Meet Your New Basketball Eagles: Jordan Daniels

Time to meet the next in a long list of freshman joining the team, Jordan Daniels (#10).

Before I tell you about him, let’s get all of the cliches about short basketball players out of the way.

• He may be small, but he’s got a big heart
• He may be small, but he plays much bigger
• It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog

That’ll do. This is being brought up because Daniels is by far the shortest player on the team at 5-8; the next-shortest guy is Gabe Moton at 6-1. Daniels’ size didn’t stop him, however, from getting an offer to an ACC school.

Daniels is yet another Californian joining the Eagles, and while in high school, he played for the (Etiwanda HS) Eagles as well. Last year, he managed 12 points per game, 6 assists per game, and 3 rebounds per game. Clearly, rebounds aren’t really going to be his thing, but with any luck, good passing, a nice touch when shooting the ball, and good footwork/speed will be.

There aren’t many readily-available scouting reports on him from his high school days, nor do I have a mole sitting in on BC practices, but Rivals evaluated him thusly:

"Shooting: GoodHandle: GoodPassing: Good"

I’ll take it. CaliHighSports.com, a site I’ve come to rely on because of all the California recruits we have, does have a much more detailed write-up on Daniels’ abilities. Here is a sample of what they said:

"He can shoot the lights out. He has a nice, high release point on his stroke and is able to get it off very quickly. He has a great mid-range jumper and great, soft touch on his runner. His range [is] all the way to the three point line, where he can even hit shots from 22-25 feet with surprising consistency. He is very fluid at getting into his shot off his dribble and is able to create just a little bit of breathing room for himself off the dribble, giving him the space needed to get a nice look at the basket."

There are more good things said about him in the article, but clearly, this is encouraging. Good shooting, creating good looks, and moving well with the ball are all key to the Donahue offense, and it’s apparent that Daniels’ game is a good fit for this team.

For those who are concerned about Daniels’ height, it doesn’t always matter, even in basketball. Tyrese Rice, for example, was listed at 6-1 during his college career but in the times I encountered him up-close on campus, I’d say less. That didn’t stop him from being a top ACC scorer and a major threat, however. If you’re good, you’re good. Now, I’m not saying Jordan Daniels will be Tyrese Rice, but Rice was an example of height not necessarily compromising ability. If Daniels shows he has ability and plays hard, then he will get minutes, size matchups be damned.

In fact, I suspect that he will get quite a bit of playing time this season at the point. I hope he does, because it seems that he’s a skilled, tough player who can make things happen.