DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – University of Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II withdrew his name from the NBA Draft just hours before Wednesday night’s deadline as the star forward announced his return to the Flyers for his junior season.
Toumani Camara and Mike Sharavjamts were the other Flyers who summitted their names for the NBA Draft following this season.
Holmes entered his name in the draft in late April while still maintaining his college eligibility. He was also invited to the 2023 NBA Draft Combine.
Holmes, a 6-foot-10 sophomore forward from Goodyear, Arizona, was Dayton’s highest-ranked recruit in the past 100 years and became the first true-freshman in the school’s history to average 12.8 points per game.
Holmes and Obi Toppin are the only two Flyers who have won the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year award and made the All-Atlantic 10 second team.
This past season, Holmes averaged 18.4 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game. He earned Atlantic 10 first team honors and all-defensive team.
Holmes also ranked second in the country with 89 dunks over the course of the 2023-23 season and his career 1,073 points ranks 42nd in the program’s history.
He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship after averaging 21.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots in the tournament.
He is also the first men’s basketball payer at Dayton to be named the team’s White Allen MVP as a freshman and sophomore.
In his first season as a Flyer, Holmes shared the honor with Toumani Camara and Malachi Smith, and last year he and Camara were co-MVPs.
Led by Holmes, the Flyers return three starters from last season’s 22-12 team that finished second in both the Atlantic 10 regular season and the A-10 post-season championship.
