5 Final Fours, 3 Title Games: Coach Donny Daniels' Incredible Basketball Journey

Coach Donny Daniels has seen college basketball from the very top. Five Final Fours. Three national championship game appearances. Eleven seasons on Rick Majerus' staff at Utah, seven at UCLA under Ben Howland, and nine at Gonzaga with Mark Few. He recruited Keith Van Horn and Andre Miller to Salt Lake City and coached future NBA stars like Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love and Jrue Holiday in Westwood. Today, you'll find him on the bench at Cottonwood High School. Erik and co-host Coach Doug Meacham sit down with Coach Daniels to talk about a career that spans four decades, what he learned from three very different Hall of Fame-caliber head coaches, and the advice he'd give to players chasing the next level, parents trying to support them, and coaches trying to build something real. 📺 Subscribe for more Utah basketball interviews: @MakingTheTeamPodcast 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/making\_the\_team/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@making.the.team ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:50 Aha Moment to Start Coaching 2:56 Starting at the University of Utah 5:01 Role at Utah 6:06 The Grey Squad 10:14 Juddy Question 1 12:07 Mike Doleac 14:06 Off Court Team Buidling 16:30 Juddy Question 2 17:25 Being a Great Assistant 23:08 Balancing Truth with Feelings 25:12 Teaching Shot Selection 27:56 Learning from other Coaches 31:03 Majerus Coaching Tree 34:01 Coaching in today's game 36:13 Picking a Skills Trainer 41:30 Common Threads of Great Teams 43:16 Coaches Adapting to Today's Challenges 44:40 Mental Health 51:18 Making the Right Play 57:30 Parents & Recruiting 58:35 Always Learning 1:01:46 Learning from Mistakes 1:03:42 Moving to High School 1:06:15 Andre Miller Recruiting Story 1:11:36 Donny's Passions outside basketball 1:12:53 Eric Daniels Carrying the Coaching Torch 1:19:22 Advice to Past Self #UtahBasketball #DonnyDaniels #RunninUtes #Gonzaga #UCLABasketball #RickMajerus #UtahHighSchoolBasketball #BasketballPodcast #CollegeBasketball #MakingTheTeamPodcast #CottonwoodHigh #BasketballCoaching #PlayerDevelopment #HoopsInterview