Bearkats vs. Lumberjacks: Leader by example
He seldom speaks, a quiet warrior who just gets the job done. But when he does talk, his teammates listen because he can offer advice only a leader can provide.
Sam Houston State guard Shamir McDaniel wasn’t on anyone’s radar when he came out of Converse Judson High School as a senior in 2003. No colleges came calling. There were no scholarship offers to play Division I basketball.
By fate, McDaniel ended up falling into coach Bob Marlin’s lap, who in return got a lock-down defender, and more importantly, a future team leader.
Yes, McDaniel has become more than a former walk-on; he’s a guy who has emerged as one of the best all-around players in the Southland Conference over the past three seasons.
“There are two things about Shamir that I’m most proud about — he’s an outstanding person and a good student,” Marlin said Wednesday after the Bearkats’ worked out in preparation for tonight’s game against archrival Stephen F. Austin. “He has always been a solid performer.
“He is just a winner, and this year we finally got him to shoot more, and thank goodness we did because we have struggled to score at times.”
Don’t leave McDaniel open, as most teams have found out the hard way, or he will burn you with his smooth shooting stroke from outside. Since he arrived in Huntsville, Marlin and company have begged McDaniel to shoot more. It took three years, but the soft-spoken guard is finally buying into the concept.
McDaniel is averaging a team-high 12.9 points a game and is hitting 43 percent of his 3-point attempts on a team many think has a good chance of making the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003.
“You can’t take anything for granted. You have to do the little things to make the big things happen,” said McDaniel, who has been a part of back-to-back 20-win teams and is closing in on another. “When I first got here, I played strictly defense and couldn’t shoot a lick. But I have worked on it — done the little things like staying focused.”
The Bearkats (14-3 overall, 2-2 in SLC) went a solid 12-1 in nonconference and McDaniel was a big part of it. He scored a then career-high 18 points in a big 56-54 win over Texas Tech on Nov. 14. He followed that up with 22 points in a win over UC-Irvine on Dec. 20 and 25 more in an overtime loss to San Diego State on Dec. 30.
McDaniel simply likes to compete. As a freshman, he once held a Monopoly tournament in his dorm room. He also likes to play UNO — anything to keep the competitive juices flowing.
To his teammates, he’s just “Bo.” Never backing down from any challenge, McDaniel tackles the next obstacle in his way.
McDaniel was nonexistent in the Bearkats’ 61-58 loss to Southeastern Louisiana in the SLC opener. After scoring a season-low three points on 0-for-1 shooting from the field, he talked about letting his team down and how he would bounce back.
“I didn’t really have the right mind-set. I got away from the things in that game that had gotten me to where I was,” McDaniel said. “So, I just wanted to come out the next few games and be more aggressive. We lost that game, and my scoring probably would have helped us win.
“I just don’t want to let the team down like that again.”
And McDaniel hasn’t let the Kats down since that night, averaging 13.6 points over the past three games.
Again, that’s Bo, a competitor who wants nothing more than to close out his Bearkat career with a Southland Conference championship. McDaniel has come up short the past two seasons, but he is doing his part to make sure SHSU leaves it all on the court in 2007-08 with no regrets.
“We lost a lot of scoring from last year, and coach (Marlin) brought me into his office before the season and told me I needed to pick it up,” McDaniel said. “This year I have been able to make shots. It seems like nothing could fall for me last year, but this year everything seems to be going well.
“My teammates give me confidence because they look to me to score. I’m just doing everything I can for them, so we can be successful.”
McDaniel’s role on the team is more than what he does during the 40 minutes from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Sam Houston is a senior-laden team with some young faces waiting for the torch to be passed.
And McDaniel is making sure those guys know what it takes to be a true Bearkat — hard work and unselfishness.
Who better to provide an example than a guy who already graduated with a degree in business and is working toward his master’s. Oh, and a guy who has also won 75 games in the orange and white.
“You learn so many things from Bo. Just his presence on the court is a learning experience,” sophomore point guard Ashton Mitchell said. “Whenever he sees something that I don’t, he will come up to me and tell me to look out for that. Defensivewise, he is one of the best I have ever played with.
“Just having him on the court makes us a better team.”
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