slow to earn playing time in high school, playing sparingly in junior varsity games his first two seasons. He was also slow in running fitness laps under Coach Robinson's direction. "Jesus Christ, he would always be a bad last," Robinson recalled. "Not just last, but a bad last. The guys would lap him. He had a winning spirit. He tried all the time after he found out the swing of things." Ted Sizemore, later a major league baseball player, was a high school basketball teammate of Daniels and recalled, "Will (Robinson) worked him. One thing Mel never did was give up. He kept coming back and Will made him work, work, work. He just kept developing and developing. He just did a lot of work. A lot of drills, footwork, handling the ball. He just got coordinated all of a sudden." After growing to 6'9", Daniels showed his potential as a senior and Robinson helped him secure a scholarship at Burlington Community College in Iowa. College career (1963–1967) Daniels continued to improve in college. Playing the 1963–1964 season at Burlington Community College in Burlington, Iowa, Daniels averaged 25.2 points and 10.0 rebounds and was named a Junior College All-American. While at Burlington, Dainiels was recruited to play for the New Mexico Lobos by coach Bob King. Daniels transferred, played for New Mexico from 1964 to 1967, averaged 20 points per game in his New Mexico Lobo career and was named an All-American. Starting as a sophomore in 1964–65, the 6–9 power forward played in 27 games and averaged 17.0 points and 11.2 rebounds as New Mexico finished 19–8. During the 1965–66 season, Daniels suffered a severe injury when he put his arm through a glass door at Johnson Gymnasium, requiring 352 stitches and almost ending his athletic career. The sutures notwithstanding, Daniels missed one game and averaged 21.2 points and 10.3 rebounds as the Lobos finished 16–8. The 1966–67 team won a school-record 17 straight games to start the season as New Mexico climbed to No. 3 in the national rankings. Daniels led the Western Athletic Conference in scoring at 21.5 points, along with 11.6 rebounds as New Mexico finished 19–8. For his career, Daniels averaged 20.0 points and 11.1 rebounds in 77 games at New Mexico. He had 44 career double-doubles, still the most in school history. ABA/NBA career Daniels was the ninth pick of the 1967 NBA draft,