Assistant coach for the Zags has impressive resume! DONNY DANIELS joined head coach Mark Fews staff in March, 2010, and Few thinks he got one of the best coaches in the game. Daniels, who came to Gonzaga after seven years on the UCLA staff, replaced Leon Rice who was named the head coach at Boise State University after 11 seasons on Fews staff. We lost a phenomenal coach and person, but weve gained a phenomenal coach and person, Few said. We were able to hit a home run with our hire. Hes been on the bench for four Final Fours. He recruited those guys, developed them and coached them. Hes flat out one of the best assistants in the country. Daniels is one of the most respected coaches in the country. In 2004, Rivals designated Daniels one of college basketballs Top 25 recruiters. The 2009 Bruins recruiting class was ranked fourth nationally by Scout, and the 2008 class was ranked No. 1 in the country by several scouting services and national Websites. He also helped recruit the 2004 class that ranked No. 4 in the nation by Rivals and the 2005 class that sported five players ranked amongst the Top 100 players in North America. Prior to joining the UCLA staff, Daniels was the mens head basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton for three seasons from 2001-03 and was on head coach Rick Majerus staff at the University of Utah for 11 seasons from 1990-2000. Daniels expertise is evident based on the recent success of the Bruins. UCLA won back-to-back-to-back Pacific-10 Conference titles from 2006-08 and made three straight trips to the Final Four in those same seasons. Additionally, the Bruins have produced six first-round NBA Draft picks in Jordan Farmar (2006), Arron Afflalo (2007), Kevin Love (2008), Russell Westbrook (2008), Jrue Holiday (2009) and Darren Collison (2009) in his six previous seasons as an assistant under Howland. UCLA has also had another four players drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft in Daniels tenure including Trevor Ariza (2004), Dijon Thompson (2005), Ryan Hollins (2006) and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (2008). Daniels experience in all aspects of the game are what impress Few the most. His strength is he does everything well, and thats what we kind of demand at Gonzaga. You recruit, you coach, you develop and you scout, Few said. On April 20, 2000, Daniels was named head coach at Cal State Fullerton. Prior to being named head coach, Daniels was at Fullerton for two years as a player and had three stints as an assistant coach, including two tenures under George McQuarn, who lettered for two seasons (1962-63) as a catcher on the UCLA baseball team.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 10:41:16 +0000