Dantiel Daniels - Men's Basketball Coach

Dantiel Daniels

Title:
Director of Basketball Operations
Email:
ddanie27@utm.edu

Dantiel Daniels is in his second season on the University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball staff. He spent the 2021-22 campaign as the program's director of basketball operations before moving into the role of special assistant to the head coach in 2022-23.

Last season, the Skyhawks faced a daunting schedule that included 12 teams who eventually participated in the postseason. UT Martin was the first NCAA Division I team since 2014 to not return a single player from the previous season, which led to seven Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week selections (one shy of the program's all-time record).

In the classroom, the Skyhawks combined for a 3.22 Grade Point Average in 2021-22 and were the only current OVC institution to earn the National Association of Basketball Coaches Team Academic Excellence Award.

Daniels came to UT Martin from Lincoln Trail College, located in Robinson, Ill. He spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach for the Statesmen. Prior to that, he was a graduate assistant at his alma mater Colorado State University.

Daniels worked under head coach Luke Stuckey at Lincoln Trail, who produced a pair of All-Great Rivers Athletic Conference and All-Region XXIV guards. Dante Combs (12.4 points per game) and Lamar Lillard (10.8 points, team-best 7.0 rebounds per contest) each picked up postseason accolades for the Statesman this past season.

Daniels began his coaching career at Colorado State alongside head coach Larry Eustachy. He worked closely with the frontcourt players, which included All-Mountain West Conference honoree Nico Carvacho, who averaged 9.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for the Rams.

A Wentzville, Mo. native, Daniels began his playing career at Southern Illinois University. Playing for head coaches Chris Lowery and Barry Hinson, Daniels captured Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman honors in 2011-12 after leading the league in blocked shots (1.6 per contest), ranking second in school history for a rookie. He averaged 8.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while ranking sixth in the MVC with a .567 field goal percentage. He followed that with an injury-riddled 2012-13 campaign where he averaged 7.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per contest while converting 60.9 percent of his field goal tries (second-best mark in the MVC).

Daniels played his final two seasons under Eustachy in Fort Collins, Colo., ending his career ranking second on Colorado State’s all-time field goal percentage list (.622). He started in all 66 games he played as a Ram, averaging 7.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in 24.4 minutes per contest. His debut season in 2014-15 was a historical one as Colorado State went 27-7 overall with a 13-5 league mark, owning the Mountain West’s best winning percentage on its way to a National Invitation Tournament berth. The following season, Daniels hauled in five double-doubles and topped the MWC in offensive rebounding with 3.6 boards per outing.

Daniels parlayed that into a professional career as he made stops in Finland, Uruguay and China from 2016-19.

The first Division I signee in Holt High School history, Daniels later earned his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts with a minor in media studies from Colorado State in 2016. He followed that with a Master’s degree in adult education and training from Colorado State in 2018.