May 28, 2009

The University of Dayton finished in the Top 30 in men's basketball attendance for the 12th straight season in 2008-09, according to a report by the NCAA released last week. The Flyers finished 27th in the NCAA in attendance for the second straight season with an average of 12,765 fans a game (up 294 from a year ago). Since UD Arena opened in 1969, Dayton has been in the NCAA`s top 35 in attendance every season.

Last year, UD was 18-0 for the first time in Arena history, and Dayton set a record for regular season total attendance, drawing 229,768 members of the Flyer Faithful to UD Arena.

The Flyers led the Atlantic 10 in attendance for the 12th straight season. UD averaged more than 2,600 fans a game better than any other team in the conference. In conference games only, Dayton averaged 13,093.

UD Arena has 89 sellouts in its 39-year history. UD's last 153 regular season home games have had attendance of at least 11,000 fans. In the last 14 years, 99% of UD's home games have drawn at least 10,000 (391 of 393), including the last 190 regular season games.

Dayton returns four starters and 10 of its top 11 scorers from last year's 27-8 team that reached the NCAA second round. The Flyer returnees include all four players who earned Atlantic 10 postseason honors in 2008-09: Chris Wright, Marcus Johnson, London Warren and Chris Johnson. Wright, who was also First Team NABC All-District, led UD in scoring (13.3) and rebounding (6.6), and set a school single-season record for dunks (54). Several 2009-2010 preseason polls, including those associated with Sports Illustrated, ESPN.com, CBS College Sports.com, and The Sporting News.com, have the Flyers ranked next season.

NCAA Attendance Rankings