Daniel Canul '24 Recruiting Profile

I have been serious about sports since the age of four. My grandfather played baseball at Pan American College (now UTRGV) and I have the same drive that he did, to make it as far as I can. My older sister, after only one high school track and field season, walked on at UTRGV (D1), eventually earning a scholarship.  One of my older brothers also followed the athletic path earning a baseball scholarship as a pitcher at Texas A & M Kingsville (DII). It is because of my siblings and my grandfather that I aspire to do the very best at whatever I do. Simply put, sports at the collegiate level is in my blood!

Like my grandfather, I was a multi-sport athlete. I started out loving baseball as a kid because it was a huge part of my family.  It was my initial focus, and I thought baseball would be my future after earning the Homerun King award at a Cecil Fielder Tournament. Entering middle school and being given the chance to play multiple competitive sports changed everything.  I was loving and excelling at everything sport I played, as is my nature.  At the end of my eight grade year I felt I had a decision to make.  What sport was I going to focus on?  I had just earned the Boys Tennis Most Outstanding Player award, Boys Track and Field Most Outstanding Field Even Participant award, Boys Basketball Most Valuable Player award and Football Most Valuable Player Award which made the decision even harder.  Ironically, it was my high school basketball coach who unknowingly influenced my decision.  He came to see me play in a middle school game, where he saw something special in me and at the end of my Freshman season, in a newspaper article stated,  “Right away when I saw him, I noticed he had the ‘it’ factor. He had something that no other kid had, and to me, it was basketball intelligence. Basketball IQ is very hard to coach. It’s very hard to teach. When he came in as a freshman, he was the only freshman I brought in. It wasn’t because his brother was on the team. It was because I knew he had that X-factor that if he brought it, he was going to stay on varsity.”  With my coach's guidance and support as a freshman I was a starter on the Varsity team that made it to the Class 5A Elite Eight and whereafter I received the All Area Newcomer of the Year Award.

While I have enjoyed the opportunities and successes sports has afforded me, it has repeatedly humbled me, as my grandfather reminds me regularly that "you can't win them all." Ironically, he has also always told me to "never get used to losing." Possessing this mindset, makes me want to work even harder. This school has been my most difficult, as my desire to work hard was tested to the point that I questioned myself. I missed my entire junior season, yet with the support of my family, I would not be deterred from continuing to improve my game and my skill sets. Summer AAU ball is again my opportunity to prepare for my last high school season and to be the the team's leader, on and off the court.

I am also proud to say I am just as serious about my education. My maternal grandmother, mother and brother #2 earned their Masters Degrees.  Both my grandfathers, father, brother #1 and sister have all earned a Bachelors Degrees.  My sister is currently attending medical school, and brother#3, whom I played with for two seasons in high school, currently attends Texas State University. I am currently ranked in the top 8% of my class and working to improve on my rank. It is my goal to not only receive a sports scholarship, but to receive and academic scholarship. With the outdoors being one of my other passions, I look forward to prepare for life after basketball (whenever that might be), by earning a degree in Wildlife Biology with an aspiration of being a state or federal wildlife officer.

I am fortunate that my family has always taught me that hard work pays off., and to never quit anything. I am so grateful to have inherited their hard work ethics (and genes), and a desire to continually grow in my personally life. With that being said, my collegiate aspirations are to not only achieve, but to exceed their accomplishments.