Danielson is set to begin his third season as a coach on the Skyhawks staff in 2023-24.
Prior to the 2022-23, Danielson was elevated to Associate Head Coach after just one season with the program. Fort Lewis then went on to establish a program record with a 29-4 overall record and a 19-3 mark in conference play. The team captured a share of the RMAC regular-season title and went on to win the RMAC Tournament. The accomplishments marked the third time in program history the Skyhawks won at least a share of the regular-season title and tournament title. The Skyhawks earned the No. 2 seed in the South-Central Region and topped Lubbock Christian (97-65) in the opening round before falling to Black Hills State to close out the season.
Fort Lewis enjoyed 14 straight weeks in the NABC Top-25 Poll, 13 weeks in the D2 College Sports Communicators Media Top-25 Poll, and ended the historic campaign ranked No. 7 by NABC and No. 5 by D2CSC. Additionally, Fort Lewis ranked 5th in average attendance across all of NCAA Division II.
The Skyhawks established program records with a 10-1 road record and 10-straight wins to start the season while boasting a 5-3 record against NABC Top-25 ranked opponents. The team earned the program's first win over a Top-10 ranked or better opponent on the road with a 93-87 win at #5/6 Colorado School of Mines back on January 27.
Five players were named as All-RMAC selections in Akuel Kot (First Team), JaQuaylon Mays (First Team), Brenden Boatwright (Second Team), Scottie Stafford (Honorable Mention), and Obi Agbim (Honorable Mention). Additionally, Kot advanced to earn D2CCA First Team All-Region and NABC First Team All-District Honors before becoming the program's first-ever two-time All-American (Second Team, D2CCA and First Team, NABC). Kot made the Small College Basketball Bevo "Francis" Award Top-25 Watch List, an award given annually to the player considered to have the finest season among all of NCAA Division III, II, NAIA, USCAA Divison I, II, and NCCAA Division I and II. The Skyhawks had seven RMAC Players of the Week throughout the season.
In his first season with the program, the Skyhawks captured a 19-9 overall and 15-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference record to finish third in the league in 2022. The Skyhawks enjoyed an eight-game winning streak that spanned from February 5-24 and vaulted the team into position to host an RMAC Tournament quarterfinal matchup inside of Whalen Gymnasium. Fort Lewis ended the season ranked first in the conference in points per game (84.0) and three-point field goal percentage (.389) while ranking second in field goal percentage (.486) and free throw percentage (.771). Fort Lewis collected eighth-straight road wins in the 2021-22 campaign to set a new program and RMAC record.
Riley Farris was named First Team All-RMAC after the year, the third honor of his career. Additionally, Farris was recognized as a Second Team D2CCA All-South Central Region team member. Joining Farris on the First Team All-RMAC was Akuel Kot, his first such honor while Brenden Boatwright was named to the Honorable Mention team.
Danielson made his move to Durango in 2021 after spending three years on the Missouri Western men’s basketball staff, including as an assistant coach during the 2020-21 season when he helped the Griffons to a 14-11 record as they finished third in the MIAA and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 11 years. Missouri Western was ranked as high as No. 16 in the NABC Top 25 Coaches Poll in 2020-21, which was the first time the program had been in the Top 25 rankings since the 2001-2002 season.
He even stepped in as the head coach of the Griffons for four games after head coach Will Martin tested positive for COVID-19 and went 2-2 with wins over Pittsburg State and Neman. The losses came to eventually National Champion Northwest Missouri State and a 13-win Missouri Southern team.
Prior to his assistant role, Danielson spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at MWSU. He helped turn Missouri Western around as they took over a program that had gone 13-42 in the two years before Danielson was on staff. The Griffons went 18-14 in his second season as a GA and with Danielson on the bench, they went 44-43 in the three years with two top-four finishes in the MIAA and one NCAA Tournament appearance.
Danielson originally came to Missouri Western after graduating from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where he was a four-year member of the Lopers' basketball team. During his time at Nebraska-Kearney, Danielson played in 119 games and made 95 starts. He was named Honorable Mention All-MIAA in both his junior and senior seasons. Danielson was also a four-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll member during his time at Nebraska Kearney and left as one of the most accomplished shooters in school history. His 196 made three-pointers ranks him third all-time at UNK. Danielson’s career free-throw percentage of 82.7 percent ranks fourth in Loper Basketball history and he currently ranks 23rd in career points with 1,301.
A 2018 graduate of Nebraska Kearney, Danielson received his undergraduate degree in General Studies. Originally from York, Nebraska, and a 2014 graduate of York High School, Danielson now resides in Durango.
