President Barack Obama Congratulates Dayton on Advancing to Sweet 16

President Barack Obama has made it known throughout his tenure as the leader of the free world that he loves sports, especially basketball.   

So when an underdog rises to win on the biggest stage in its sport, he gives credit where it's due. That's exactly what Obama did when the No. 11 Dayton Flyers advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament by defeating No. 3 Syracuse 55-53, per The White House's Twitter account:

The last part of the tweet is a response to the team's star player, Devin Oliver, who met the president back in 2010 at Kalamazoo Central's commencement ceremony. At the time, Oliver was a student at Kalamazoo Central and challenged Obama to a game of one-on-one.

Oliver spoke about that and the excitement for the Flyers, via David Drew of MLive.com:

"

I'm definitely going to tweet him back and see what's going on. Hopefully, I can try to get a game with him. [...]

It just adds more to it, man. It's been an unbelievable ride and we're still going, so I'm really excited.

"

Obama didn't pick Dayton to win in the first round in his NCAA bracket. Darren Rovell of ESPN.com noted Obama's choice and his results through the early stages of the second round:

As for the pick-up game, Oliver might be paying a visit to the White House after his career is done with the Flyers. The senior still has aspirations of making the Final Four, but a one-on-one game with the POTUS might be something to look forward to for the 6'7", 225-pound forward.

With Dayton still in the running for the national championship and needing four more victories to claim the title, more congratulations might be in order from Obama if the team can continue its streak. 

Follow R. Cory Smith on Twitter.