It’s a Happy Homecoming for Daniels

Donny Daniels called it an “emotional day.”

“It’s one of the best days of my life to be back here,” he said, wiping away tears when he was introduced as Cal State Fullerton’s men’s basketball coach at a press conference Thursday in the Titan Student Union. “This is the only place I wanted to be, and I won’t disappoint.”

His sister, Jane Bush of Long Beach, was there leading the applause.

The parents of Andre Miller, an All-American guard Daniels recruited for Utah, drove in from Los Angeles to provide support.

A group of fans, many of whom knew Daniels from his days as a player and assistant coach for the Titans, also attended to welcome him back.

“We’ve had more unsolicited recommendations for Donny than you can believe,” Athletic Director John Easterbrook said. “I was in the airport in Indianapolis after the Final Four and Jim Harrick walked up to me and said, ‘If you guys don’t hire Donny, something’s wrong.’ ”

University President Milton Gordon said the same kind of strong support has been evident on campus. Daniels, an assistant under Rick Majerus at Utah for the last 11 years, was a candidate twice before, but the job went to Brad Holland in 1992 and to Bob Hawking five years ago.

Despite that, Daniels said he had no reluctance to become a candidate again. “If I had been turned down a third time, I would have gone after it again,” Daniels said, smiling. “I’d just figure I would have to out-live them.”

But Daniels, 45, said the timing appeared to be right this time.

“I think people are excited to have a Titan back, and I’m older and more mature now too,” he said. “Accepting the job was a no-brainer as far as I was concerned.”

Daniels is the sixth former Titan athlete to become a head coach at the school. The group includes baseball Coach George Horton, wrestling Coach Ardeshir Asgari and track/cross-country Coach John Elders. Michelle Gromacki is interim coach in softball and Julie Knight interim coach in women’s gymnastics.

Majerus said Utah’s loss will be the Titans’ gain.

“Donny will do a great job for Fullerton,” Majerus said. “I think he could win the league in three or four years. He has been instrumental for us, and we’ll miss him. But he was ready for this.”

Daniels will face different challenges at Fullerton, moving from a program that has been nationally prominent to one that has not had a winning season since 1992-93 and tumbled to 8-19 last season, winning only three Big West Conference games.

Daniels said recruiting will be the key to changing that. He said he has five scholarships available and is holding one more for Ike Harmon should he gain another year of eligibility. That, however, will depend on whether the NCAA passes legislation that would allow Proposition 48 nonqualifiers who graduate in four years to regain the year they lost as freshmen.

“Ike is within about 17 hours of graduating, and we hope he can do that, and that the NCAA will change the rule,” Daniels said. “But regardless of whether Ike is eligible or not, he needs to graduate. And if he gets to play too that would be great.”

Harmon ranked fourth in the Big West Conference in scoring with an 18.7 average and sixth in rebounding (7.5) last season.

Matt Caldwell, a junior center, will return after missing all but seven games last season because of shoulder surgery. He averaged 12.7 points and 4.3 rebounds. Sophomores Brandon Campbell (10.7 points) and Josh Fischer (8.3 points) also return. Starting guards Mark Murphy (11.6 points) and Kenroy Jarrett (9.7 points) completed their eligibility.

“I haven’t looked at any film of the players we’ll have coming back, but I’ll be doing that soon,” Daniels said. “Some coaches in my situation might say they’ll be fine when they get their own players. I don’t believe in that. These returning players are my players.”

And while the Titans have struggled recently, Daniels says he is optimistic. “It’s a do-able situation,” he said. “There have been some bumps in the road, but there hasn’t been an earthquake.”

Those were words hopeful fans such as Mike Welton, who drove 80 miles from his home at Lake Arrowhead, wanted to hear. “This is the best thing to happen here in basketball in a long time,” Welton said.