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Earlier this week, the Minnesota Golden Gophers got some exciting news as key JUCO transfer Charlie Daniels announced he would be committing to the program. He joins what is starting to become an interesting roster for new head coach Ben Johnson.
Congratulations to former Pioneer Charlie "Big County" Daniels on committing to play his Grad Transfer year in the BIG 10 at the University of Minnesota @GopherMBB. #RiverFamily pic.twitter.com/HHO3defjYh
— Indian River Hoops (@IRSC_Pioneers) May 20, 2021
Daniels originally comes out of Jacksonville, Florida and spent time at both Stephen F. Austin and Indian River State College before transferring to Minnesota. He is listed at 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds and should play a role in the team’s frontcourt. During his two seasons with the Lumberjacks, he averaged 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
Projecting a player like Daniels is pretty difficult. He was underwhelming during his time with Stephen F. Austin, but has now spent some time elsewhere working on his game, though against teams playing at a much lower level than the Big Ten. We’ll have to see how he reacts to Big Ten opponents. However, he does help fill a serious need for the Gophers in the frontcourt, which underperformed massively last season. Expect him to compete for some valuable bench minutes.
Johnson and his staff still have their work cut out to build the roster moving forward, but Gopher fans have to be excited about bringing Daniels into the fold.