He played collegiately for Western Kentucky University and was the number one overall pick in the 1971 American Basketball Association Draft.

[1][better source needed] A 6'11" power forward/center, McDaniels averaged nearly 40 points per game as a senior at Allen County High School in Scottsville, Kentucky.

[2] From 1967 to 1971, he played at Western Kentucky University, leading his team to a third-place finish in the 1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

(The NCAA later voided Western Kentucky's participation in the tournament, accusing McDaniels of signing with an agent while still in college.)

[3] At the time of his death, McDaniels was married to his wife Carolyn; he was survived by two sons from previous marriages, Eskias and Shannon.

Coach John Oldham started McDaniels, Jim Rose, Clarence Glover, Jerry Dunn and Rex Bailey.