Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach, Player Development
- Email:
- waltersd4@xavier.edu
Daniel Walters is in his fourth season on Richard Pitino’s staff and his first as Assistant Coach for Player Development at Xavier. Walters served as video coordinator at New Mexico in 2024-25 and added the assistant coach title as well. Walters joined the New Mexico men’s basketball staff in June of 2022. He came to New Mexico after serving as the video coordinator at South Alabama for the previous two seasons.
New Mexico posted a 27-8 overall record last season and reached the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament with a first-round win over Marquette. New Mexico posted a 17-3 league record and won the 2024-25 Mountain West Conference Regular Season Championship. The 2024-25 Lobos were led by three All-Mountain West honorees, including 2024-25 Mountain West Player of the Year Donovan Dent.
In Walters’ second season at New Mexico in 2023-24, UNM had a 26-10 record, won the Mountain West Championship and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. The Lobos downed Air Force, and three NCAA Tournament teams, Boise State, Colorado State and San Diego State, on consecutive days in Las Vegas to become the first team in Mountain West history to win the conference tournament by winning four games. UNM had its first winning season in the Mountain West (10-8) in six years, an accomplishment bolstered by the conference getting a record six NCAA bids as over half the league played in March Madness. The Lobos were ranked in the AP poll for three straight weeks during late January/early February, including a No. 19 ranking on Jan. 29, the program’s highest rank in a decade. The 2023-24 Lobos were led by five All-Mountain West players, including Second Team selections Donovan Dent and JT Toppin, who was also the Mountain West Freshman of the Year, Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Jaelen House.
As Walters arrived in 2022-23, the Lobos got off to a 14-0 start, making them the last undefeated team in the nation. New Mexico finished the season with a 22-12 record, capped by a selection to the NIT, for its first 20-win season and postseason appearance in nine years. UNM earned its first AP ranking since 2014 in December, reaching a high of No. 21 in the poll. The program won its first tournament title in a decade when it took the crown at the Lobo Classic in November. During the season, UNM defeated four teams that won their conference regular season title (Iona, Oral Roberts, Saint Mary’s, San Diego State), tied for most in the nation. The 2022-23 Lobos were led by First Team All-Mountain West guards Jamal Mashburn, Jr. and Jaelen House along with conference newcomer of the year Morris Udeze.
While at South Alabama, Walters helped the Jaguars to a 21-win season in 2021-22, the program’s highest win total in 14 years. USA won the Las Vegas Classic and reached the semifinals of The Basketball Classic during Walters’ second season as the program’s video coordinator. In 2020-21, South Alabama posted 17 wins during Walters’ first season with the Jaguars.
From 2017-20, Walters was a student manager with the men’s basketball program at Texas A&M. His three seasons as a manager were highlighted by a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2018.
A native of Houston, Walters graduated from Texas A&M in 2020 with a degree in Sports Management. He earned a Master’s in Sports Management from South Alabama in 2022. He is married to Peyton Walters, Xavier's Director of Men's Basketball Operations.
