The Freshmen 15: Kash Daniel

For those of you who don’t know me (probably most of you), hi! I’m Maggie Davis, and I’m one of KSR’s lucky new interns. Although I’ve published a few articles, this series will be my first major project.

As a freshman at UK, I can attest to the fact that yes, “the freshman 15” is real. Although I’ve only been on campus for a couple of weeks, having the ability to eat whatever I want, whenever I want, is definitely dangerous.

But that’s not what I meant when I titled this article “The Freshmen 15.” Over the course of this school year, I’ll be posting a series of articles (15, to be exact) highlighting 15 talented freshmen athletes at UK, some of which you may not have heard about otherwise.

For today’s edition, however, I chose an athlete all UK fans should be familiar with. If you’re not, you better keep reading, because he could potentially be important this Saturday around, say… 7:30.

Kash Daniel, the 6’1 linebacker, has been painted as a potential fan favorite for the past several months, thanks to both his performance on the field and his “good ol’ boy” ways. But what is it that makes Kash so special?

For one thing, he’s one of the four true freshmen Coach Stoops said would hit the field this season; the other freshmen who will see action this fall are Landon Young, Ben Snell and TJ Carter. Coming from a high school like Painstville High, where the entire school was composed of under 400 people, UK is definitely an adjustment for Daniel.

Knowing this, Daniel decided to graduate one semester early, therefore enrolling in UK last January (but yes, for the purpose of this article, I’m still considering him a freshman). Since then, he’s been able to get most of his “freshmen moments” out of the way.

“I took a nap and I set my alarm for 7:30,” Daniel said. “I woke up and I looked at my phone and go, “Oh, no!” So I literally sprinted – just threw some clothes on and sprinted out the door.” Jordan Jones, a sophomore linebacker, saw Daniel sprinting to practice when he stopped and asked where he was headed.

“I was like, “What are you doing? We’re late for practice,’” said Daniel. Jones then let Daniel know it was actually 7:30 p.m. at the time – they still had 12 hours until practice.

This “go get ’em” attitude was no one-time mistake. Throughout the past several months, Daniel has made members of the BBN smile with his honest answers and genuine excitement about being part of this team.

“I’m gonna do whatever I gotta do to contribute. If they want me to fill the water jug up, I’ll fill the water job up,” said Daniel. “It doesn’t matter what it is – I’m just out here to compete with my new teammates.”

One person he’s seemed to bond with – although no longer a teammate – is Patrick Towles. Daniel and Patty Ice had this friendly exchange on Twitter earlier this week.

Mood pic.twitter.com/zj1AvWH9VK

— Kash Daniel (@KashDaniel15) August 27, 2016

 

After a series of GIFs were exchanged, Towles made it known who he would be cheering for come game day.

https://twitter.com/patty_ice_8/status/769670515724324864

 

We agree, Patty, we agree. #BeatSouthernMiss

What’s some freshmen advice from the man with one semester already under his belt?

“It’s important to get your sleep, and naps are your best friend.”

While this is solid advice, I hope Stoops has someone double-checking Kash’s alarm on game day – the UK matchup vs. Southern Mississippi is scheduled to begin at 7:30 at night. Let’s just hope Kash doesn’t show up at 7:30 in the morning.