Story by
Dayton Daily News, Ohio
Dayton basketball: ‘Dunk’ Joseph one of three point guard candidates for Flyers
- Story byDayton Daily News, Ohio
- Dayton basketball: ‘Dunk’ Joseph one of three point guard candidates for Flyers
Landon Dunk Joseph finally lived up to his nickname at age 17.
"I got it on video," he said.
Joseph knew he was close to dunking, and finally one day before his junior year at Northeast High School in Oakland Park, Fla., he threw one down.
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Joseph's mom gave him the nickname when he was younger. He wore a T-shirt one day that read, "Slam Dunk."
"She said my name isn't Landon anymore, that they should call me LanDunk," Joseph said.
The name stuck. No one calls him Landon anymore.
Joseph, a 6-foot-2 guard, was the last of six transfers to commit to Dayton in six days in April. All the transfers and the three freshmen sat down with the Dayton Daily News for individual interviews on July 27 at the Cronin Center, Dayton's practice facility.
For the first time, Joseph told the story of how he picked Dayton after one season at Marshall. A connection to Dayton associate head coach James Kane helped Joseph make his decision. Like Joseph, Kane is a graduate of Northeast High School.
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Kane and head coach Anthony Grant visited Joseph in Huntington, W.Va., when he was in the portal. They were the first coaches to visit. That was a crazy time for Joseph.
"It was a lot," he said. "I didn't know it got that crazy. There were coaches left and right. I've never experienced anything like that. I was overwhelmed for a while, but it was fine at the end."
Joseph decided early in the process to play for Dayton. He even created a commitment graphic using ChatGPT, though he ultimately didn't use it when he announced his decision.
"I just got too excited," he said. "It just felt so good talking to them."
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At the end of his recruiting visit, Joseph told the coaches he would commit to Dayton during a dinner at Fleming's, the steakhouse at The Greene.
"(Grant) hugged me as hard as ever," Joseph said.
Other coincidences played a role in Joseph's choice. Dayton head coach Anthony Grant spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Marshall, Joseph's former school, early in his career. Joseph also mentioned the fact that a member of Kane's family has the same birthday as his mom and sister.
"I was like, 'There are too many coincidences going on,'" Joseph said, "and I just felt I had to come here. They were very nice to me, and it has felt like home since I got here."
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The South Florida connection doesn't hurt. Grant is from Miami. Kane is from Oakland Park. They often recruit in that area and have signed a number of Floridians over the years.
"It's been a long time since (Grant) lived down there," Joseph said, "but he's still a South Florida guy."
When they talk about their home state, they talk about food and beaches, Joseph said. His favorite beach is Hollywood Beach.
Joseph is a long way from home now, and it was the same last season in Huntington, W.Va. He wasn't used to the cold and got sick a lot during his freshman year. He's better prepared for his second winter in the north. He updated his wardrobe to prepare.
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The weather didn't factor into his decision to play for Dayton. The fan support did. The Flyers have sold out 94 consecutive regular-season games.
"Every night to get a crowd like that is amazing," Joseph said.
Joseph watched videos about UD Arena during his visit. He has not seen a game there and looks forward to his first experience running out of the tunnel.
"I might stand there for a couple seconds just to enjoy it," he said.
Joseph did not travel a typical path on the recruiting trail. He had no Division I offers until late in his senior year. Marshall was the first school to offer him a scholarship. Another school offered him a scholarship soon after that, but he had already decided to play at Marshall. He committed in August 2025.
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Joseph said he was a late-bloomer but thought he was doing everything right and should have received earlier offers. The Marshall offer came after Marshall associate head coach Rob Fulford, who's now on John Groce's staff at the College of Charleston, came to watch another player in Florida and noticed Joseph on another court.
Two years later, Joseph's rise continues as he prepares for his first season at Dayton.
"If you were to ask me last year if I was going to be here, I honestly wouldn't believe it," he said.
Joseph expected to redshirt at Marshall. He missed the entire summer practice period because of his late signing and then fractured his foot. He didn't start working out with the team until late September.
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"I definitely do think it set me back a little bit because I wasn't really used to the pace of the play," he said. "I wasn't used to the shot clock and making faster decisions."
In the end, Joseph and the coaches decided there was no reason to redshirt him. He wanted to fight for playing time.
Early last season, Joseph's playing time rose and fell from game to game. He played two minutes in the opener, 10 minutes in the next game and two minutes in the third. That was his experience for most of non-conference play.
Gradually, Joseph gained the confidence of coach Cornelius Jackson.
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"He believed in me and in my ability to defend, so he put me on the court to do that," Joseph said, "and then after I just got comfortable, and my offensive ability kind of gelled, and it went well."
Joseph played 30 or more minutes six times in the last seven games and started the last six games. He scored a season-high 24 points against Appalachian State in one of those games, making 9 of 13 shots.
Joseph averaged 7.9 points, 2.1 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game. He appeared in 31 games, starting six. He shot 41.3% from 3-point range (38 of 92).
Leaving Marshall was hard for Joseph.
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"I loved the community," he said. "They made me feel a big part of that school. They made me feel comfortable. The coaching staff was amazing. They would always help me. Everything over there was good. I had to sit down with Coach, and we were talking, and we talked about what's good and what's bad, and I just told him I should enter the portal to see what's going on."
Now Joseph will have to earn his spot again on a new team. To get on the court this season, he said he has "to play hard and do whatever the coach asks me to do. There are a lot of things that I can do, but honestly, I have to do whatever I can do to help the team. If that's defending, if that's playmaking, if that's rebounding, whatever, I've got to do it so we can win this year."
Dayton needs a point guard after losing senior Javon Bennett, as well as Jordan Derkack and Jacob Conner, who also shared the load with Bennett. Joseph is one of the candidates, along with Ole Miss transfer Travis Perry and Murray State transfer Tristian Ford, Joseph's roommate.
"During practice, we see AG trying stuff with the PGs," center Amaël L'Etang said. "We've got Travis Perry, who is a great shooter. We can get the ball in his hands. He's somebody we can trust. We've also got Tristian Ford. He's the same — a more aggressive guard who tries to get to the rim more. And then we've got Landon Joseph, Dunk as we call him. I feel we've got pretty good guards this year."
