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McKeller: The unique story of a twin

Georgia State can be thankful that Danyiell McKeller was born a twin, and a twin who was a boy instead of a girl.

For it was twin brother, Daniel, who first molded his twin sister into the athlete she was to become.

“My mother kept my brother and me together in everything we did, including sports and my brother took me along and made me a part of whatever he did,” Danyiell remembers.

So, when one notices she plays basketball with a football player's mentality it is because she did, indeed, play football with the guys when she was growing up. The 10 and 11-year old Danyiell put on the full football pads and went out to play on the same Recreation League team as her brother. Yes, she was the only girl in the league, but she was just as tough as any of the boys. Football had run earlier in the McKeller family when older brother, Ira, got a scholarship to play football at Wake Forest.

“My brother and I pushed each other and we would go off by ourselves and do a lot of push-ups and sit-ups and find heavy things to pick up if we couldn't get into a weight room,” Danyiell said. “We weren't lazy and we wanted to be the best, so we worked to be bigger and stronger.”

In basketball, the twins would go at it in the driveway one-and-one for hours and hours. Then, they'd go off to the Rec Leagues and play on the same team and win all the time.

The first time Danyiell actually played ball with the girls was in middle school when she had to play on the girl's team. “No, I didn't like that at first. I was used to playing rough and tough and most of them didn't really want to compete real hard and physical.”

Besides her toughness, Danyiell was pretty athletic overall and was a sprinter on the AAU track team, the Fayetteville Flyers. That helped her when she got on the basketball court because she could pretty much play any position the coach wanted her to play as she combined speed with strength.

But, 13-year old Danyiell's life was about to change dramatically. Her mother, Betty, died as a result of complications from diabetes and she and her six siblings had to bond together with father, James, to move on with the strength of one another for support.

The family moved to another school district in Fayetteville and that changed a lot as well.

But, when it came time for Daniel and Danyiell to enter high school, her father was able to move them back to their original school district and her coach to be, Gene Arrington, was thrilled because he had watched little Danyiell in all the Rec League basketball games with the boys.

McKeller is in the top 20 in the nation in scoring during her senior year.
At Westover High in Fayetteville, Danyiell first asked to wear number 42 in memory of her mother, who was 42 when Danyiell was born, and then went about making a name for herself as a basketball player and starting off as the Conference Rookie of the Year.

As Danyiell matured and improved, she became the best Westover had ever had in basketball. She was the team captain as a junior and senior and led those teams to a 51-9 record as she earned first-team All-State honors.
Danyiell was a four-time all-conference star who set Westover's records with 1,585 points, while leading the league in scoring with her 16.7 and 17.5 scoring averages her final two years, while averaging 7.5 rebounds and was the Conference MVP one season.

So, recruiters came calling, including Coach Lea Henry from Georgia State. GSU got a tip from Coach Arrington, who knew Coach Henry from attending her summer camps with his team. “I think Coach Arrington's opinion matter to both Danyiell and to me,” Coach Henry said. “We saw her athleticism on tape and then kind of developed a respect and relationship on her visit.”

Danyiell had gotten interest from her older brother's school, Wake Forest, as well as nearby UNC Charlotte, plus CAA schools like VCU and UNC Wilmington. When she made her visit to Atlanta and Georgia State, Danyiell made her decision and committed to a National Letter of Intent in the spring of 2006. “I just saw myself fitting in well here and liked Coach Henry and the school,” Danyiell said.

Danyiell graduated as an honor roll student from Westover and has become a psychology major at Georgia State. “I want to be able to communicate with the kids who have had tougher than normal childhoods and work with them. I want to find out more why they think like they think and do like they do. I was kind of a hard-headed kid and want to try to understand the why's that makes some of us like that.”

Twin brother, Daniel, earned a baseball scholarship and then moved on St. Augustine College and joined the Army ROTC there and start a career in that service branch. “But, Daniel, is still the one who is the hardest on me,” Danyiell noted. “He always tells me I could have done better or pushes me to become better in certain areas. He knows me better than anyone.”

