Dayton Center Daniels Dies

He practiced with the team Wednesday and later said he felt fine. Hours later, University of Dayton center Chris Daniels was dead.

Daniels, 22, was pronounced dead at Miami Valley Hospital at 5:31 a.m. He had arrived in “full cardiac arrest” after being rushed from his campus-area home in an ambulance and could not be resuscitated, hospital spokeswoman Julie Weber said.

Montgomery County Coroner James Davis said cause of death could not be determined from preliminary autopsy results. He said no drugs or alcohol were in Daniels’ system.

Dayton Coach Oliver Purnell said Thursday he talked to Daniels on Wednesday night to see if he felt well enough to play in Thursday night’s game.

He did not play Tuesday night against Bethune-Cookman because the ankle he sprained in Saturday’s game against St. Joseph’s had been bothering him.

“He said, ‘Hey, Coach, I’m doing great. It’s better today. And we’ll see you tomorrow,’ ” Purnell said at a news conference. “For him to be standing there healthy and everything going well for him, and then to wake up to this this morning is difficult.”

Davis said there was no evidence Daniels died of a stroke, a ruptured vessel in the brain or any effects from a cortisone shot he had taken for his sprained ankle.

Davis said Daniels had a slightly enlarged heart but that was not unusual for an athlete his size.

Daniels, a 6-foot-10, 238-pound fifth-year senior, was second in the nation in field-goal percentage at 67.9%.

“We’re obviously grieving right now,” Purnell said. “We’re sort of leaning on each other to deal with this very difficult situation. . . . Our guys are in shock. We’ve lost our quality guy, a guy who cared about people.”

Purnell said he received a call early Thursday from Darnell Hoskins, a former Wisconsin player who transferred to Dayton, telling him Daniels had collapsed.

Purnell was an assistant coach at Maryland when Len Bias, who had been drafted as the No. 2 pick in the first round by the Boston Celtics, died from cocaine use. Bias collapsed in a dorm room during a party on June 19, 1986.

Purnell said he never heard a negative comment about Daniels.

“As a person, he was always solid as a rock,” Purnell said. “He always took care of his academic responsibilities. He was just a good person.”

The Flyers’ Atlantic 10 Conference game against La Salle that had been scheduled for Thursday night was postponed.

Daniels was averaging 12.9 points and six rebounds a game for the Flyers (11-10).

Daniels’ brother, Antonio, is the starting point guard for Bowling Green.