STORRS, Conn. _ College basketball observers took their eyes off the Connecticut Huskies at the end of last season. It was understandable because, as March Madness approached, everyone knew UConn’s season would end without the Big East tournament or a bid to the NCAA tournament, due to a postseason ban.
Outside the Connecticut state border, there wasn’t much notice given to a 20-win season by a team that showed tremendous heart limping to the finish line with injuries to several key players.
Also lost in the shuffle was the way forward DeAndre Daniels played down the stretch.
UConn’s Mr. Inconsistent discovered something special at the end of his season, averaging 17.6 points and 7.7 rebounds over the last six games. Daniels says the discovery was his own confidence, a characteristic that had been an unsolved mystery during most of his first two seasons with the Huskies.
UConn coach Kevin Ollie often says the only limitation that can be put on Daniels comes from his own mind and his own confidence. Daniels has teased us. Now he must take that next step. He needs to assert himself, give the Huskies consistent production, and develop into a legitimate NBA prospect.
The Huskies travel to Brooklyn, N.Y., to open the season Friday night against Maryland. It’s the perfect stage for Daniels to start showing what he can do.
“I just want to keep doing what I did at the end of the season, be aggressive, rebound and run the floor,” Daniels said. “Do everything they need me to do.
“I’m just learning and trying to be a leader, talk more on defense, and help the young guys out. There’s going to be days when they get down. I want to be there and tell them just to get through it and keep working hard.”
The transformation has been impressive.
“DeAndre’s not the most talkative guy,” Ollie said. “He’s not the life of the party when he’s off the court. But when you get on the court, your alter ego takes over and you change into a different person. He’s starting to realize that. If he starts talking, it becomes contagious. He’s changed. He’s coming to the office, talking to his coaches. That’s just a beautiful thing, when you’ve got a young kid that came in that hardly said a sentence and now you can’t shut him up. That’s maturity. I think he’s going to have an incredible year.”
We know for a fact that the prognosticators and preseason publications did not notice what Daniels did at the end of last season. If they had, Daniels might have made a few magazine covers. Instead, the 6-foot-9 forward from Los Angeles has essentially been snubbed. The coaches in the American Athletic Conference kept Daniels off both of their preseason All-Conference teams last month.
USA Today made Daniels a second-team selection in the conference. The Sporting News named him one of the American’s 10 best players. Lindy’s named him the top NBA prospect from the AAC. Other than that, Daniels is off the radar. His teammates know he deserves more hype. And Ollie is just delighted with all the positives Daniels is demonstrating.
In UConn’s first exhibition game, Daniels had 21 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and shot 8-for-13 from the field in 28 minutes against Southern Connecticut. Ollie loved Daniels’ work on the fastbreak, his intensity, his focus and the way he talked to his teammates. Ollie called him the best player on the floor that night.
“I think he’s comfortable in his own skin and understanding he’s a great player,” Ollie said. “He understands that for us to be great as a team, he’s going to have to be a spokesman back there [on defense], especially being the goal tender back there. Sometimes he’s always going to be in the back, so he’s going to have to talk.”
Don’t underestimate the value of talking. It could make all the difference in the world to a guy who gave one-word answers to his coaches and the media as a freshman at UConn.
If the Huskies can get significant contributions from Phillip Nolan, Niels Giffey, Lasan Kromah and especially freshman center Amida Brimah, it could free Daniels to do some special things on the perimeter and inside the lane.
The days of Daniels taking plays off and disappearing on the court seem to be over. That’s outstanding news for UConn. If Daniels keeps taking that approach, it can only translate into more wins for the Huskies – and a brighter future for a player who should be an NBA draft pick.
There’s no better time than Friday night to start moving in that direction.
“It’s just more confidence in myself,” Daniels said. “Talking to K.O., that’s the main thing he’s telling me to do. Just talk. Talk on defense. He said once you step between the lines, your personality has got to change. That’s what I’ve been focusing on.”
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