Howard’s Daniel Leading Nation in Scoring, SMU surprises with 7-0 Start

Howard University’s James Daniel III, the team’s star guard did not think things would turn out this way. When his coach told him he needed to become more of a point guard, Daniel figured he would score more but hand out more assists as well while running the team’s offense.

In his junior year, he knew he would have to improve on the 16.1 points per game he scored the previous year as well as lead the offense. However, he did not believe he would be the leading scorer in the nation as well.

Daniel said he knew he would have to score more than last season but 29.4 points per game was not in his mind. He is currently leading all scorers in Division I.

He is slight in stature standing just 5-foot-11 and he has not been slowed due to a toe injury even though it did prevent him from playing last Wednesday in his team’s loss to Purdue. However, that was due to playing Monday night as well in a win over North Carolina Central and not having time for his toe to feel better.

The native of Hampton, Virginia, who scored 38 points on Saturday against Radford, said he was not aware he was leading the nation in scoring until Marcel Boyd the team’s stat hound and junior center took a look at the stats for the country to find out where his teammate stood amongst the rest.

One of the biggest reasons that Daniel is scoring so much more this season is his shooting percentage form beyond the three-point arc. Last season he hit 29% of his attempts from 3-point territory and this season that is up to 36%. He is also No. 1 in the country with 116 attempts from the free throw line and made free throws with 102.

Howard has not played in the NCAA tournament in 23 seasons, but Daniel’s scoring could carry them to a berth this season.

SMU Associate Head Coach Defies Odds

Most thought the SMU basketball program would have nothing to play for. The Mustangs were banned from 2016 postseason play and Larry Brown their head coach was suspended for 9 games to start the season.

However, no one thought about the motivational abilities of Tim Jankovich the team’s associate head coach and head coach in waiting.

With what seemed like nothing to play for this season, the Mustangs behind the tutelage of Jankovich are ranked No. 19 in the nation with a record of 7-0, including a rout over Michigan by 24 points.

With two rather weak opponents for games 8 and 9, it looks like Jankovich will hand back control to Brown with an undefeated 9-0 record.