Daniels grew up in Brooklyn, and was raised by his relatives from the age of three after his mother died and his father abandoned him.[1] By his senior year of high school, he had attended multiple high schools in three states and could only read at a third-grade level.[2][3][1]
College career
Daniels attended UNLV and was slated to play on the basketball team under coach Jerry Tarkanian. Later one of Tarkanian's assistants, Mark Warkentien, became Daniels' legal guardian.[4]
Daniels enrolled at Mt. San Antonio College, a junior college near Los Angeles, to improve his academics. He played one game for Mt. San Antonio's basketball team but later quit to focus on improving his reading proficiency. However, on February 9, 1987, Daniels was arrested for buying crack cocaine from an undercover policeman.[3][5] Although Tarkanian was known for taking in troubled players, this incident led Tarkanian to announce that Daniels would never play for UNLV.[3] It later emerged that Daniels had first been led to UNLV by Richard Perry, who had been convicted twice for sports bribery.[6] Perry's involvement resulted in an NCAA investigation that ultimately forced Tarkanian to resign.[7][8][9]
Professional career
In the 1986–87 recruiting cycle, Daniels was considered a talented player from New York City and compared to players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Connie Hawkins.[2][1] John Valenti and Ron Naclerio wrote that Daniels was known for combining passing and shooting abilities.[10]
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