By R.L. Bynum
Former Dayton wing Koby Brea, who led the country in 3-point shooting percentage last season at 49.8%, has North Carolina as one of the final five blue blood schools he is considering, according to multiple reports.
The 6–6, 174-pound Brea, who has one season of eligibility remaining and is expected to graduate from Dayton this spring, also has Kansas, Duke, UConn and Kentucky on his list. He was third on the Flyers team last season with 11.1 points per game, making 51.2% of his shots, including 100 of 201 3-point attempts and 87.5% of his free-throw attempts (14 of 16). He collected career-highs of 124 rebounds, 18 steals and 10 blocks last season.
He started only four of 33 Dayton games last season but was named Atlantic-10 Sixth Man of the Year for the second time in three years. He left Dayton as 69th on the program’s career scoring list at 889 points.
Brea, who doubled his output of 3-pointers from 50 two seasons ago, dished out a career-high 47 assists two seasons ago.
In AAU ball, Brea, who is from Washington Heights, N.Y., played on the New York Gauchos, which RJ Davis also played for.
Brea scored 22 points and six 3-pointers, both career-highs, on Nov. 29 last season at SMU. That is one of three career games with six 3-pointers, which he also did when he scored 20 points against St. Bonaventure on Jan. 18, 2022, and 18 against Richmond on Jan. 28, 2023.
He has 20 career games with at least four 3-pointers and 10 with at least five.
Dayton went 25–8 last season and made the NCAA tournament. Brea scored 15 points and five 3-pointers as the Flyers beat Nevada 63–60 in the first round before losing to Arizona 78–68, with Brea netting 14 points and four 3-pointers.
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Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and the seven players who entered the transfer portal return, which would put UNC three under the 15-player limit. The class for next season is listed.
| No./ Stars | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Freshman | Maximo Adams | SF | 6–7 | 205 |
| 3 star | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 5 star | Freshman | Sayon Keita | C | 7–0 | 215 |
| RS freshman | Cade Bennerman — W | C | 7–0 | 205 | |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — X | G | 6–9 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — Y | G | 6–6 | 205 | |
| Senior | Terrence Brown — Z | G | 6–3 | 174 | |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | 2 | 6–1 | 195 |
W — Northwestern transfer. X — Virginia Tech transfer; Y — N.C. State transfer; Z — Utah transfer
In transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Bogavac | Senior | W | 6–6 | 215 | Oklahoma State |
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 | Howard |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 | Arizona |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 | Minnesota |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 | South Florida |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 | Pittsburgh |
| Ivan Matlekovic | Junior | C | 7–0 | 255 |
Key offseason dates
Through Sunday — NBA Draft Combine in Chicago
May 27 (11:59 p.m.) — NCAA early-entry withdrawal deadline
June 13 — Deadline for international players to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 23–24 — NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn
Nonconference schedule so far
(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski)
(10 of 14 games)
Nov. 2 — vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 6 — vs. Wofford
Nov. 10 — vs. Wyoming
Nov. 13 — vs. Georgia
Nov. 20 — vs. Marshall
Dec. 1 or 2 — vs. SEC team in ACC/SEC Challenge (announced last year on June 12)
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
November or December — vs. Butler
Photo via @DaytonMBB
