Former Gonzaga assistant Donny Daniels catches up with old friends in Salt Lake City
SALT LAKE CITY – Donny Daniels hadn’t seen Przemek Karnowski since Gonzaga’s run to the national championship game at the 2017 Final Four in Glendale, Arizona.
That changed Wednesday morning when Daniels, the former GU assistant coach, hung out courtside chatting with Karnowski, a grad assistant at Arizona, just before the Wildcats practice at the Delta Center.
“It’s great seeing all these guys,” Daniels said. “Great seeing Przemek in a different role, understanding what we tried to do with him as a player and now what he’s trying to do with other players.
“That’s really rewarding. And it’s really refreshing to see (Arizona head coach and former longtime Zags’ assistant) Tommy Lloyd giving him an opportunity. Makes it even better.”
Gonzaga assistant coach Brian Michaelson fired off a text to Daniels shortly after the first-round pairings – GU/McNeese State and Arizona/Long Beach State – at the Delta Center were announced.
“Right when I got the draw ‘Double D’ was one of the first guys I texted,” Michaelson said. “Pretty cool with all the connections and all the Arizona guys. It’s been a good reunion.”
Daniels helped with player development at Utah – he assisted Utes head coach Rick Majerus from 1990-2000 – for a few seasons after leaving Gonzaga’s staff in 2019. He fully retired a couple years ago, or as much as possible for someone with 40-plus years of coaching experience.
Daniels coaches a team for Byron Wilson, one of his former players from his first stint at Utah, in Wilson’s AAU program in Salt Lake City. Daniels attends Weber State games to watch his son, Eric, a Wildcats assistant coach.
“I go to all their home games, some road games if they’re close,” Donny said. “All he knows is coaching through me, so he tells me what to do.”
The exception being when the topic is photography, a long-time hobby for Daniels.
“Done it forever, black and white and now I can say ‘When they had film,’ it’s been that long,” Daniels joked. “Sports, nature, every-day life scenarios. When I get a chance to do a high school game, I do my own shooting from the stands. Love taking action shots.”