2017-18 PRESEASON ALL-SOCON TEAM
2016-17 SCORED 580 POINTS (SEVENTH HIGHEST TOTAL IN SCHOOL HISTORY)
2016-17 THIRD-TEAM ALL-SOCON TEAM (COACHES)
2016-17 THIRD-TEAM ALL-SOCON TEAM (MEDIA)
2016-17 SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK (NOV. 29)
Head Coach Scott Padgett on Denzel-Dyson
ON THE RECRUITING TRAIL
“The first time you watch Demetrius on film, you notice his body style. He has great length and he’s in really good shape. He also has good athleticism. Then, you start to notice his skill. He can really shoot the ball, he can post up, he can finish down low and he has a good mid-range shot. Those are the things that will definitely grab a coach’s attention. He’s a 6-foot-6 guy who can play the No. 2 through No. 4 positions in our league.”
DURING HIS TIME AT SAMFORD
“In learning things, he really wants to know the why of how we’re doing things. He wants to comprehend exactly why we’re doing things the way that we’re doing them. Now, he’ll always do what we ask of him, but he always wants to know why as well. The more he understands and knows why, the better he is at something, because then he’s all in.”
Senior (2017-18): Proved to be one of 10 players named to the Preseason All-Southern Conference Team as voted on by the league’s head coaches.
Junior (2016-17): Named a Third-Team All-SoCon performer by the league’s head coaches . . . named a Third-Team All-SoCon performer by the league’s media . . . led Samford in scoring last season with an average of 16.1 points per game . . . has affectionately earned the moniker “3D” from the Bulldog faithful . . . shot a sizzling 46-percent from 3-point range and 49.5-percent from field en route to scoring a team-high 580 points . . . his 580 points ranked seventh in the history of Samford basketball and proved to be the highest single-season output since 1984-85, when the Bulldogs’ all-time leader scorer Craig Beard tallied a school-record tally of 703 . . . registered the fourth-best 3-point shooting percentage in the nation . . . wasn’t officially ranked by the NCAA, because he didn’t compile enough attempts per game . . . named the SoCon’s Player of the Week on Nov. 29, after averaging 22.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per outing, while shooting 54.5 percent from 3-point range in games against Cincinnati, Nicholls State and Bethune-Cookman . . . scored a career-high 40 points against Nicholls State on Nov. 27 . . . shot 15-of-20 from the field, finished 7-of-11 from beyond the arc and registered a double-double with 11 rebounds . . . added double-double performances against Chattanooga (22 points and 10 rebounds on Jan. 21) and UNCG (18 points and 10 rebounds on Feb. 4) . . . proved to be one of only three players to score 40 or more points throughout the season . . . tallied three games of 30 points or more . . . played a key role in the Bulldogs finishing the season ranked first in the SoCon in defensive rebounds per game (26.5), free throws made (645) and total rebounds (154) . . . Samford also closed out the year ranked No. 4 in the nation in free throw attempts (868), No. 17 in assists (581) and No. 18 in 3-point field-goal percentage (39.5) . . . averaged a team-high 16.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game . . . led Samford with a 46-percent shooting mark from 3-point range . . . led the team with single-game totals of points (40), field goals made (15) and 3-point field goals made (7) . . . earned his first varsity letter as a Bulldog.
Redshirt (2015-16): Transferred to Samford from the University of Massachusetts and was forced to redshirt the season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Sophomore (2014-15): In his second season at UMass, he appeared in 29 games, including all 18 Atlantic 10 contests . . . scored 96 points (3.3 ppg), grabbed 58 rebounds (2.0 rpg) and handed out 14 assists (0.5 apg) . . . averaged 10.7 minutes per game to rank eighth on the team . . . committed just 11 turnovers in 310 minutes, averaging just one every 28.2 minutes of action . . . recorded three double-figure scoring games . . . had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers in 15 minutes against Davidson (Jan. 14) . . . best game of his career came at VCU (Feb. 21) with his first career double-double, setting career marks with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes . . . proved to be a key figure in the first half, scoring five of his 10 first-half points in the final 6:35 to keep the margin within five at the break . . . added a second-straight 12-point effort, along with seven boards, four days later at home against Saint Joseph's (Feb. 15).
Freshman (2013-14): In his first season at UMass, he earned playing time in 20 games off the bench . . . finished the season with 12 points and 24 rebounds, while averaging 3.5 minutes per game . . . saw action in 11 A-10 regular-season games for 3.8 minutes per contest . . . tallied a rebound in four minutes in his first college game against Providence (Nov. 15) in the opening game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off . . . scored his first career points on a put-back two games later against Tennessee (Nov. 18) . . . finished with two points, a rebound and a steal in four minutes at Fordham (Jan. 13) . . . played solid minutes at Charlotte (Feb. 2) where he finished with two rebounds and two blocks in a career-best eight minutes . . . posted two points and a rebound in six minutes at VCU (Feb. 14).
High School: Three-star recruit by Rivals and ESPN.com . . . ranked as the No. 85 shooting guard in the country and No. 17 overall in the state of Tennessee by ESPN Scouting Services . . . averaged 23.8 points and 10.4 rebounds as a senior at Covington (Tenn.) High School under the tutelage of Head Coach Dion Real . . . proved to be a Class AA all-state and all-metro honoree after leading the Chargers to a 25-4 mark . . . shot 50 percent from the field, 35 percent from outside and 78 percent from the free-throw line . . . a three-year letterman at Brighton High School before transferring prior to his senior year . . . played AAU ball for both Team Thad and MM33 out of Memphis.
Personal: Full name is Demetrius Denzel Dyson . . . born Feb. 22, 1995, in Covington, Tenn. . . . son of Twyalla and Maurice Dyson . . . has a younger sister, Desiree' (18), who is currently Miss Tennessee . . . cousins who have played college and pro sports include Rodney Carney (basketball at Memphis and professionally overseas), Ramon Foster (football at Tennessee and in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers), Renardo Foster (football at Louisville) and Ron Slay (basketball at Tennessee and professionally overseas) . . . majoring in health sciences.
