# 2002–03 Dayton Flyers men's basketball team

The 2002–03 Dayton Flyers men's basketball team represented the University of Dayton during the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Flyers, led by ninth year head coach Oliver Purnell, played their home games at the University of Dayton Arena and were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 24–6, 13–2 in A-10 play, with both losses coming to regular season champion Xavier. They won the program's first Atlantic 10 tournament title after defeating Temple in the championship game. Dayton received the A-10's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they were upset by Tulsa in the first round. Following the season, Purnell accepted the head coaching position at Clemson. He was replaced by Brian Gregory.

## Previous season

The 2001-02 Dayton Flyers finished the season with an overall record of 21–12, with a record of 10–6 in the Atlantic 10 regular season. The Flyers fell to Xavier in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. They received a bid to play in the NIT where they defeated Detroit in the opening round before falling to Tennessee Tech in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| David Morris | 1 | G | 5'10" | 185 | Senior | Laurel, MD | Graduated |
| Yuanta Holland | 23 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Senior | Dayton, OH | Graduated |
| Sammy Smith | 30 | G | 6'5" | 205 | Sophomore | Worthington, OH | Transferred to Capital University |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Frank Iguodala | 42 | F | 6'5" | 205 | Junior | Springfield, IL | Junior college transfer from Lake Land College |

## Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Marques Bennett F | Indianapolis, IN | Brebeuf Jesuit Prep | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jul 8, 2003 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| James Cripe F | Loveland, OH | Loveland High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Jul 8, 2003 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Monty Scott F | Reynoldsburg, OH | Reynoldsburg High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jul 8, 2003 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Logan White G | Chagrin Falls, OH | University High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 167 lb (76 kg) | Jul 8, 2003 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Warren Williams G | Gaithersburg, MD | DeMatha High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jul 8, 2003 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2002 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 2, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/24/2002* | | Delaware State | W 65–38 | 1–0 | UD Arena (11,770) Dayton, OH |
| 11/27/2002* | | Evansville | W 64–59 | 2–0 | UD Arena (11,176) Dayton, OH |
| 11/30/2002* | | No. 21 Cincinnati | W 75–69 | 3–0 | UD Arena (13,409) Dayton, OH |
| 12/4/2002* | | at Miami | L 63–78 | 3–1 | Millett Hall (5,112) Oxford, OH |
| 12/7/2002* | | UNC Wilmington | W 59–48 | 4–1 | UD Arena (11,888) Dayton, OH |
| 12/14/2002* | | at Saint Louis | L 55–63 | 4–2 | Savvis Center (8,448) St. Louis, MO |
| 12/17/2002* | | Ball State | W 80–65 | 5–2 | UD Arena (11,598) Dayton, OH |
| 12/20/2002* | | at Old Dominion | W 71–67 | 6–2 | Ted Constant Convocation Center (5,532) Norfolk, VA |
| 12/22/2002* | | Villanova | W 80–78 | 7–2 | UD Arena (12,375) Dayton, OH |
| 12/29/2002* | | at No. 3 Duke | L 74-85 | 7–3 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| 1/04/2003* | | No. 13 Marquette | W 92–85 $^{ot}$ | 8–3 | UD Arena (12,037) Dayton, OH |
| Atlantic 10 regular season ||||||
| 01/08/2003 | | La Salle | W 76–72 | 9–3 (1–0) | UD Arena (12,289) Dayton, OH |
| 01/11/2003 | | Duquesne | W 77–72 | 10–3 (2–0) | UD Arena (12,489) Dayton, OH |
| 01/15/2003 | | Richmond | W 66-53 | 11–3 (3–0) | UD Arena (12,105) Dayton, OH |
| 01/18/2003 | | at George Washington | W 71–61 | 12–3 (4–0) | Charles E. Smith Center (4,102) Washington, D.C. |
| 01/25/2003 | | at Temple | W 57-49 | 13–3 (5–0) | Liacouras Center (5,793) Philadelphia, PA |
| 01/29/2003 | | Massachusetts | W 83–55 | 14–3 (6–0) | UD Arena (12,000) Dayton, OH |
| 02/01/2003 | | at La Salle | W 75-70 | 15–3 (7–0) | Tom Gola Arena (3,520) Philadelphia, PA |
| 02/05/2003 | | at Duquesne | W 76-75 | 16–3 (8–0) | Palumbo Center (4,004) Pittsburgh, PA |
| 02/08/2003 | | at No. 20 Xavier Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy | L 77-85 | 16–4 (8–1) | Cintas Center (10,250) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/12/2003 | | George Washington | W 87–68 | 17–4 (9–1) | UD Arena (12,811) Dayton, OH |
| 02/15/2003 | | No. 25 Saint Joseph's | W 66–56 | 18–4 (10–1) | UD Arena (13,409) Dayton, OH |
| 02/19/2003 | No. 25 | at Richmond | W 70-63 | 19–4 (11–1) | Robins Center (4,129) Richmond, VA |
| 02/22/2003 | No. 25 | No. 14 Xavier Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy | L 72-73 | 19–5 (11–2) | UD Arena (13,409) Dayton, OH |
| 02/26/2003 | No. 25 | at Rhode Island | W 82-70 | 20–5 (12–2) | Ryan Center (5,903) Kingston, RI |
| 03/01/2003 | No. 25 | Fordham | W 69-64 | 21–5 (13–2) | UD Arena (13,409) Dayton, OH |
| 03/05/2003 | | St. Bonaventure | | | UD Arena Dayton, OH |
| Atlantic 10 tournament ||||||
| 03/13/2003 | No. 22 | Rhode Island Quarterfinals | W 74–57 | 22–5 | UD Arena (10,897) Dayton, OH |
| 03/14/2003 | No. 22 | No. 25 Saint Joseph's Semifinals | W 76-73 | 23-5 | UD Arena (11,648) Dayton, OH |
| 03/15/2003 | No. 22 | Temple Championship Game | W 79-72 | 24-5 | UD Arena (11,537) Dayton, OH |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/20/2003* | (4 MW) No. 16 | (13 MW) Tulsa First Round | L 71-84 | 24-6 | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (11,171) Spokane, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||