And away he goes

Related Photos

(Misty Watson/The Daily Citizen) Northwest Whitfield junior Tevin McDaniel, left, has been a tough assignment for most defenders this season. The guard’s speed is a valuable asset for him on both offense and defense, though, with McDaniel often able to force other players into bad passes that turn into steals for the Bruins. This isn’t the first time this year McDaniel has stood out for the Bruins, however — he also starred as a defensive back during football season.

Discussion

January 18, 2013

And away he goes

McDaniel’s speed serves Bruins well

Devin Golden devingolden@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Fri Jan 18, 2013, 07:06 AM EST

Tevin McDaniel’s speed allows him to shine on a lot of playing surfaces.

He already did it in football, and now he’s doing it on the basketball court.

The junior — nicknamed “T-Mac” — has become an important part of the Bruins’ offense on the hardwood in his first season as a starter. And it’s been a successful year so far, with Northwest 14-3 overall and 4-0 in Sub-region 7B-4A play after back-to-back victories against rivals Dalton and Southeast Whitfield in the past week.

With Northwest leading Dalton 58-55 with just seconds to play in last Friday’s game in Tunnel Hill, the guard made his biggest play of the season, taking a charge from the Catamounts’ Rico Mears to prevent the Bruins’ lead from being trimmed to one.

That was the tough side of him. People usually see the speedy version.

“He just has a different gear,” Northwest coach Ryan Richards said. “He’s not in it all the time, but he can go to it, and it’s pretty impressive when he does.”

That speed was helpful on Friday nights this past fall. McDaniel made The Daily Citizen’s 2012 All-Area Football Team as a defensive back after finishing the year with 52 tackles, four forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and a pair of interceptions. His best single-game performance came in a 35-21 win against River Ridge, when he had 149 all-purpose yards — including 69 from a punt return — with one interception and one touchdown reception.

“I noticed in football he did that,” Richards said. “Against River Ridge, he just said, ‘I’m taking over.’”

On the basketball court, McDaniel was a role player as a freshman and sophomore, but it’s no surprise to his coach that he has been able to succeed as a starter. Richards first saw him play basketball as a seventh-grader, and by the following year he believed McDaniel could be a major contributor to the Northwest program.

“In eighth grade, I watched him play late in the season and just liked what I saw,” Richards said. “His vision, just snapping passes to people. He didn’t have to score but could score.”

This season, he replaced perimeter player Daniel Kubin, who averaged close to 12 points per game last year and accepted an invitation to play at Covenant College, a Division III program. McDaniel is averaging six points per game and three assists per game — better than previous years, Richards said — but those numbers don’t speak for his other assets.

When defenders try to guard him, he often blows by on the first step.

Does he believe anyone can keep up with him?

“Not around here, I don’t think,” he said.

Northwest senior O’Shea Hill agreed, and he often benefits from McDaniel penetrating the interior of opposing defenses. Whether McDaniel passes or shoots, he is drawing a post defender toward him and freeing Hill and others for an offensive rebound or easy score.

“He’s so quick,” Hill said. “We played Chattanooga Central, and their point guard couldn’t keep up with him, either. He’s just so quick, and small. It helps him get through people.”

At 5 feet, 6 inches, McDaniel is often the smallest player on the floor, and he has been the same size since middle school. But he doesn’t consider his size a disadvantage and even likes it “a little bit.”

“Everyone underestimates me,” he said.

That attribute is helpful on defense, too. McDaniel provides something Richards said the Bruins haven’t had in previous years — constant on-the-ball pressure.

Northwest is already one victory shy of last year’s win total, when the Bruins finished 15-10 and lost in the quarterfinals of the Region 7-4A tournament, one win shy of earning a state tournament berth. And the Bruins are doing far better than McDaniel’s freshman season, when they were just 6-20.

McDaniel isn’t the only reason for the Bruins’ success, but he’s definitely part of the plan.

“He gets the role of putting the pressure on the ball,” Richards said, “which doesn’t necessarily mean he’s getting the steals, but he’s causing the bad passes for the steals.”

Richards said Northwest is causing around nine or 10 steals per game that translate into easy fast-break points, and much of that comes from McDaniel making the opposing point guard feel uncomfortable enough to just try and get rid of the ball.

“There’s really no stat line for that,” Richards said, “but from a defensive standpoint, we’ve been able to do stuff on defense with him that we couldn’t before due to his quickness and ability to apply pressure.”

Text Only

DALTONnow.com

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

And away he goes

McDaniel’s speed serves Bruins well

Site Map

Contact Us