There are events in every person's life that affect change.

Sometimes these events are small, nearly unnoticeable...Bowling Green point guard Antonio Daniels wasn't so lucky.

On the morning of February 7, 1996, Antonio was awakened at 8:00 AM by Bowling Green State University head basketball coach, Jim Larranaga, and an assistant. Neither of the coaches could look at Antonio, they just kept looking at the floor. Antonio noticed this. Then the phone rang...it was Antonio's mom. She told him the news: Antonio's brother, Chris, was dead. Antonio's only reply was "No." Then he dropped the phone, rolled back over in bed and pulled the covers over his head in shocked disbelief. Chris was one year older than Antonio and was Antonio's hero.

Chris was the starting center for the University of Dayton. They had grown up together, played together, learned the game of basketball together and had been close their whole lives. Antonio considered Dayton for his college career as well, but they didn't seem serious in their recruitment. Still, the two would try to get to the other's games as often as possible, even though their schedules made it difficult. This is why Antonio played basketball two days after his brother's funeral.

The changes in Antonio were noticeable immediately. First physically, he had shaved his head, and changed his jersey number from 10 that he had worn his whole basketball life to 33, his brother's number. Mentally though, the changes were a bit more subtle and took more time to surface.

Bowling Green was playing Eastern Michigan who was ranked 23rd in the nation. The Falcons had been having a mediocre season and since no-one expected Antonio to play, most people wrote the game off. Chris Daniels had an opening in his schedule and was supposed to be at that game to watch Antonio play. This is why Antonio played.

The team seemed to pull together for Eastern, each player had a small black patch with Chris Daniels' #33 on their uniform. The fans were given brown ribbons in memory of Chris and to show their support for Antonio and his family. The Falcons hung tough with the faster and bigger Eagles of Eastern, so tough that the game came down to one last shot. Antonio got the ball, drove the length of the court and hit the shot for the Falcon win. As the buzzer sounded, Antonio made a victory lap of the court and pointed at his jersey, not being cocky, but as if to say, "This was for Chris."

Antonio Daniels has always been a good basketball player. In high school he led his Columbus St. Francis DeSales team in scoring as a senior (21.3 PPG) and averaged almost ten assists a game. He was named Division II player of the year in the state of Ohio as a senior and was well recruited out of high school.

Half-way through his Freshman year at BG, Antonio had already earned the starting point guard spot. He dished out almost four assists a game to go along with his 12.6 points per game average, numbers that earned him Mid-American Conference freshman of the year honors.

His sophomore and junior years saw continued steady play and solid numbers, but Antonio's upward curve had seemed to level off a bit, averaging 10.3 and 16 PPG for his sophomore and junior years respectively. Then Chris died.

Antonio says the death of his brother is the worst thing that has ever happened to him, nothing could be worse. He still thinks of his brother all the time and plays every game for him. Little things that used to affect him don't anymore.

As someone who has watched Antonio play in almost 75% of his collegiate games, this is the change I notice in him most: the little things don't affect him anymore. Antonio used to play with a big smile on his face all the time, now he looks and acts like he is all business...all the time. Antonio has been rock steady in his play this season, scoring over 20 points in six of the Falcons' eight games so far. Not coincidentally, the Falcons' only two losses came in the two sub-20 point games.

Antonio has never been a whiner, but in the past he did tend to hang his head after missing an easy shot, getting beaten off the dribble, or after a questionable call. Now, he plays right through these distractions.

This is Antonio's senior season at BG. In the Falcons' eight games so far he is averaging 21.8 PPG (3rd in MAC) and 7.5 assists (1st in MAC). He has the rare ability to find the open man, and also score from the point guard position. He also has the luxury, at 6'5" (he's always been listed at 6'4", but has grown since arriving at BG), of posting up opposing guards and even some small forwards. Antonio also has some serious hops! During the Falcons' Midnight Madness dunk contest, he took off from the foul-line and clanged the ball off the back of the rim, he jumped too far!

Antonio has NBA aspirations...and these may be well within his reach! After attending a Boston Celtics camp this past summer, Red Auerbach had many positive comments concerning Antonio's game. Antonio also plays in a summer league in Columbus with Jimmy Jackson and a few other NBA players. Antonio was second in the league in scoring this past summer and likes to brag about how he "dumped" 38 on J.J. while holding him to 24.

The death of a loved one is never easy, especially when it's your big brother who is a young, healthy athlete, and not to mention, your hero. Antonio has handled the situation with grace and strength. He may not realize it yet, but he has grown tremendously from this experience. On the court, it has made him a steadier, more intense basketball player. Off the court, when basketball is over, he will have the strength to be able to deal with anything.

© 1996, Grant Cummings