Inside The Huskies

Ex-Husky McDaniels Goes for 26 Points and His NBA Career High

The former UW forward has shown amazing growth as a pro player.

Dan Raley

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Immature as they come, Jaden McDaniels was a 19-year-old freshman forward for the University of Washington basketball team during the 2019-2020 season who drew a lot of foolish technical fouls — who throws a ball at a ref? — got pulled from the starting lineup and almost seemed like he just didn't care.

McDaniels stayed in school for two quarters before he declared for the NBA draft without any outward protest from a disconnected Husky fan base and people wondered how would he ever survive the pros after college had been such a misadventure.

Well, it happened overnight as the 6-foot-9 forward from Federal Way, Washington, decided that pro basketball was something he would always take seriously and treat only with the ultimate respect as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

McDaniels might have had some good mentors in his ear in the locker room. He simply grew up overnight. Or both.

On Friday night, the now four-year pro player took his game to yet another progressive level when he dropped in a career-high 26 points in a 124-120 overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings in Minneapolis.

He was sensational throughout the game as he connected on 9 of 11 shots, including 5-for-7 from 3-point range, while chipping in 7 rebounds. He averages 10.6 points per game this season and has been a standout defender.

While he's always possessed top-level talent, McDaniels just needed some time to decide how to use. In the end, it didn't take much time at all.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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