Danyiell has had to rely on all that toughness and football mindset that her youth provided her to be able to play
The McKeller twins are both playing a college sport right now.
at Georgia State and in the CAA.

At GSU, Danyiell laid her foundation in the weight room where she has become the strongest female athlete of any sport and then uses that muscle and toughness on the court.

Just like in high school, Danyiell was ready to contribute at Georgia State and started her first game, at Miami of the ACC. Danyiell scored 17 points (8-of-13 FG) in that game and she hit double figures in the first six collegiate games she ever played. She was a CAA Rookie of the Week honoree on Jan. 8 after a 13-point, 11-rebound game with Northeastern as the Panthers went on to a 15-15 season.

As a sophomore, Danyiell was second on the team and 20th in the CAA in scoring with her 10.9 average per game, while leading the team and placing 2nd in the CAA in FG percentage (52.7%). Her 25-point game vs. George Mason was efficient with 9-of-11 field goals and 7-of-9 free throws. She had three double-double games.

Her junior season saw her lead the charge out of the blocks with 24 points and 11 rebounds in a season-opening win at Clemson. She had scored in double figures in 10 of the first 12 games, despite limited minutes with knee pain. Danyiell was honored as the CAA Player of the Week on Nov. 24 and again on Dec. 8. She scored 23 points in a win over Northeastern in just 30 minutes.
On Jan. 11, she had injuries to both knees and could simply not continue on toughness only with the team sitting at 9-4. She sat and got treatment on her knees for more than a month and tried to gut out the final eight games, playing in seven and having double-figures in four of them, but wasn't able to jump or move at her usual skill level. The team went just 3-13 either without her playing or playing with limited ability.

During the summer, McKeller spent extra hours in rehab exercises and losing a few pounds to aid on the knee joints. It has paid off handsomely.

Danyiell has been in the top 20 in the NCAA in scoring most of the season with 11 games with 20 or more points scoring with a pair of 26-point games as the Panthers started off with a strong 9-2 start. After back-to-back 26 and 25-point road games, she was the CAA Player of the Week on Dec. 21, marking her third time to be honored so far.

The North Carolina native scored 1,585 points in her high school career.
Even as teams try to stop her with double teams and box-and-one defenses because they know she is a scorer, Danyiell simply uses many of those spin moves and quick jumpers that she learned from playing with the guys as a kid.

Her toughness and team spirit are evident every game as she leads the defense in steals on a team that ranks in the top 25 in the NCAA in fewest points allowed. And, that is in a league with five of the top 20 scorers in the nation.

As her college career winds down, her career totals rise up. She has passed 1,200 career points and 600 career rebounds and will finish as one of the top 10 scorers in school history. She has produced 55 career double-figure games in a model of consistency.

“Danyiell has gotten better each and every year at Georgia State,” Coach Henry said. “She has put in the extra work both on and off the court. She learned the value of hard work and made changes in both her personality and work ethic here at Georgia State.”

“She is a player a coach can depend on,” Henry noted. “You can count on her day-in, day-out, game-in, game-out. She has learned to be a leader with her consistent actions because she is not really a talker. She is so versatile and able to do a lot of things that help you win.” “I respect her toughness and am proud of her,” Henry commented. “She has done everything we have asked her to do. She is a fierce competitor who won't back down and plays all-out on both ends of the court. I consider her one of the best basketball players we have ever had at Georgia State.”

Her most immediate goals are to graduate and then play professional basketball. Most likely, one day she'll come back to Georgia State when the school hangs her 42 jersey from the rafters in recognition. Hopefully, Daniel will be there to recognize what he helped develop. Mom would have really liked that.
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Players Mentioned

Danyiell McKeller

#42 Danyiell McKeller

F
5' 11"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Danyiell McKeller

#42 Danyiell McKeller

5' 11"
Senior
F