DAYTON — As the college basketball regular season winds down, one freshman phenom at the University of Dayton is just getting started.
Amaël L’Etang shares more about his first year as a Flyer and why the French Native chose Dayton.
L’Etang is making a splash in his freshman campaign as a Flyer. The French native is proud of his roots, noted by his team nickname.
“Frenchy,” he said. “Because I know my name is like hard to say. So Frenchy’s good.”
L’Etang grew up in the South of France, surrounded by his two older siblings who loved the game.
“Basketball was all around me when I was a kid,” he said. “So I just grew up playing basketball. Like never go to my brother’s games. Sister’s games too.”
Now, his close-knit relationship with his older siblings comes full circle with the number on his jersey.
“That's for my brother and sister," he said. "So we got the same tattoo. Not the same spot, but the same tattoo. I'm born on the 29th. My brother played with the nine and my sister, like that’s her lucky number. And she loved the number two. So it's like a number for both of us.”
While the Frenchman coming all the way to Dayton, Ohio, for his collegiate basketball career may seem random, he saw it as his only destination.
“I just like look up to Dayton basketball,” L’Etang said. “I saw the fan base, like the arena, even the campus. And like I loved everything about them. So that was an easy choice.”
The freshman said his favorite memory so far this season is what many fans have called “The French Connection” an alley-oop buzzer beater to beat Loyola Chicago.
“Honestly, like I don’t even remember,” he said. “I just remember the ball was coming and then yeah, I have to say I was in slo-mo and like I made the bucket and then everybody jumped on me like I don’t even remember. It was like amazing.”
That play, along with others, has crowned L’Etang as Atlantic-10 conference Freshman of the week three times already this season
“That’s pretty exciting,” he said. “I just wanted to win. I just want to help my team win, like do the best I can.”
While he’s only 19 years-old, he has some big dreams here at Dayton and beyond.
“I would love to stay there for as long that I can,” he said. “After, the goal is like to go in the NBA. So we’ll see. But yeah, I want to stay there. Like I love it. Like the fans, the town, the campus, I love it.”
Catch L’Etang and his Flyers teammates in action right on Spectrum News Tuesday night in the Dayton and Cincinnati markets.
You can also find the game on the Spectrum News App anywhere with a change in locations as the Flyers take on St Louis in the team’s last home game of the regular season at 7 p.m.
