SATURDAY’S GAME
Staff Writer
Junior guard Jhery Matos will miss the rest of the season and will undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments in his foot, Dayton Flyers coach Anthony Grant revealed on the Anthony Grant Show on WHIO Radio on Monday night.
Matos suffered the injury after landing on his foot Nov. 23 late in the third-place game of the Battle 4 Atlan- tis against Oklahoma. He missed Dayton’s game Friday against Mississippi State. The injury was described then as turf toe. Grant said after the game Matos was side- lined indefinitely and they would know more this week.
After further examination, Dayton found out Monday Matos would need surgery.
“Like I told him today, his recovery, his rehab starts today,” Grant said. “He’s got to make sure from a mental standpoint he’s right. Our team will need him. We can’t have him on the court, but we can use his energy and his voice. Our guys are certainly disappointed for him. He’s disappointed he won’t be able to be out there with his brothers competing. But he’ll be there every day. He’s supporting them and looking forward to a speedy recovery.”
Matos, the first Dominican Republic native to play for the Flyers, averaged 3.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game in the first six games and made his mark on the defensive end and with some stand- out passing.
Having played six games, Matos will be eligible for a medical redshirt. He could Dayton at No. 8 Auburn, 8 p.m,, SEC Network have played in up to 30 per- cent of the team’s games. He’ll have two seasons of eligibility remaining. If he stays at Dayton, the schol- arship picture changes in 2020. Instead of three schol- arships opening, there will be two. Ryan Mikesell and Trey Landers play their final season that year.
Grant said he informed the team about Matos’ injury Monday and looked over and saw Mikesell, who missed last season after undergoing two hip surgeries, put- ting his arm around Matos.
“He was letting him know, ‘I know what you’re going through, and I’m going to be there for you,’” Grant said.
Without Matos, who joined Dayton after playing two seasons of junior college basketball, Dayton has eight scholarship players. Freshman Frankie Policelli, who was going to redshirt this season, made his debut Friday, and Grant hopes to get him more playing time. They’ll need him this season.
“He has an opportunity now to step up and earn some minutes and be a guy who can help us with the rotation,” Grant said. “His learning curve will be quick here and we’ve got to put him in a situation where he can be successful. He also has to understand the opportunity he has in front of him now to step into that role.”