Transfers Find Opportunity at Dayton

This story was originally published in the Flyer News 2025-26 Basketball Digital Edition

Gabriel Ward | Sports Editor

DAYTON, Ohio – Earlier this month, I had the chance to sit down with three of the newer members of the Dayton men’s basketball team: Jordan Derkack, De’Shayne Montgomery and Keonte Jones. I spoke with each of them to learn more about why they decided to come to UD.

Derkack began his career at Merrimack, where he, along with current Dayton teammate Javon Bennett, helped lead the Warriors to both the NEC regular-season and tournament titles in 2023. Derkack went on to win another regular-season title the following year at Merrimack, this time without Bennett. Derkack left Merrimack after his second season and headed off to Rutgers, where he was a key contributor to a Scarlet Knights team that did not lack talent. In his only year at Rutgers, Derkack played 17.1 minutes per game and averaged 5.7 points, 1.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game.

Derkack entered the transfer portal for a second time, saying that “I felt as if I worked very hard to be in a spot, and for whatever reason or not, it just didn't work out at my old school, so I decided to get a fresh start somewhere else.”

Derkack found that fresh start at Dayton and reunited in the backcourt with Bennett. When asked about Bennett’s impact on his decision to come to UD, Derkack explained that “he wasn't pushing anything that wasn’t real,” and that “he was telling me the truth, and that’s kind of what I expected of him. You know the good and the bad, there's good and bad at all schools, so he was telling me basically just the truth.” But in the end noted that “it came down to the coaches and what they thought they were bringing in.”

Derkack brings grit and intensity to the court, something that he credits to the people in his life. His godfather is former NBA player Raja Bell, who was known for his defense and physicality. Bell had multiple NBA seasons with 10 or more technical fouls.

“Raja has been in my life since I’ve been born, just like my dad has been in my life, and just like everybody has molded me into the way I am right now. I think I feel as if me, and the entire team, brings a level of toughness, and sometimes it kind of gets to the point where we need to light a fuse in somebody to get them going,” Derkack said. 

Similar to Derkack, Montgomery is also now at his third school. Beginning his career at Mount Saint Mary’s, Montgomery had a stellar freshman campaign, averaging 13.2 points per game off the bench for the Mountaineers. After the season ended, he explored his options in the transfer portal and ended up at Georgia, where, after being ineligible for the first nine games to complete academic requirements, he would appear in 17 games off the bench and play 15.7 minutes per game while averaging 6.5 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

Things at Georgia did not work out the way Montgomery wanted, and he explained that, saying, “I feel like I didn't get the opportunity that I deserved and worked for at my last school, so I decided to transfer.” Now, Montgomery is getting the opportunity that he felt he deserved, as he has started all 11 games for the Flyers to start the season and is averaging a career-high 16.1 points per game. 

Despite the glaring similarities between former Flyer Toumani Camara and Montgomery’s career path, including Montgomery’s hometown being just a few miles away from Camara’s high school, both attending Georgia before transferring to Dayton, and both wearing the No. 2 for the Flyers, there is no connection between Camara and Montgomery’s decision to head to UD. 

“I haven’t spoken to him, but they was telling me about him on my visit,” Montgomery said of Camara. He added that the coaching staff spoke more about Camara and how they “brought a Georgia recruit here before, now he’s in the league, and they want to do the same for me.” Montgomery went on to explain that it was the current state of the program that led him to commit to Dayton, saying, “I just fell in love with the coaching and coaching staff and the environment at Dayton. I just wanted to be a part of that.”

Away from the court, Montgomery enjoys bass fishing. “I like bass fishing,” he stated. “I don't really think there are too many bass out here. I tried that Miami River under the bridge, but it didn't work out.” He says that even though he does have his fishing pole with him, he's going to have to wait until he returns to Florida to get back into it. 

Jones is the outlier of the trio; he didn't come from a Power Five school and didn't even begin his college career at a Division I program. Out of high school, Jones enrolled at Mineral Area College, a junior college in Park Hills, Mo. He spent two seasons there before transferring to Midland College in Midland, Texas. At Midland, he had his breakout junior college season, averaging 17 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while leading the Chaps to the 2023 NJCAA National Quarterfinal.

After his junior college career, Jones transferred to Division I California State University, Northridge. At CSUN, he had a solid first year, but it was his second year where he truly exploded onto the scene. In a season that ended with Jones being named first team All-Big West, Jones led the Matadors in rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and minutes per game. After the season ended with a loss in the National Invitational Tournament to Stanford, Jones entered the portal, where he originally committed to the University of Southern California on April 5. Jones later decommitted on April 28 and reopened his recruitment, where he then landed at Dayton.

Jones’ reasoning for transferring was not the same as Derkack’s or Montgomery’s; he explained that his “coach kind of just understands the process of the new thing that is going on with the transfer portal, the money, and the business side of it. So he knew my talents could go to the next level.” 

Despite being from Madison, Wis., Jones follows in his dad's footsteps as a Chicago Bears fan. He explained that his “dad was born and raised in Chicago, so on the South Side, so he’s just Bears-ed out,” and that “everything's Chicago for him, so it’s just different.” He went on to add that they are “for sure” winning the NFC North. 

The portal can cause some difficulties in preparing for a new season, and Derkack explained that “we had a bunch of new guys, so just learning their tendencies, learning how to play competitively while having respect for each other” were some of the adjustments that had to be made in the offseason. 

Montgomery said one of the biggest adjustments that he had to make was also one of the reasons he chose UD. “The terminology coach [Anthony Grant] uses, he's been coaching in the league, so he used different terminology than what I am used to,” and went on to say that “coach telling me the resume of the school and then his resume himself, you know, he’s been at all levels… I could tell he knew what he was talking about, like he's seen everything.”

With college sports becoming professionalized, the players recognized that basketball was the main reason they chose Dayton. But they still have goals off of the court. Jones noted that he wants to “build something real with the fans and the donors,” and that one of his life goals is to “have shelters around places where I played at, so Missouri, Texas and Dayton… just some shelters to help people get back on their feet because everyone don't have it the way I’m having it right now, as in getting paid by NIL and just the opportunity I got.”

Montgomery doubled down on Jones’ desire to build a relationship with the community. “My goal is to get more connected with the community, especially like the little kids that be showing up to all the games and showing up to our camps.” He wants to remind the kids that “it is possible for them to be in our shoes.”

Both Montgomery and Derkack brought up how academics are something that they are focusing on. Derkack mentioned that he is “excited to graduate,” and he’s “been doing school for a long time now, so, you know, I’m just trying to get a degree.” 

After his playing career is over, Derkack is hoping to become a college basketball coach and credits the staffs he's played under for helping him learn. “Being with a staff like we have here, getting to learn from the guys every day. I love asking questions. I love kind of learning new things. So being around three different staffs in college, I think, has helped me mold what I think I’ll be as a college coach.”

Each of these players has played a key role in the Flyers’ solid start. The team enjoys being together and making each other better to help them reach their individual goals as well as the team's overall goals. As conference play begins soon, the Flyers will begin their pursuit of the program's fourth Atlantic 10 title.