The top sophomore basketball player in Michigan will play the final three years of his prep career out of state.
Roseville point guard Jordan McDaniel is transferring to CIA Bella Vista Prep, a basketball-focused academy in Arizona, his father, Greg, told the Free Press. McDaniel played his freshman season at Birmingham Brother Rice before transferring to Roseville at the beginning of the summer.
In the end, McDaniel will not suit up for the Panthers in a regular season game. Instead, he will join a team featuring top senior prospects Paul Osaruyi, Lyris Robinson and Jalen White. Bella Vista Prep is one of 20 members in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) Scholastic, considered the premier national high school league filled with future
college players.
"They offered us a chance to be on the No. 1 team in the country, to be the starting point guard on the top team in the country," Greg McDaniel said.
McDaniel signed with basketball agency Klutch Sports and the agency helped facilitate the move to Bella Vista, Greg McDaniel said. He said the opportunity was "more than a full-ride" scholarship.
"Yes, that was set up through Klutch," Greg McDaniel said.
McDaniel earned Division 1 first-team All-State honors as a 20-point-per-game scorer for Brother Rice. He helped guide the Warriors to their first semifinal in 40 years as a dynamic, score-first point guard who always found a way to finish around the bucket.
In the Division 1 state semifinals against East Lansing, McDaniel scored a game-high 31 points, including a personal 7-0 run in the fourth quarter, to tie the game before Hal Schram Mr. Basketball winner K.J. Torbert hit a game-winning 3 at the buzzer.
McDaniel continued his stellar play for The Family in the summer EYBL circuit, averaging 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals to pick up MVP honors in the 15U division.
McDaniel plans to continue playing with The Family in future summers.
At first, McDaniel wanted to remain in Michigan, but the opportunity was deemed too good to pass up. McDaniel is set on following a similar path to Darius Acuff Jr., who played two years at Detroit Cass Tech before transferring to IMG Academy. Acuff heard his name called as a top-10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
"He is not really super thrilled," Greg McDaniel said. "But he understands it is a part of the process to get where he wants to be."
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Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for theDetroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Top sophomore in Michigan HS basketball transferring out of state
