All-Arkansas Preps picks
Williams, Gafford head list of basketball excellence.
Missing a basketball tryout allowed Daniel Gafford (left) to develop his musical skills for a year. But once he did hit the court, he developed quickly.
Before Daniel Gafford became El Dorado’s tallest basketball player, he was the school’s tallest clarinet player.
At 6-6, Gafford stood out when walking the junior high school halls. Some coaches took notice, and they asked him to give basketball a try.
“When I was in the sixth grade, there were a lot of people who wanted me to try out for the seventh-grade team,” Gafford said. “I would have, but on the day of the tryouts, I forgot my shorts.
“I figured [the coaches] wouldn’t think I was responsible enough to play basketball. When I realized I forgot my shorts, I went home instead of going to tryouts.”
Gafford’s absent-mindedness cost him a year of basketball, but it allowed his musical talents to flourish.
He started on the clarinet, advanced to the bass clarinet and during the marching season, he was playing the bass drum.
“It was fun,” Gafford said. “My cousin and a lot of my friends were in the band with me. We had a good time. We were popular because we could liven a place up.”
While his musical talents grew, so did Gafford. Basketball again came calling.
“The coaches told me I could run circles around the other players,” said Gafford, who has since grown to 6-11. “I thought I was too clumsy.”
The coaches were right and Gafford
picked up the game quickly.
“Daniel soaks up things like a sponge,” El Dorado Coach Gary Simmons said. “You tell him once and he gets it right. And he’s only going to get better and better.”
Gafford led the Wildcats to a 6A-West Conference title, a 28-5 finish and the Class 6A state championship game. He averaged 17.4 points, 16.0 rebounds and 7.7 blocked shots per game. Gafford is the All-Arkansas Preps Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
“His timing is incredible,” Simmons said. “And as he’s gotten bigger and stronger, he’s been putting up better numbers. He plays his best in big games.”
While Simmons said Gafford is a quick learner, the player claims picking up the game was “a slow process.”
“The first couple of days, I didn’t think I’d ever get the hang of it,” Gafford said. “I really didn’t know sports at all.”
Gafford was not the first in his family to experience such a slow sports start. His older brother, Cornelius Watson, played only one year of high school football but earned a scholarship to Southern Arkansas University.
Gafford said being on the same team with friends Czar Perry and Ryu Unice helped create a positive team chemistry early in his high school career.
“It was special to play with those two,” Gafford said of his two senior teammates. “They had been playing basketball longer than I had, but I knew what they were capable of. I came along and we made it into a trio. It didn’t take long before we were on the same page.”
Over the past three years, El Dorado compiled a 72-19 record.
“All Daniel cares about is winning games,” Simmons said. “He could care less about stats. He just wants to be on the best team. Daniel didn’t take a bad shot. If he couldn’t get the shot he wanted, he gave it back to his guards. Daniel takes pride in that.”
This fall, Gafford will attend the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He plans to major in psychology and minor in music. While the clarinet may no longer be put to use, Gafford feeds his musical side by being a drummer in his church.
Simmons predicts Gafford will make an immediate impact for the Razorbacks.
“If nothing changes, he will play,” Simmons said. “Barring injury and if he continues to keep the same work ethic, I don’t think there’s any way you can keep him off the floor.”