Matt
Daniel has rejuvenated the Marshall University women’s basketball program since
becoming the head coach of the Herd.
Before Daniel’s arrival in May 2012, the program only
experienced six winning seasons since 2001.
But the Herd has seen a steady increase in wins since his arrival and
last season, the team took an even bigger step with the program’s first
postseason win in the NCAA era with a first round victory over Northern
Kentucky University in the Women’s Basketball Invitational.
Daniel said last season’s success is a step in the right
direction, but he has bigger goals for his team. “I think it shows real progress and strong momentum,”
he said. “But that was also
yesterday. And in my profession, it’s
not what you’re measured on. You’re
measured on today rather than yesterday.”
“I think it makes Marshall look really good,” senior Leah
Scott said. “Not even just in athletics,
but in academics and other stuff like that.
It’s still a growing process and everybody has spots to grow in, so I
think Marshall is doing a really good job in expanding.”
Daniel is no stranger to building a program. He inherited a losing program when he became
the head coach at the University of Central Arkansas, but quickly turned it
into a winner during his stint as head coach from 2008-2012.
In his debut season, the team finished just 6-23
overall. However, the team followed with
a 21-8 overall record in his second season as head coach. In year three, the team posted a 21-12
overall record and made an appearance in the Women’s Basketball
Invitational.
In his final season at Central Arkansas, the team
finished 24-7 overall and won the Southland Conference regular season
championship while clinching a berth in the Women’s National Invitation
Tournament.
Daniel helped guide the Central Arkansas women’s
basketball program from Division II to Division I during that stretch and he
was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2012.
Daniel’s ties to Marshall go back to when Billy Donovan
was the head coach of the Herd men’s basketball team from 1994-1996. “I was recruited to play at Marshall,” he
said. “I was Billy Donovan’s first
scholarship offer as a head coach. I
turned it down and he ended up taking Jason (Williams), but that was kind of my
tie here.”
During his first season as head coach of the Herd, the
team posted a 9-21 overall record. His
second season at Marshall saw a slight increase in wins as the team finished
11-20 overall.
However, year three saw even more improvement as the Herd
finished 17-15 overall and earned a berth in the Women’s Basketball
Invitational where the team defeated Northern Kentucky 81-79 in the first
round.
Daniel said his previous coaching experiences have helped
prepare him for the task of turning around the Marshall women’s basketball
program. “I’ve seen basketball at a lot
of different levels being a coach’s kid,” he said. “I was a head coach before I got here and I
was ready to be challenged and take a step up.”
Scott said the building process was tough at first, but
the team has taken steps in the right direction. “It was kind of rough at first, but we’ve
grown,” she said. “You just take
different steps to different goals and it’s still growing as I’m here.”
Despite
losses from last season’s team, the Herd adds 10 new faces to this year’s team
and hopes to continue the building process. “We’re really young,” Daniel
said. “Ten new faces that didn’t play
Division I basketball last year so that’s always the hope. We have to handle whatever comes our way.”
“We
just have to put our minds to it,” Scott said.
“We just have to strive for that goal that we have and we have to put in
work every day at practice if we want our goal to succeed. We have to have everybody, even down to the
10 new freshmen.” Marshall’s regular
season tips off Nov. 13 at Morehead State University.
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