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Seattle • Two years ago, the mother of the nation's No. 1-ranked recruit called Devon Daniels looking for help.
Apples Jones, a powerhouse figure in Detroit basketball, reached out to the then-junior. She saw something in him — not just a skill set, but a competitiveness — that she wanted on her 1Nation AAU team playing with her son, Josh Jackson.
"Devon was a kid I really wanted to play for me, a kid we really needed," Jones said. "I just told him, 'Listen, I really want to help you. My son hasn't even committed yet. All you have to do is walk on the court, and every coach is going to see you."
Daniels was about ready to join another squad but found himself swayed by Jones.
"Miss Apples, she just has this way of talking," he said with a laugh.
Every development that's happened since — his rise to a four-star prospect, his year away from his Michigan hometown to play for an elite prep academy, his freshman year in the starting lineup at Utah — he credits to that phone call.
"Best decision I ever made in my life," Daniels said.
The 6-foot-5 guard from Battle Creek, Mich., plays with the toughness the Utes have come to expect from all three of their Great Lake State products. Averaging 10.8 ppg and 4.7 rpg, Daniels embodies a sort of fearlessness that is a bit paralyzing to watch. He never cowers on his way to the rim against two or sometimes three defenders, and yet it works out for him most of the time. He's shooting 59.1 percent.
Even Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak is willing to ride out the waves.
"Coaches draw stuff up, but a lot of times, you have to use your instincts," Krystkowiak said. "You never quite know what's coming, but you know it's going to have some energy. ... At the end of the day, he's pretty darn solid."
It's telling that some of Daniels' best games have come against top-flight competition: 19 points at Xavier, 12 points at Arizona, 15 points against UCLA. He's been one of the team's best options against opponents one might expect a freshman to waiver.
The confidence always has been there. Devon Daniels' father made sure of it.
Pete Daniels played basketball in the Marines, his team traveling between bases to play games. After he settled in Michigan and joined the Kalamazoo police department, he decided his son would get start playing at a young age.
By 5, Devon Daniels was working on dribbling at the YMCA in Battle Creek. By 7, he was working out with his father, who trained him to do 100 pushups in a row, among other calisthenic workouts. By 10, he was playing with older kids — something he's done all along in his career, building a confidence against more mature players.
"I was always younger than everybody else," Daniels said. "I'm not going to be afraid because someone's bigger than me. That's just bodyweight. I know what I put in the gym."
The focus helped Daniels stand out at Kalamazoo Central, where he was a star. He averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists per game while helping the Maroon Giants to back-to-back berths in the Class A regional finals.
But Michigan is a relative backwater recruiting ground. The prep standouts in the northern-most reaches of the country have a hard time getting exposure.
That's where Jones entered the stage: Her 6-8 son was already one of the most heralded prospects in the country, and as the director of 1Nation, the whip-sharp Jones was looking to build a team around him. Jones promised the Daniels family that Devon would get introduced to a lot of big-time programs, and they decided to go with 1Nation after shopping around at other AAU programs.
They saw a return on their investment in the first weekend.
"They were there — every DI coach was there at every game," Pete Daniels said. "Miss Apples has a lot of pull as far as knowing these coaches and getting them where they actually can see the kids. After the tournament, the offers started pouring in left and right."
One of the propositions wasn't from a college. After 1Nation made a splash by winning the Fab 48 in Las Vegas, coaches from Prolific Prep Academy in Napa, Calif., made Daniels an offer — come to California for a year, work on your game, play the best competition and get ready for college. Jackson already was marked to go, so Devon would be playing with a familiar teammate.
It didn't take long for Devon and his father to decide. Mom was a different story.
"We basically got the call, then a week later we had to ship him out," Tiffany Daniels, Devon's mother, said. "I wish he was a little more homesick than what he actually was. But he had a goal, and I knew how much that meant to him. He didn't lose focus."
Prolific Prep was ideal preparation for his experience at Utah, Daniels said. He took classes at nearby Justin-Siena ("School was no joke," he said) and flew out weekend after weekend to face other prep schools who had four- and five-star players. While he spoke with his mom every day by phone, he got used to the feeling of spending time away from what had been familiar.
"Playing basketball was more important to me," he said. "I wasn't going to get to the best of my ability playing at home. I got to see a new culture."
Utah "showed me the most love for sure," Daniels said about the schools recruiting him. He had a good time on an official visit in the fall, and he told the Utes they were ahead of the pack.
He considered a visit to Georgia Tech late in the recruiting game. The Utes got word and called the person they believed would have the most influence: Miss Apples.
She just has this way of talking — and closing.
"I told him, 'You have to be a man, and when you say something, you've got to honor that,'" Jones recalled.
Daniels signed with Utahin in November. And once again, he's glad about a decision that Miss Apples talked him into.
Daniels stays in touch with Jackson, who is having a sensational freshman year at Kansas (15.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg). He also stays in touch with Jones, who occasionally calls him to tell him she still supports him and watches his games. Jones said she appreciates that Utah has allowed Daniels to play and make mistakes in real time — something not a lot of coaches do.
It's evident that Jackson is on a path to the NBA. He's No. 4 on the most recent Draft Express mock draft. Jones recently told Daniels she expects to see him there as well someday.
"I told Devon, 'There's a uniform in the NBA with your name on it,'" she said. "You just need to continue to put in the work."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Utah at Washington
P Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle
Tipoff • 6 p.m. MST
TV • Pac-12 Network Radio • ESPN 700 AM
Records • Utah (13-5, 4-2); UW (9-9, 2-4)
Series history • Utah leads 11-9
Last meeting • Utah won 90-82 (Feb 10, 2016 at Utah)
About the Utes • Utah is coming off its largest road win of the Pac-12 era, an 88-47 victory over Washington State on Wednesday night. … The Utes could be without junior forward David Collette (14.9 ppg) for the second consecutive game. Collette was still in Salt Lake City as of Friday midday, but coach Larry Krystkowiak said he still could fly to Seattle for the game if he passes concussion protocol.
About the Huskies • Freshman guard Markelle Fultz leads the Pac-12 in scoring (23.1 ppg) and is coming off a career-best 37-point game against Colorado in overtime in which he didn't score a 3-point basket. … Washington is expected to be without sophomore center Malik Dime (finger), who is the No. 2 shot-blocker in the conference at 2.6 bpg. … The Huskies trail the rest of the Pac-12 in 3-point defense, allowing 38.8 percent shooting behind the arc.
Devon Daniels standing out as a freshman
The 18-year-old guard is the only Ute who's started every game this season. Some background on the rookie:
• Averaging 10.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.4 apg while shooting 59.1 percent
• Led Kalamazoo Central (Mich.) to a regional title game as a junior, averaging 16 ppg
• Played his senior year at Prolific Prep while attending Justin-Siena boarding school
• Won the 2015 Las Vegas Fab-48 with 1Nation AAU team