Devon Daniels: "This Is A Complete Blessing"
NC State redshirt senior guard Devon Daniels met with the media via Zoom ahead of the Wolfpack's season opener against Charleston Southern as part of the Mako Medical Wolfpack Invitational.
Daniels averaged 12.7 points and 31.0 minutes per game in 2019-20. He also finished second on the team in assists with 71 as well as hitting 47.0 percent from the floor, including 32.2 percent from three-point range.
A transcript of Daniels’ comments is posted below.
What have you seen from Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore in practice and how they’re blending with the team?
“Cam and Shak are both really competitive. Cam has like a smooth, but never get too frantic, pace to his game. He’s a well-rounded guard. Shak is very athletic and tenacious on defense. They both bring a lot to our team. With the two freshmen guards coming in and the freshman class as a whole, since my time here, we haven’t had a deep freshman class like that. We’ve had a lot of grad transfers and stuff like that. The energy the young guys bring is making a major difference in practice. With grad transfers, they’ve been around and know their role, but when the young guys come in, they’re hungry. They know they want to play. They want to help the team. The competitiveness they bring to practice has been helping us a lot as a whole."
What’s it going to be like to play in front of a small crowd?
“I’m not even worried about the crowd at all. For a while, it wasn’t even certain that we would even have a season. This is a complete blessing. The fans bring a lot of energy and support to us, and I know that they’re still going to be watching and supporting us from afar. As a team, we all feel like this is a great blessing. Like I said, for a while we weren’t even sure we would have a season. I feel like we’re going to have great, great energy in the game on Wednesday. All of us are pretty much in the moment. I’m more focused on growing today in practice than I am on Wednesday, though."
Do you feel any responsibility for bringing energy when the team looks more lethargic?
“I personally try to control what I can control. I know guys on this team look at me more as a leader because of who I am or because I’ve been here for a while. My job is to bring positivity, bring passion, bring energy, and help guys along. Personally, I’m excited. As a group, we’re ready to have fun. All of this contributes to that. All of us bring energy as a whole. If we’re all locked in, focused, and ecstatic to play, all of us are going to be just fine."
Do you take pride in being the 'spark guy,' if you will?
“I don’t know about pride, but I feel like that’s more of my purpose, and I’m big on purpose. If that’s what the team needs of me and that’s what I want for myself, I’m all for it."