– Editor's Note: Western Kentucky University, family, friends and the basketball world mourned the Sept. 6 death of legendary Hilltopper All-American center Jim McDaniels. In his 2011 book, "Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association: The Real Story of a Team Left Behind," local author Gary B. West devoted an entire chapter to the career of "Big Mac." The following is a reprint of that chapter, in the first of two parts.
Jim McDaniels was one of the biggest names the ABA had ever landed. His signing with the Carolina Cougars served notice to the NBA they couldn't get em' all.