Daniels named Zags hoop assistant

SPOKANE - Donny Daniels, for the past seven years an assistant men's basketball coach at UCLA, has been hired as an assistant at Gonzaga, Bulldogs coach Mark Few announced Tuesday.

Daniels replaces Leon Rice, who last week was named head coach at Boise State after 11 seasons as an assistant on Few's staff.

"We lost a phenomenal coach and person, but we've gained a phenomenal coach and person," Few said. "We were able to hit a home run with our hire."

Few, who just finished his 11th year as head coach and his 21st season overall at Gonzaga, said Daniels' strength "is he does everything well, and that's what we kind of demand at Gonzaga. You recruit, you coach, you develop and you scout."

Prior to joining the UCLA staff, Daniels was head coach at Cal State Fullerton for three seasons from 2001-03 and was on Rick Majerus' staff at Utah for 11 seasons from 1990-2000.

During Daniels' 11 seasons at Utah, the Utes reached the NCAA Tournament eight times in 11 seasons and were national runner-up in 1998. Daniels was also the chief recruiter of Andre Miller and Keith Van Horn to Salt Lake City.