Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
DANIELS READY FOR EXPANDED ROLE FOR RAZORBACKS
FAYETTEVILLE — Mike Neighbors had to go the extra mile or two to find Makayla Daniels, but the University of Arkansas women’s basketball coach is sure glad he did. The 5-foot-9 point guard from Frederick, Md., acknowledged she knew nothing about the state of Arkansas or the school, but Neighbors credits assistant coach Lacey Goldwire with initially mining this gem. “Her mother knew Makayla’s parents growing up in Oklahoma and got word that Kenny and Wynetta’s daughter is a pretty good little guard up in Maryland,” Neighbors said. “Which that’s out of our fishing pond. We don’t go fishing in Maryland a whole lot, but when you find one you go watch.” Neighbors took the time to watch Daniels at a summer tournament and it paid off. “It took, I dunno, about a minute and a half to realize we had stumbled upon someone that not a lot of people had seen yet and thanks to that early tip and the connection I made my way back over there a lot in that particular tournament,” Neighbors said. She’s been nothing but rock solid over her first two seasons with the Razorbacks, entering her junior season with a string of 60 consecutive starts. Daniels averaged 11.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals and played nearly 30 minutes a night. She also normally draws the defensive assignment against the opponents’ top perimeter player no matter their size. Not bad, but even she knows there will be more expected of her this season after the loss of All American guard Chelsea Dungee and All-Southeastern Conference guard Destiny Slocum to graduation. “Last year, you could look to someone if we were down in a game,” Daniels said. “They would be the ones saying something just to get us going. Now I’ve caught myself looking around and there’s no one to look to. I’m like ‘It’s you. You need to be that person for the team.” But being more of a vocal leader doesn’t come naturally for Daniels. She’s quiet by nature but credits former teammate Jailyn Mason for helping by getting her involved in the student-athlete advisory committee on campus. “I am an introvert,” Daniels said. “I don’t like doing anything else. I just want to play basketball and do my schoolwork and I’m done Last year she pushed me to get involved with SAAC. “Honestly, I dreaded it last year. I don’t like talking in front of people. I don’t really like being around people I don’t know. But now this is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.” Neighbors said Daniels has been more confident and more assertive this year, but she just does whatever is necessary to benefit her team. Her voice is now needed more with just one senior and six newcomers on the roster — including five freshmen. “You’ve heard of low-maintenance kids, well she’s a no-maintenance kid,” Neighbors said. “She uses her words and you know when Mak says something they’re meaningful. But she’s been more helpful with the younger kids and she’s been more helpful with me. And we needed her to be. “We’re always saying she’s wise beyond her years. She’s got a full grasp and control of what we do. There’s a lot of kids who know what we do. But she knows why we do it and that’s a big step.” It’s not like she hasn’t already had her moments. Daniels basically put the team on her back in the fourth quarter of a lateseason SEC game at Auburn. She scored nine of her 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Razorbacks rally for the win, including a 3-pointer to give her team a four-point lead in the final minutes. It might not sound huge, but Neighbors put it into perspective quickly. “Oh we woulda been (Auburn’s) only win in the SEC,” Neighbors said. Neighbors credit her parents and military upbringing for her disciplined approach. She was born in North Carolina and even lived in Japan for some time. Her on-court demeanor was obvious even that first time he watched her in that summer tournament. “She had full command of her team,” Neighbors said. “he could score when she needed to. She passed it when she needed to and she never got herself in trouble. And then their team won.” People who watch the Razorbacks regularly know Daniels’ worth over the past couple of seasons. But Neighbors said it’s time for others to take notice. And he’s going to do his part to see that she gets her due. “When you look at the productivity and the way she’s gone about doing it, she’s to me the least talked about good player in our league and we’ve got a lotta good players,” Neighbors said. “She’s a name that doesn’t come up very often and it should “She grows on you for sure. I call those kids fungus kids in a really nice
way. She’s grown on everybody in our program.” Daniels has a chance to be the only player in school history who would have qualified for the NCAA Tournament. That would come with a bit of an asterisk since the tournament was canceled because of the pandemic in her freshman season. “She’s not on the all-conference team and that’s OK because we have great players in this league,” Neighbors said. “And I know most people wouldn’t write her name down, but it’s time for me, her coach, to make sure people don’t do it because of lack of information.” “But let’s stack up big wins, stack up statistics and efficiencies. If you look at guards that came out in her recruiting class, she’s in the conversation being among the top five.” He understands Daniels being overshadowed by Dungee and Slocum and even sharp-shooting Amber Ramirez at times the last couple of years, but that time has passed. “But people don’t even know her name?” Neighbors said. “You’re not paying attention.”