A lot of great players have come out of Kentucky and Jim McDaniels was 1 of the best. After averaging almost 40 PPG as a senior at Allen County High School he enrolled at Western Kentucky and led his team to the 1971 Final 4. He was selected #1 overall by Dallas in the 1971 ABA Draft, and after signing a 25-year contract with the Carolina Cougars he averaged 26.8 PPG/14 RPG and was named an All-Star in 1972. His #44 jersey was later retired by Western Kentucky in 2000. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jim’s widow Carolyn about her late-husband’s powerful performances in the NCAA tourney and becoming an ABA All-Star. Today marks the 5th anniversary of Jim’s passing on September 6, 2017, so we take this time to honor his life/legacy.
Jim scored 38.6 PPG as a senior at Allen County High School: what made him choose Western Kentucky? He attended a different school to start his high school career but the coach was not playing him so he switched to Allen County. When it came time to choose a college he considered UCLA but his mom did not know where that was. He thought about Kentucky but the deciding factor was when Coach John Oldham came to his humble house and sat down to talk to his family and drink out of mayonnaise jars. He received a big bag of fan mail from people who really wanted him to play at Western and he also wanted to be around his family.
He had 2 memorable NCAA tourney performances against Artis Gilmore in 1970 (he scored 29 PTS in a loss to Jacksonville as Gilmore had 30 PTS/19 REB) and 1971 (he had 23 PTS/13 REB in a 2-PT win over Jacksonville as Gilmore had 12 PTS/22 REB/11 BLK): how big was their rivalry during college, and how did they get along after becoming ABA All-Star teammates in 1972? They became good friends in the ABA. The rivalry was great: James said he was nervous every time he faced Artis, and Artis said the same thing. James was a young man at the time and becoming famous: even though he had great coaches he did not know what to do with all the fame. James would have loved to attend the ABA 50th Anniversary event in 2018.
In the 1971 NCAA tourney he had 35 PTS/11 REB in a win over Kentucky: how big a deal was it for the Hilltoppers to beat their in-state rival? It was awesome! Kentucky was a big rival at the time and to this day people still talk about that game. It was a wonderful time for them.
That season Coach Oldham became the 1st college basketball coach in Kentucky history to start 5 African-American players (McDaniels/Jim Rose/Clarence Glover/Jerry Dunn/Rex Bailey): was that Jim’s plan all along when he recruited the 4 other players to join him after he had signed at WKU? That is correct. James went up to Kentucky and met with their coach but he did not feel the warmth that he wanted. The other 4 guys were thinking of going to different universities and James said that since they were the best players in the area that they should all go to the same university and have a great team. They all put their hands in the middle and with some coaxing they said, “Go Tops!”
He was a 2-time OVC POY/3-time All-American: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? James was a team player so while he was honored he knew that he could not have done it without the rest of the team. He was a great player and enjoyed the accolades because he loved basketball and loved his rivals.
He was selected 23rd overall by Seattle in the 1971 NBA draft and 1st overall by Dallas in the ABA draft: why did he decide to play for the ABA’s Carolina Cougars? He really wanted to go to the NBA with Clem Haskins but Seattle was so far away from his family. He had another friend who played for Carolina and just went with him instead.
He averaged 26.8 PPG/14 RPG as a rookie for Carolina and scored a game-high 24 PTS in 20 minutes off the bench for the East in their 1972 All-Star Game win over the West: how was he able to make such a smooth transition from college to the pros? I do not think that it was easy for him. He thought that it was going to be easy but it is a different lifestyle with a dog-eat-dog atmosphere. It was not as friendly back in the day. The transition was okay for a minute.
Carolina offered him a $1.35 million contract to be paid over 25 years, but when they refused to renegotiate it to 15 years he decided to leave the Cougars for Seattle (he later admitted, “I should have stayed in the ABA for a couple of years. I was just young and things started going bad for me there and I did not know how to handle them.”): how do you think that his life would have been different if he had stayed in Carolina? He wished that he had stayed there for several reasons. There was a gentleman who offered him a better contract and he thought things might be better in the NBA because he admired Bill Russell. He said that he made a mistake and wished that he had stayed in the ABA.
After retiring in 1978 he coached high school basketball, sold cars, and married you: what was his life like after leaving pro basketball? He still loved basketball and worked at several free camps: he really enjoyed being there with his former players and passing on lessons to kids. He would tell the kids that they needed other professions because not everyone can play pro basketball. He enjoyed selling cars in Bowling Green because he had a good fan base who would come by to shoot the bull. He was a people person and worked a lot in the ministry: we would take clothing/blankets to the homeless in the winter and bring cookies/Gatorade around to basketball courts in the summer and talk to the kids about their lives and about how much God loved them. When he would get together with other legends in the 1990s to attend functions it was like they were little kids!
His #44 jersey was retired by Western Kentucky in January 2000 and he was later named to the school’s All-Centennial basketball team before passing away in 2017: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? As someone who loved basketball/people. Many people said that he played so smoothly: you could tell that he knew his game. He was “Mr. Basketball” and fans would talk about the way he played. He loved God/family/basketball but they are all close together. All he ever wanted to do was coach basketball at Western and I am just sorry that it never came to fruition: he did not want to steal anyone’s job but just wanted the program to be great again. He was honored to play against so many great players and was joyful about meeting his fans.