Joe’s Take: Daniels’ AAU tale has been thrilling, so far
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Ah, Allie Daniels Allie Daniels 6'1" | PF Spring Valley | 2025 State WV . Good at patiently working on the basketball court, especially when improving her on-the-block game. Her latest examples writing a pretty good story, too. She’s constructed…
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Continue ReadingAh, Allie Daniels Allie Daniels 6'1" | PF Spring Valley | 2025 State WV .
Good at patiently working on the basketball court, especially when improving her on-the-block game.
Her latest examples writing a pretty good story, too. She’s constructed a tale full of her perseverance and worth ethic blending into a deadly force of basketball goodness. There’s been a whole lot of positive, and few if any negatives.
Even when a move or shot doesn’t quite go her way, she’s learned and moved on. It’s largely been a lesson taught and on to the next one. And there have been quite a few of those moments, seeing as her workload has increased.
Guarded by some of the best post players in the area like W.Va. Thunder’s Zaniah Zellous Zaniah Zellous 6'2" | PF George Washington | 2025 State WV and Sophia Gibson, along with other capable post players, her game has blossomed.
“She’s getting more touches in games which is helping her. She’s getting more deep touches with guards comfortable getting her the ball. She’s developed a pretty good jump hook and a 15-foot shot and you have to come out on her on a 3 because she’s capable of knocking down,” Ohio Valley Dragons head coach Adam Wiseman said.
“Post-wise I am guarding her in practice, and I played at Marshall and she’s really strong. She’s not afraid to bang and bump. She’s got a great nose for rebounding the basketball.” Simply put, she’s made the most of all of it. There’s not been one tournament where improvement hasn’t been made or a new skill hasn’t been tested, tried, and approved. Everything gets the green light.
That strength Wiseman raved about put her in the spotlight during a trip to the Prepgirlshoops.com Buckeye Breakdown. Over those two days, she dealt with several girls carrying much more weight, but Daniels treated them like ragdolls. She spun away from traps, outmaneuvered them constantly, and never let one of them take over the post, instead, she asserted herself time and time and time again.
No wonder she scored so many points and grabbed three double-doubles, by the time her defender got back on the defensive end, she was often too tired to provide Daniels much of a fight. Oftentimes, Daniels pulled the trigger from her bag of tricks or reeled in second-chance opportunities.
“Her confidence grew a lot from those first few tournaments,” mother Julie said. “It just came out more and more.” And that goes double for Live at the PAC. With college coaches looking on and with college-caliber post players matched up on her almost constantly, she really upped her game.
Many teams simply had little answers, including one of the top AAU programs in the country in W.Va. Thunder. It was largely more of the same from those first two tournaments. Daniels did her thing and all you could do was get in her way. Zellous and Gibson kept her from a usual double-double, but she still treated them like annoyances rather than threats.
Sounds pretty good, huh?
But she’s not done, yet. There’s still one more month of AAU ball, and according to her, we may have only seen the first part of the chapter.
‘I am ready for July,” Daniels said. “I think July is going to be a big month for me. I am excited for July.”
Wiseman is pumped as well.
“Most kids this age want everything instant, everything right now. Many kids are like ‘I took 100-something shots, I should be shooting 80% in-game.’ She’s more ‘I took this many shots now I have the patience to make it work in a game,” Adams said. “That’s only going to help her get even better.”
Not to mention, more great performances would close her chapter in a pretty great way.