Troy Daniels ranks seventh nationally in 3-pointers per game (3.67) this season.
Shaka Smart once joked that he had given Troy Daniels a “neon green” light to fire away from beyond the 3-point arc. Smart’s confidence in his sharpshooter has paid off, and now Daniels has VCU opponents seeing red.
Daniels, a senior from Roanoke, has taken his neon-green endorsement to heart this season, knocking down 3-pointers at an arresting, not to mention historic, rate. Through VCU’s first 21 games, Daniels ranks fifth nationally with 77 three-pointers (77-of-188), and seventh in treys per game (3.7). If you thought Daniels couldn’t top his performance from last season, when he set a school record with 94 threes, boy, were you off the mark.
On Jan. 2, during a 109-58 rout of East Tennessee State, Daniels connected on a staggering 11-of-20 from beyond the arc and finished with a career-high 33 points. With each successful shot, Daniels’ confidence seemed to grow. By the end of the game, Daniels was taking, and hitting, 3-pointers from nearly 30 feet.
Daniels was just five days removed from a Dec. 29 contest against Fairleigh Dickinson, when he set a school record with nine 3-pointers. Prior to this season, a VCU player had knocked down eight 3-pointers in a game once ever. Daniels has done so three times already this season.
During one six-game stretch this season, Daniels buried 41-of-80 (.513) from 3-point range. Daniels rate of 3.67 triples per game this season is on pace to break Kenny Harris’ VCU mark of 3.33, set in 1993-94.
