Cal Sports Report

Cal Women's Basketball: Top-20 Prospect Dalayah Daniels Commits to Cal

Three highly rated propects in a matter of a week have committed to Charmin Smith program

Jake Curtis

Cal Women's Basketball: Top-20 Prospect Dalayah Daniels Commits to Cal
Cal Women's Basketball: Top-20 Prospect Dalayah Daniels Commits to Cal /

Any concerns that new Cal head coach Charmin Smith would not be able to land top recruits because she had not been a head coach before have been laid to rest.

First she landed top-60 prospect Fatou Samb, and earlier this week top-40 prospect Michelle Onyiah committed to Cal.

But Friday Cal and Smith got their highest-rated prospect yet when Dalayah Daniels of Garfield High School in Seattle, Wash., announced on twitter that she has committed to Cal for 2020.

The 6-foot-4 Daniels is ranked as the nation’s 14-best overall prospect in the class of 2020 by ESPN’s HoopGurlz.

Daniels is a forward with versatility. Her strengths are her athleticism and her ability to maneuver along the baseline. She can finish with either hand and is an adept shot-blocker.

Daniels, a forward, averaged 21 points, 14 points and five blocks per game last season as a junior when she was a first-team all-state performer.

All three recent commits -- assuming they all sign with Cal -- will vie for immediate playing time next season.

Here is what HoopGurlz said about Daniels in the past year:

Nike Nationals-July 2019: Athletic interior prospect with quickness in the paint; baseline attacker finishes plays in the lane over defenders; mobile in uptempo game; a skilled front court performer in the class of 2020. (Olson)

Boo Williams Invitational-April 2019: Athletic-4 with skilled interior game; finishes plays in traffic with either hand to the rim; mobile in transition; rebounds, scores in traffic vs. contact; versatile defender; superb front court prospect in the class of 2020. (Olson)

Click here for an ESPN story written about her last year:

Here are some highlights from two years ago. Daniels is No. 33. 

Below that is some drill footage of her:

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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