Quentin McDaniel, whose son Emari Russell played on Central Cabarrus' back-to-back state championship teams, is the new head boys basketball coach at North Rowan High School in Spencer.

McDaniel is the 10th head coach in North Rowan's program history, the Salisbury Post reported Friday, Oct. 2. He replaces Herb Liles, who left after one season and a 16-10 record to take the head job at Reagan High School.

The hire carries a direct Concord connection.

Russell was the sixth man on coach Jim Baker's Central Cabarrus Vikings squad that finished 33-0 and won the NCHSAA 3A state championship on March 15, 2024. That title was the Vikings' second straight, following a 32-0 run in 2022-23, according to MaxPreps records. The City of Concord recognized the 2023-24 team for what it called the nation's longest winning streak at 65 consecutive victories.

After his junior season at Central Cabarrus, Russell transferred to North Rowan for his senior year. He averaged 20 points per game in 2024-25, scored 41 in his final game and played in the East-West All-Star Game.

Russell earned a scholarship to Livingstone College in Salisbury, where he redshirted during the 2025-26 season and made the Dean's List.

Quentin McDaniel followed his son to North Rowan, joining the school as assistant athletic director and success coach. He served as an assistant on Jason Causby's basketball staff before continuing in that role under Liles last season. Causby had coached McDaniel in high school at Salisbury High, where McDaniel played football and basketball before graduating in 2005.

"It was important that the new coach be someone that the kids knew and trusted … I know them and they know me," McDaniel told the Salisbury Post.

McDaniel spent years as a basketball referee, officiating high school games while still a student at Winston-Salem State University and later working CIAA basketball games at the college level. His parents, Tom and Judy McDaniel, were elected to the Salisbury-Rowan Hall of Fame in 2025 for their work with Salisbury Parks and Recreation's youth basketball leagues.

North Rowan faces a roster shakeup heading into the 2026-27 season. Carter Williams, a 6-foot-4 forward who earned Yadkin Valley Conference Player of the Year honors in 2025-26, transferred to Davidson Day School and reclassified to the Class of 2028. McDaniel said the roster still has good players and young talent he expects to develop.

About 80 percent of North Rowan's basketball players are playing football this fall, but the gym has been open for workouts for two to three weeks as the Cavaliers prepare for a season-opening date that has not yet been announced.