America East Basketball: In-depth look at New Hampshire star Clarence Daniels
By Bryan Mauro
Who is Clarence Daniels?
The forward from Minnesota ended up a JUCO after a successful Minnesota high school career and that JUCO career led to him getting a scholarship offer from former head coach Bill Herrion to attend the University of New Hampshire. Daniels II already has had a fantastic college career in the America East as he was a double-double machine last year. He recorded double-doubles in 18 of the 30 games he played last season. None of those double-doubles were bigger than the one he recorded in Boston in December of last season. He scored 34 points and 11 rebounds in an overtime win over the Eagles.
The Wildcats star earned himself the player of the week in the America East after that performance against the Eagles. Daniels II was also awarded the Busting Brackets mid-major player of the week multiple times for his performances throughout the year. He did earn first-team all-conference a season ago and it still feels like he has so much more to give this year and is virtually unknown nationally.
It is no secret that New Hampshire and the America East are not a team or conference that are at the forefront of many college basketball conversations, but the junior Wildcats forward is good enough to change that. Daniels II already led New Hampshire in scoring, rebounds, shots made, and steals. He stuffs stat sheets and the America East has already taken notice by adding him to their first-team all-conference list a season ago, but he deserves and will get much more recognition this year. He led the league in rebounding and had multiple 30-point games in his first season at New Hampshire.
Even with the great showing in his first year at New Hampshire, the forward entered his name in the transfer portal to see what else was out there. It was a brief stint in the transfer portal as new coach Nathan Davis was able to convince his star to stay around and see if he can improve on his great season from a year ago.
Daniels II is one of the best rebounders in the country and he is likely going to be a 1,000-point college scorer in two seasons. There is not a better player in the America East and Daniels II is going to be in the mix for some national recognition if he continues his upward trend. The only question that now remains is does the forward have enough to get his team over the hump and take down the top teams in this conference?