How Howard’s ‘J-Byrd’ Daniel became college basketball’s leading scorer

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s been a frantic, furious comeback, from a halftime deficit of 19 to a favored William & Mary team that couldn’t miss from three-point range early. But only in the final couple minutes does it actually look like Howard, led by the smallest man on the floor, might actually pull off a miracle comeback in front of a few hundred enthusiastic fans who have trekked out to Burr Gymnasium on Georgia Avenue, smack in the middle of D.C., on an overcast Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving.

The Tribe crack the door ajar one final time, missing the front end of a 1-and-1, and the Bison get the ball back. 5-foot-11 point guard James “J-Byrd” Daniel III rushes it up the floor. Everyone knows he wants to take the shot, that he’s Howard’s best chance, down by one, the final seconds ticking away. He’s already netted 36 of the Bison’s 76 points on 10-23 from the floor and 13-15 at the line.

In the land of Georgetown and Maryland, of strong mid-major programs like George Washington and VCU, of recent NCAA Tournament runs from George Mason and even American, Daniel is the shining light for D.C.’s long-overlooked program, a school full of pride and tradition for everything but its basketball program.

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