When senior guard Melannie Daley was a freshman, she scored 22 points to lead Northwestern past a Caitlin Clark-led, ranked Iowa team. The young player set season highs in points and rebounds as she knocked down mid-range after mid-range bucket, flashing elite scoring ability.
“She has that extra fifth gear where she can get you a basket late in the clock,” coach Joe McKeown said. “She can go on her own 10-0 run. I saw her do it to Caitlin Clark in her early years here. She is tough to guard.”
Daley said she felt confident during that mid-season game, understanding it was “just basketball.” But that wasn’t always true for the Hastings, New York, native. Daley said she was nervous sometimes while entering a new environment in college basketball.
Going into her senior year, though, Daley said she has become more confident. She shook off the nerves in the 2023-24 season, leading the Wildcats in scoring while averaging 13.3 points per game.
“I told myself, ‘I’m here for a reason,’” Daley said. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t good enough to play for this team, good enough to play in the Big Ten. That’s how I’ve grown.”
Daley thrived in the mid-range, a shot she said her dad emphasized the importance of when she was young. It paid off: She shot 49.4% from the field while only making four three-point attempts.
In fact, Daley has only taken 13 three-point attempts in her NU career.
“Once you get the two, the three can come,” Daley said. “It’s harder to go from the three to the two … It’s been years of crafting and getting my shot right.”
Daley said she is refining and rounding out her game ahead of the season. She wants to tighten her handles and add the three-pointer to her arsenal. While she does not plan to “start jacking threes,” being able to knock them down would add another layer to make her offensive game more dangerous.
Over the offseason, Daley worked with Bryan Browne, a basketball trainer and junior varsity boys basketball coach at Mount Vernon High School in New York. Browne has trained her since she was in seventh grade.
“He’s been instrumental in making me the player I am,” Daley said. “I mean, he pushes me. He has forced me to hone in on my handles … He forced me to step out of my comfort zone and pushed me to be the best player I could be.”
Daley said she trusts Browne because she has known him since middle school, and he has come to know her family well. She also said she has seen her game grow while working with him.
Browne said he enjoys training Daley because she is intensely dedicated to her craft. He also said every time Daley went through a slump, she approached him to help her work through it.
“Her fire to be great was always something,” Browne said. “She always wanted to win … Together, we were pushing each other to be great. She’s pushing me to be a better trainer. I’m pushing her to be a better player. … The joy to have her as a player is just something different.”
Daley said she called Browne before facing Iowa back in 2022, and he calmed her nerves. She will try to turn in outings like that frequently this season.
NU posted a 9-21 record and won just four conference games last season. Daley said she wants to make the first-team All-Big Ten and the Big Ten All-Defensive Team this season and lead the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament.
With seven new players on the roster and renewed energy surrounding the program, Daley has embraced an expanded leadership role as the squad prepares for its 2024-25 campaign.
“It feels like a new culture,” Daley said. “It is exciting to go to practice and to be around the team. We look good in practice. We look a little scary.”
The senior guard’s ambition beyond college basketball is to be selected in the WNBA draft. But she said she has to perform well this season to get there. She has the confidence to do so, multiplied by an ambitious mentality, she said.
“The game is the game. It doesn’t change. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing with, the ball still has to go into the hoop,” Daley said. “That mindset … has me focusing less about who I’m playing, who I’m playing with, and just going out there and killing whoever’s in front of me, whoever’s guarding me, whatever team is playing against us.”
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