Gillispie adds Canadian star, Ranger transfer Shakur Daniel

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STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton head coach Billy Gillispie announced the signing of Ranger College guard Shakur Daniel to a National Letter of Intent to join Tarleton Men’s Basketball next season.

Daniel, a 6-foot-5 guard from Ontario, Canada, will join the Texans after spending his sophomore season at Ranger College under Gillispie where he was the NTJCAC conference Defensive Player of the Year and an all-conference selection.

Daniel led the nationally-ranked Rangers to a 28-3 record and a trip to the NJCAA Tournament last season. Daniel becomes Gillispie’s second recruit to sign with the Texans, joining former Ranger all-conference teammate Tre Gipson.

“I would like to say thank you to Tarleton State University and coach Billy Gillispie for choosing me to be a part of Tarleton men’s basketball,” said Daniel. “I’m looking forward to becoming a Texan and creating history along the way. Tarleton is a great academic school with many career paths to choose from and I’m excited to be playing underneath Coach G again where I know he will get the best out of me on and off the court and teach me great values in life as well.

“I’m also excited to be a part of Tarleton’s first year of becoming Division I and look to create more achievements along the way. This year, I have one goal in mind and that’s to win the WAC and I believe that can be achieved this year as long as everyone comes together as a family.”

Daniel played in 31 games and started 25 for the Rangers. Daniel averaged 6.9 points on 54 percent shooting from the floor, 75 percent on 3-pointers, and 70 percent at the free-throw line. He also averaged 5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Daniel had 10 double-digit scoring games last season and scored a season-high 20 points in a road win at Victoria College. He closed out the regular season with three straight double-doubles, averaging 13.3 points and 10.6 rebounds.

“Shakur is a multi-dimensional player that can do everything,” said Gillispie. “The best quality he possesses is the ability to win. No one has improved more in the past year than Shak. He was honored as Defensive Player of the Year in the conference and was one of the best rebounders in the league. There isn’t anything that Shak cannot do. A very unselfish player, I expect he will become a favorite to the Tarleton basketball family and a familiar name in the WAC.”

Prior to Ranger, Daniel played his freshman season at Southern Miss where he made 17 appearances and averaged 7.2 minutes per contest at the Conference USA school. At Southern Miss, Daniel was named to the CUSA Honor Roll.

In high school, Daniel was featured in USA Today and compared to fellow Canadian and former NBA top pick Andrew Wiggins. Daniel moved to America and starred at Southwest Christian Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas where he was named NACA first team, NACA MVP, NACA All-American as a junior in 2016-17 and his team won the national title.


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