The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Anderson Tabs Daniels Director of Basketball Operations
8/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 2, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Jeff Daniels, who spent eight years as head men's basketball coach at the nearby University of Montevallo, has been named UAB's director of men's basketball operations, Blazers head coach Mike Anderson announced Tuesday. Daniels, who played one season with Anderson at Jefferson State Community College in 1979-80, was most recently associate head coach at Valdosta State in Georgia.
"I'm thrilled to be a part of Blazer basketball," Daniels said. "It makes me proud to see my hometown university achieve so much success on the basketball court. I've admired Coach Anderson's ability and success for quite some time and being given the chance to help contribute to the UAB program and learn from such a quality staff is an opportunity I couldn't pass up."
Daniels graduated from Huffman High School in Birmingham before joining Anderson as a player at Jeff State. After a two-year career with the Pioneers, Daniels began a 22-year tenure at Montevallo where he was a player, assistant coach and head coach for the Falcons. He was named Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year in 2002 after guiding Montevallo to a 12-16 record after a 1-10 start. In his two seasons as associate head coach at Valdosta State, the Blazers were 43-13. In 2003-04, Valdosta won the Gulf South Conference, was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation in NCAA Division II and finished with an overall record of 25-4.
With UAB, Daniels will oversee much of the day-to-day operation of the men's basketball program, including team travel, academic monitoring, game preparation and general assistance for Anderson and his coaching staff. He will also play a key role in Mike Anderson's Summer Basketball Camps.
"We are excited to welcome Coach Daniels to the UAB basketball family," Anderson said. "He has a wealth of basketball knowledge and coaching experience and brings an enthusiasm and passion for the game to the table that will be contagious. Obviously, I've known Coach Daniels for a long time and I am genuinely excited to see his contributions to Blazer basketball."
Daniels earned both a bachelor's (1984) and master's degree (1993) from Montevallo. He and his wife, Robbie, have two children: a son, Andrew, age nine, and daughter Makenzie, age five.
