Dillard speaks volumes with his quiet example

By Paul Gotham

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Ask Archie Miller his take on the pre-season conference rankings of the Atlantic 10, and he will need to read over the list before he responds.

Ask the second-year head coach of the University of Dayton men’s basketball team about his starting lineup, and he will run through several possibilities among his players.

Ask Miller about his starting point guard, and there is no hesitation.

“I know Kevin Dillard will be starting. I can tell you that.”

And with good reason. Dillard, the 6′ 182-pound point guard sliced his way in and out of defenses to the tune  13.3 points and six assists per game a year ago. His efforts earned him a spot on the second-team All-Conference.

“Kevin was outstanding last year. He had a lot of weight on his shoulders,” Miller explained during the Atlantic 10 media day at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York earlier this month. ” In so many cases he was asked to do more for our team than a lot of guys in our league were asked to do.”

The Homewood, Ill. native finished last year with an assist to turnover ratio better than two to one and nabbed first-team pre-season honors this year.

“Pre-season first team is well-warranted,” Miller continued. “His work ethic has been tremendous. He’s set himself up to have a great senior year.”

But Miller knows it will take more than a pre-season nomination for the Flyers to improve on the 20 wins of a year ago. The second-year coach has to rely on Dillard if UD is to progress.

“I’m hard on Kevin for a lot of reasons: number one your toughest kid and your best player has to do it every day, and the coach is on him it give no one else the out of favoritism,” Miller explained. “Number two is he wants it. He wants to be coached. The best players all want to be coached. Coaching him hard is a good thing because keeping him on edge every day,  making sure that he is line because if he is in line, we’ll be okay.”

Dillard understands full well his responsibility

“He’s a coach that always believes in the people in the program,” Dillard said recently by phone. “He’s shown a lot of confidence in me, and he believes in me and that just makes me want to work even harder.”

Dillard’s game took a fast track last summer as he earned an invitation to the Deron Williams Skills Academy. His work there brought on an invite to the LeBron James Skills Academy a few days later.

“Those were some huge opportunities right there,” Dillard commented. “Being there this summer you’re going hard, and you’re competing at a high level just because the person you’re competing against plays at a high level. It really taught me the importance doing things right every time, not taking any rep for granted.  I try to bring that back to the team and instill that mentality even in the players that are going to be here after I leave.”

“He’s a very laid back kid, very non-talkative,” Miller explained. “But he leads by example.  When challenged he’s at his best.When confronted he is at his best. When competition and playing against other guys is involved, you get to see who he is.”

Dillard used the time in Chicago and Las Vegas to develop his floater that fans will get a chance to see in the upcoming season.

“That’s the one thing I didn’t really have in my game in previous years,” Dillard said. “Looking at it and playing around with different ways to get it off, that really helps me out and trying to incorporate that in my game.”

Being able to develop a counter to Dillard’s attacking style bodes well for the fortunes of the Flyer Faithful.

“I worry about him injuring himself,” St. Joseph’s University head coach Phil Martelli commented about Dillard with a wry smile. “The way he shakes and bakes he should dislocate some joint or bone.”

Dillard is going through the unusual experience of playing for three different coaches during college. He was originally recruited by Southern Illinois and played for the Salukis during his freshmen and sophomore seasons. But his relationship with former coach, Kyle Lowery, soured. He transferred to Dayton and sat out one season practicing with the Flyers during Brian Gregory’s final year of his tenure with the Flyers.

“It’s been challenging,” Dillard said when reflecting upon his career. “Just when  think I get used to one coach, something happens and I have to adjust and learn a whole new system and whole new style of playing. Good thing is I get to end my career at Dayton and try to do some good things here in my senior year.

After a pair of exhibitions, Dillard and the Flyers open their season on November 10th against Arkansas State.

“If we keep working hard, we can have a special season,” Dillard said. We are on pace where we need to be. We can always get better. We have a long way to go before we can reach some of the goals that we are trying to reach.”