Staff writer Dylan Howlett empties his notebook to provide extra content that didn’t make it into last Friday’s Xylina McDaniel feature.
Xylina McDaniel is not a typical college freshman.
Most first-years have a tough time acclimating to academic rigors, finding a consistent circle of friends, and adjusting to life away from mom’s home cooking.
While her opinion of dining hall cuisine remains unknown, McDaniel’s impact on the North Carolina women’s basketball team is abundantly clear — the freshman forward is a linchpin on a 20-2 team that has eyes on its first Final Four appearance since 2007.
As featured in The Daily Tar Heel, Xylina shares an ironclad basketball bond with her father and ex-NBA All-Star, Xavier. But Xylina’s story extends well beyond her relationship with her dad.
In her spare time during high school (scarce as it was), Xylina McDaniel set a South Carolina state record — in the shot put. North Carolina forward and teammate Krista Gross believes Xylina McDaniel will play a prominent role during the Tar Heels’ stretch run this season. And as complimentary as he is about his daughter’s talent, Xavier McDaniel believes he had more “touch” around the rim than Xylina.
Those topics and more are found below, as those who know Xylina McDaniel complete her basketball and personal stories:
Being aggressive
Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina women’s basketball coach: “From the foul line, taking the ball to the basket, she does that as good as anyone we’ve ever had.”
Xavier McDaniel: “I think she plays a lot similar to me. I think her aggressiveness is like me, but she don’t have the touch I had.”
Xylina McDaniel: “Most of the times, I get fouls early on in the game, and it’s because of me being overly aggressive. Once that happens, I get down on myself, and so that’s bringing other people down with me. So I have to learn how to keep myself up and encourage my teammates even if I’m not having the best game.”
Hatchell (on foul trouble): “Maybe just overdoing it a bit. I think a lot of that was just the adjustment that all freshman go through as far as (learning) what you can do and can’t do and the competition that we play.”
Hatchell: “She loves to compete — she’s a fierce competitor. That’s one thing that makes her so good.”
Xavier McDaniel: “I told the coaching staff, when she don’t get rebounds, put her on the bench.”
Family support
Xylina McDaniel, on her mother: “She’s the one that, after I’m done talking to my dad about the game, she’s the one that comes back and says, ‘It’s okay, you’ll be able to do it next game’ to calm me down and cheer me up.”
Xavier McDaniel: “I enjoy watching her play, but I watch the game in a different light. I watch the game more as a scout. I tell people, I don’t cheer nobody — I don’t cheer for (Xylina) when she scores, I don’t cheer for Krista (Gross) or (Tierra Ruffin-Pratt). I’m watching the game almost like a scout, where at the end of game when me and her talk, I’m basically talking to her like a scout would — this is what I’ve seen, this is what you did, this is what you can do better. That’s how I look at the game, being a former player.”
Hatchell: “(Xavier) has been nothing but 100% support. He has been tremendous. He’s hard on her — he’s probably harder on her than my coaching staff is. He knows how to motivate her and get on her. As far as working with me and the other coaches, he has been outstanding. I can’t say enough good things about him.”
Xavier McDaniel: “When you see most parents clapping for their children or clapping for the team…occasionally you’ll hear me say something like, ‘Get your (butt) on the boards!’ People will look back at me and say, ‘Oh, Pops said something today!’”
Xylina McDaniel: “Off the court, when he’s just talking to me about what I need to do better, he really does tell me some good stuff, and I actually listen to him. We doneverything together.”
Xavier McDaniel: “Sometimes she sits back because I guess she’s a freshman. I said, ‘No!’ You gotta play like you’ve been playing here already for two or three years. Don’t sit back and wait. When you sit back and wait, I think it hurts their team a lot.”
Adjusting to the college game
Xavier McDaniel (on Xylina’s occasional struggles): “It’s called being a freshman — playing like a freshman.”
Krista Gross, North Carolina forward: “As a player, she works hard. She has an aggressiveness to her, which is good. She’s a freshman and she’s already doing so well. She’s got a lot of potential. Every freshman’s got to come in and start learning, and she’s picked up really quickly.”
Hatchell: “Most freshmen don’t have the concepts. She understands the concepts. She has a good basketball IQ. I’m sure a lot of her energy comes from her dad and just being around the game for so long.”
Xylina McDaniel: “The adjustment (to NCAA) wasn’t really that hard because of AAU and who I had to play against all those years. I’ve adjusted to the coaching well. It is a little different because they expect you to know once they tell it to you and teach it to you. I’ve had to adjust to that a little more. But other than that, everything’s been going smoothly.”
Gross: “The fact that a freshman can come in and do so much and have so much potential – she’s definitely going to help us do what we need to do this year.”
Xylina McDaniel: “I’m looking forward to everything. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season, next year, the year after that — everything.
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
