SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Escondido's Nate Daniels Commits
To Louisville--(Sept. 12, 2002)

This is sort of old news, and indeed, it was more than a few weeks old by the time the San Diego North County Times picked up the story, but since it happened while we were busy paying attention to other things, reading it the other day in the the NCT reminded us that we'd neglected to mention it here on SoCalHoops....So, better late than never, and we're happy to report that former Escondido standout Nate Daniels (6'-8" So.  PF) has given a verbal commitment to Louisville head coach Rick Pitino.   Daniels will spend one more season at Broward Community College, and when he enrolls at Louisville next year, he will join a couple of other former California guys, Ellis Myles from Compton Centennial, Luke Whitehead from San Francisco's St. Ignatius, via Oak Hill Academy.   Daniels was solid this past summer at the Say No League, and we got a chance to see what he could do there and it was considerable, and he's improved remarkably since his high school days.   An interesting fact not mentioned in the article below is that Daniels also had the benefit of being coached by one of the best young coaches in the business while at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass, and we're talking about  Jason Smith, now the head coach at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, NH.   Both Nate and Glen McGown, now at Pepperdine, played together at Notre Dame Prep.  McGowan, a Venice HS grad, put his name into the NBA draft earlier this spring, but withdrew from the draft and is back at Pepperdine.

Here's the article from the North County Times by staff writer John Maffei (the link will take you to the NCT's website): 

Escondido grad commits to Louisville
North County Times
9/8/02
JOHN MAFFEI
Staff Writer

Former Escondido High basketball standout Nate Daniels has given a verbal commitment to play at Louisville.

Daniels, who now stands 6-foot-8 and weighs 235 pounds, chose the Cardinals over Texas Tech, St. John's, Duquense, USF, Florida International, Missouri and American.

``It was incredible this summer,'' said Escondido coach Paul Baldwin. ``Guys like Rick Pitino and Bobby Knight were in our gym watching Nate work out.

``He has really turned into a very special player.''

After leaving Escondido, Daniels spent a year at Notre Dame Academy, a prep school. From there, he earned a scholarship to Fresno State, where he redshirted as a freshman.

He left Fresno State after a year and spent last season at Broward Community College in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he averaged 30.8 points a game, second in the National Junior College Athletic Association, shot 38 percent from 3-point territory and earned Community College All-America honors.

He scored more than 40 points four times and more than 50 twice.

Baldwin said most schools were recruiting Daniels as a shooting guard. He has one more season at Broward and must earn his Associate of Arts degree before he can transfer to Louisville.

``My trip to Louisville was great,'' Daniels told the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal. ``Coach Pitino is putting together a team that is going to make a march to the Final Four and the national championship, and I want to be a part of that.

``I talked to Coach Pitino about getting my body right, working on my ballhandling and defense. In terms of me leaving for the NBA after a year or whatever, I feel I need to stay two years to be where I want to be.''

 ©Copyright SoCalHoops 1997-2002
Questions? Comments? Need Information?
Contact: jegesq@SoCalHoops.com