There's not been a time in Ashland University women's basketball head coach
Kari Pickens' six seasons leading the Eagles that guard
Erin Daniels has not been with the program.
The circumstances in which Daniels has spent so much time as part of the No. 1-ranked Eagles are quite unique, however.
Daniels spent four seasons – 2018-19 to 2021-22 – as a player at Ashland, then transitioned to a graduate assistant coach role for the NCAA Division II national championship season of 2022-23. The pull to play a fifth season, granted by the NCAA in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, was too great not to give playing one more shot.
"After being the GA, which I absolutely loved being the GA and I learned so much…I missed that feeling of being on the team with the girls, and it was something I was wanting to do again," said Daniels, who is tied for the fifth-most games played in program history with 136. "I was happy with how it (my senior year) ended and the group I was with, and I was really excited to go into that next chapter. It was the perfect opportunity.
"It wasn't really until halfway through my GA year that I was like, 'Wait a minute. I miss basketball.' I didn't think I would miss it as much as I did. It's just so special. There's nothing like being with the girls and being on the team as a player. I couldn't stop thinking about it, and I knew I would regret it if I didn't do it."
The result for Daniels has been an important one for the 30-1 Eagles, who begin the 2024 NCAA postseason with a Midwest Regional quarterfinal on Friday (March 15) at 2:30 p.m. vs. No. RV Drury (25-6) at Grand Valley State. Her overall numbers tell one story (second on the team in both 3-point field goals made with 41, and 3-point percentage at 42.7), but what she did in the 2024 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament tells another.
En route to being named tournament Most Valuable Player, Daniels, in back-to-back games in the semifinal and the championship game, put up 31 points and seven assists, while making 11-of-16 shots from the field and 9-of-13 shots from 3-point range.
"It's just a testament to all of our hard work throughout the year," she said. "Friday and Saturday, we played with so much joy and had so much fun, and I think that's what makes this team super-special. You can't help but have fun and can't help but smile.
"It's been a whirlwind, but it's been a lot of fun. And I'm super thankful that I got to do it."
Daniels' comeback as a player has been a special one for Pickens, who said her veteran guard has given the team what she anticipated, and more.
"I feel like I am a broken record six years later," Pickens said. "I've always said that I'd take Erin on my team any day of the week, because she's a winner. Whatever she needs to do for the team, she's going to do it. This year has shown that.
"I've loved that Erin's had the opportunity to really be a leader for this year. She was always a leader for us, it was maybe in a different role than what she's had this year. She's brought such a unique perspective to the team of trust, of freedom."
Daniels came to Ashland in the fall of 2018 from Minford High School, near the Ohio-Kentucky border.
"I knew before I even had really talked a lot to Coach P," she said. "I came to a summer camp, I left and I looked at my parents, and I was like, 'I'm going to go here one day.' From that moment on, I just knew."
After not playing much her first two seasons, then going through the 2020-21 season with no fans in the stands due to the pandemic, Daniels' senior season of 2021-22 was her best on the floor. The team went 29-3, and there were some wins in which Daniels was the deciding factor.
"It reminds me so much of this year," said Pickens, "where she was playing her absolute best basketball at the end of the year. And that's how I feel coming into tournaments now. She's really found her rhythm, and playing like a senior. We wouldn't be doing what we are if it wasn't for her."
Daniels has helped fill a need the team had during the off-season of replacing its top two 3-point shooters from 2022-23 – guards
Hallie Heidemann and
Maddie Maloney. The result? Ashland goes into the NCAA postseason the third-best 3-point shooting team in the country at 37.5 percent and tied for third in the nation with 9.8 triples per contest.
"It was a thought in my mind. We had lost a lot of 3-point shooting," said Pickens. "That's the beauty of a team is the next people are always ready to step up to the challenge."
As for what life will be like for Daniels and Pickens without each other, whenever the 2023-24 season ends…
"I have said to Coach P all this year, 'I don't have Ashland to come back to next year. Like, this is it.' I've felt the emotions of my season ending and retiring and not playing college basketball again," Daniels said. "Whatever happens at the end of the season…this team has made me extremely happy and thankful. I've just loved the journey of being here. You can't help but look back and smile."
Pickens said, "Erin has been a rock for this program for my entire time here. She's been a rock for me, she's someone who's been so coachable. She is going to leave Ashland better than when she found it. She's put in the work to make us better. She's inspired a ton of younger players along the way.
"Her love for the game, her love for the team. It made an impact. And I'm just so thankful for the impact she's been able to have on my life and on the lives of everyone who's been associated with this program."
