Elite level high school recruit DeAndre Daniels has been carefully mulling over his college choices after de-committing from the University of Texas prior to this season. He is regarded as the highest remaining uncommitted recruit in the 2011 Class and is ranked anywhere from the #9 to #36 rated player by most reputable scouting sources.
The 6’7 small forward reclassified to the 2011 Class by deciding to stay another year at a prep school before entering the college ranks. Daniels transferred from his native Woodland Hills, California to IMG Academy to work on his strength and conditioning for this season. By all reports, he has progressed at such a rate that Daniels is considering making a college decision, enrolling this January, and possibly even making a contribution to his new team for the 2nd half of the season. As far as grades, Daniels has reportedly already qualified academically to play on the collegiate level.
DeAndre is widely considered one of the most potent offensive players in the class and figures to make an immediate impact wherever he plays. At 6’7 and nearly 200 lbs, he has the ability to either shoot over smaller players and go right around larger defenders with tremendous speed. He can score in a variety of ways and has excellent range to the 3 point arc. Daniels has also shown the ability to rebound exceptionally well for his position.
Daniel’s skill set has been compared to that of a poor man’s Kevin Durant but in my opinion is more of a Rashard Lewis type that shoots well as one of the new hybrid big men that can shoot. As far as thinking in current NCAA circles, think Kentucky’s Terrence Jones but with a better jump shot.
Besides Texas, Daniels is reportedly also considering Kansas, Baylor, Florida, UCLA, and Oregon but recently Kentucky has crept in as his supposed favorite destination. Although John Calipari’s newest crop of fabulous freshmen are already playing at a high level, surely they could use another talented frontcourt player to help offset the loss of Enes Kantner. At the very least, Daniels could be part of Kentucky’s #1 rated 2011 Class featuring 3 players in the Top 6 rated recruits in the nation.
Check out DeAndre in action this Summer:
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Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
