Daniels Likes Idea of Coaching Titans This Time Around

Donny Daniels has been an unsuccessful candidate for the Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball coaching job twice, but he said Thursday he’s ready to make another run at it.

“I’m still very interested,” said Daniels, who is in his 11th season as an assistant for Utah Coach Rick Majerus.

Daniels said Titan Athletic Director John Easterbrook contacted him Thursday morning, less than 24 hours after Bob Hawking announced his resignation effective at the end of the season.

“We just had a brief conversation,” Daniels said. “He just wanted to know if he could put me on their list of candidates.”

Daniels, 45, was among three finalists for the job five years ago when Hawking was hired after one year as interim coach. The other finalist was Bob Schermerhorn, then a coach at Riverside College.

Schermerhorn, now Riverside’s athletic director, said he remains interested in the Fullerton job but has not been contacted. Daniels also applied for the job when Brad Holland was hired in 1992.

“There’s nothing about the Fullerton job that discourages me,” Daniels said. “I know the ins and outs of Fullerton. I was a player there. I graduated from there, and I was an assistant there.”

Daniels, who played at Los Angeles Verbum Dei High, was a part-time assistant for Bobby Dye and George McQuarn at Fullerton from 1979 through 1984, then head coach at Los Angeles Harbor College for two years before returning to Fullerton as a full-time assistant for John Sneed in 1986. He left to join Majerus’ staff in 1989.

“I know Southern California, and that’s where I’ve recruited a lot for Utah,” Daniels said.

Daniels said the recruiting restrictions on Fullerton as part of its NCAA probation will be “a significant factor” for the new coach. Fullerton was restricted from recruiting community college players for three years and its scholarships were reduced by two for two years.

“It will have an impact on recruiting,” Daniels said. “You can’t make a high school player a junior college player, and you can’t make 11 scholarships 13. But it’s something that’s there, and I’m sure the people at Fullerton understand that.”

Daniels said he has been offered opportunities to leave Utah for other assistant positions, but has not received a Division I head coaching offer.

“Hopefully, it can work out at Fullerton this time,” Daniels said. “I’ve learned a lot at Utah. There’s no better guy to learn from than Rick Majerus.”