Crown Point’s Daniels has Found his Home

CROWN POINT – Jash Daniels grew up in Englewood, the neighborhood in Chicago’s South Side where gang violence, horrific bloodshed and chaos rule the roost.
Homicides and blood in the streets has sadly gone on there for far too long.
Daniels would wake up early and ride a bus to the West Side to attend Wendell Phillips High School. He started varsity football as a ninth grader as an offensive and defensive lineman.
There was a different kind of chaos inside that locker room.
“We were bad,” Daniels said of the Wildcats. “Nothing went well. There was infighting, players didn’t listen to the coaches, things like that.”
Daniels’ parents were  already making plans to move the family to Indiana. The fact that the Crown Point Bulldogs had just played in the Class 6A state championship game a couple months before helped the Daniels to find a home in C.P.
But when coach Craig Buzea first met Daniels on that cold January day in 2024, there were some potential issues with his new player.
“Jash was a big kid, but we could see he hadn’t hit the weights very much up to that point,” Buzea said. “We knew there was some work that had to be done.”
Daniels gives the credit of his success to Mark Garrett, the Bulldogs strength and conditioning coach. Through sweat and pain, Daniels has developed into a 6-foot-2, 270-pound nose tackle for the No. 1 team in the Region.
From a very humble beginning with little hope around him, his life dramatically changed with some U-Haul trucks.
“Where I came from developed me into who I am today,” Daniels said. “It taught me to work hard. It caused me to do things to make my family happy. Crown Point changed everything.”
As a sophomore, Daniels was moved to the defensive lineman and played on the scout team for a team that advanced to the semistate. He said the older D-linemen worked with him on techniques and strategies on stuffing the run and putting pressure on the QB.
Last season, Daniels was starting on the field every Friday night.
“Jash was a good looking kid,” Buzea said. “We just knew we had to mold him, get him on the weights. His motor never slows down, it never stops. He’s worked so hard to get where he is now. He had two interceptions last year on the defensive line.”
Daniels claimed after moving to C.P. his love of football exploded. After finishing school, weights and practice, he would go home and play catch with his younger brother, not a norm for a nose tackle. He’d throw passes to his brother, then run routes as his brother tossed him the ball.
“That really helped me,” he said. “I’ve got good hands. That helped me with those interceptions.”
He had one against Valparaiso on a tipped pass. Then, he had a Pick 6 against Michigan City where he grabbed the ball out of the air and danced a few yards into the end zone.
Last year’s senior class never lost a regular season game in their four years of action. A lot of starters graduated and a sort of reboot is happening at the Hub. C.P. is 21st in the state in defense only allowing nine points a game heading into Friday night’s game against Lake Central.
A lot of sophomores are getting on the field for Buzea which points the arrow up in the coming years. Buzea, though, has high thoughts on his senior class with players like Daniels leading the way.
“We’re a work in progress,” Buzea said. “I’m happy with the way the kids have persevered through the first three games. This isn’t typical for us. The last four-five years the first three games were blowouts. They’ve been a lot closer this year.
“But if the team keeps working hard and the younger kids gain the experience they need I believe we will be much better in five weeks.”
That’s a scary notion for teams on Crown Point’s schedule.
Daniels plans on playing on Saturdays, where he’ll study business. He wants to take his work ethic in football into the real world so he can create generational wealth for his family.
But before that, there’s something else on the calendar.
“I want to make it to state,” Daniels said. “I believe we can do that. I want to do this for coach (Buzea). I want to get him back down there and get him a win.”

By Steve Hanlon
Heartland Sports Network