Today in Boston Celtics history, the team signed forward Xavier McDaniel. He played his NCAA ball with Wichita State, where he was the NCAA national scoring leader in 1985 and rebounding leader in both 1983 and 1985. McDaniel was a consensus first-team All-American in 1985 as well. The former Shocker was picked up by the (then) Seattle Supersonics (now, Oklahoma City Thunder) in the 1985 NBA Draft with the fourth overall pick, and then finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind future Hall of Fame big man Patrick Ewing.
The Columbia, South Carolina, native instead made the All-Rookie first team as a consolation prize. The 6-foot-7 forward played in parts of six seasons with Seattle, part of one season with the Phoenix Suns, and one full season with the New York Knicks before joining the Celtics. He played three seasons with Boston between 1992 and 1995, averaging 11.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game with the team.
“X wasn’t the perfect position fit,” Celtics’ executive vice president Dave Gavitt said of the signing at the time via the New York Times’ Clifton Brown. “But we felt he brought us something that would make us a better team.”
After his time with the Celtics, McDaniel played one season overseas with Iraklis Thessaloniki of the FIBA EuroLeague.
After that, he finished his NBA career with the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets, playing two seasons before hanging it up as a player.