Utah Valley University men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope announced on Monday the hiring of Eric Daniels as an assistant coach. Daniels joins Cody Fueger and Chris Burgess as new members of the Wolverine staff.”Coach Daniels is a terrific addition to our staff,” said Pope. “His experience as a player and coach in college and most recently in the NBA will be invaluable to our staff and to our players. He is an incredibly hard worker, a great skill development coach, and an excellent communicator. After only a few days on the job, his impact on our recruiting effort has been astounding. We are very fortunate to have him with us at Utah Valley.”

Daniels joins Utah Valley after spending a year as a video analyst on the basketball operations staff for the Orlando Magic. Daniels also spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Regis University where he was responsible for recruiting and player development. He also served as an assistant coach at Southern Utah during the 2008-09 season.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here at Utah Valley,” said Daniels. “I’m excited to work with Coach Pope and I look forward to doing great things here. There is limitless potential here and I’m thrilled to be a part of the new era of Utah Valley basketball.”

A graduate of Salt Lake City’s Highland High School, Daniels played collegiately at Johnson & Wales University in Denver from 2004-08. He scored 1,191 points at the NAIA Division II school while also leading the Wildcats to the 2005 NAIA National Tournament in Branson, Mo. Daniels is the all-time career leader in both points (1,191) and steals (306) at JWU.

Daniels earned honorable mention all-NAIA team honors after averaging 15.8 points and 3.0 steals per game his senior season. He averaged 4.6 steals per game his junior season which led both the NAIA and NCAA. Daniels wrapped up his four-year career with the Wildcats averaging 11.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 3.0 steals per game.

The newest member of the UVU coaching staff graduated from Johnson & Wales University in 2008 with a degree in marketing. He also earned a master’s degree in non-profit management from Regis in 2012.

Daniels is the son of current Gonzaga men’s basketball assistant coach Donny Daniels, who also spent time as an assistant coach at UCLA and Utah before serving as the head coach at Cal State Fullerton.