyers will have to accomplish the bulk of it without maybe their best player.
Dyshawn Pierre, Dayton's leading returning scorer and rebounder, is not currently enrolled at the school and will not be eligible to rejoin the Flyers until after the fall semester. The school did not specify the reason for Pierre's semester-long suspension, citing federal privacy laws.
Since fall term exams at Dayton aren't until Dec. 14-18, the soonest Pierre would be able to rejoin the team is Dayton's Dec. 22 home game against Miami (Ohio). He'll miss 10 regular season games including a home game against Alabama, a visit to Vanderbilt and a tournament in Orlando that also features Wichita State, Iowa, Notre Dame and Xavier.
Whether Dayton can survive that schedule without Pierre will depend a lot on if this year's team possesses the same resilience last year's squad had. Dayton won 27 games and reached the Sweet 16 for the second straight season despite only having six scholarship players for the entirety of conference play and not having anyone taller than 6-foot-6.
The versatile Pierre was a huge part of that success because of his ability to play effectively both on the perimeter and in the paint. The 6-foot-6 forward averaged 12.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season, earning second-team all-Atlantic 10 honors.
The good news for Dayton is that this year's squad has much more size and depth than last year's did. Six of last year's top seven players return and a handful of newcomers also will compete for immediate playing time.
Until Pierre returns, returning forward Kendall Pollard and James Madison transfer Charles Cooke will have to shoulder a greater load. The Flyers also could turn to redshirt freshman center Steve McElvane and freshman forward Ryan Mikesel.
With Pierre, Dayton was a clear favorite against Alabama at home and had a chance to win at Vanderbilt and do some damage in Orlando. Wins in those games will be tougher now, but Dayton showed last season that it's capable of doing things the hard way.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
