With one season left in his high school career, Thurgood Marshall small forward Derrick Daniels is ready become one of the better leaders the school’s program has seen.
But first he’d like to wean out some colleges that are serious about recruiting him, pick up an offer or two, and visit some programs.
“I have a lot of interest; Wright State is interested, Ball State, EKU, Buffalo, Cleveland State, Akron. I’m just trying to be able to narrow it down so I can take some visits and get ready for high school,” said Daniels, who mentioned one school in particular he feels is close to offering.
“EKU I think is very close to offering me, they showed a lot of interest this summer, and their coach was at almost every game this summer giving me information about their school and basically just building a relationship with me.”
The 6-foot-7 2016 spent his summer playing intermittently with King James, and was often honing his skills on his own time.
He describes shooting as his strength right now.
“I was on and off with King James, so pretty much I stayed home and worked out, and once our school’s summer league hit I started to show some of the things I worked on. I really improved my shooting, I’m almost a dead-eye shooter, almost automatic from 3. I also worked on my handles, I’m able to bring the ball up handle it, play on the wing, and just do what I have to do,” said Daniels.
“I feel like the areas I need to improve on is my weight and my strength, I need to bulk up a little bit. Other than that I’ve got better at mostly all aspects of the game. My IQ has gotten a lot higher, I know what to do with the ball to make big plays, I became a better playmaker.”
The 6-foot-7 playmaker says he prefers to play the game in transition, and the quicker the pace, the more he thrives — half-court is where he needs to improve.
“My style of play would be fast, I like getting it out on transition, pushing and driving it down the lane in the open court,” he said. “Something I need to work on is my half court game. I need to be able to score in transition and in the half court setting.”
As he embarks on his last season in a Cougar uniform, Daniels says his leadership will be key to the team’s success.
“My role from last year to this year won’t change, I’m still the leader of the team. I still have to able to help assist younger players and help make sure the team is all together,” he said. “And my expectations are nothing less than to get to state with the team we have. My personal expectation is to become a great leader, and I refuse to let this season go to waste.”
