How football is helping Xavier Bell have breakout season for Wichita State basketball
Xavier Bell retired as a wide receiver more than four years ago, but his time on the football field is currently helping his basketball career blossom at Wichita State.
Bell is coming off his fourth straight double-digit scoring performance, this time a WSU career-high 20 points, in the Shockers’ 86-79 win at Coastal Carolina in the opening round of the Myrtle Beach Invitational on Thursday at HTC Center.
The 6-foot-2 guard is thriving in coach Paul Mills’ space-and-pace system, as the physicality he once used to make plays on the gridiron is translating to tough finishes in the paint.
“He’s a football player,” Mills said with a laugh. “You can tell by his physique, he doesn’t mind physicality.”
In his first year working with Bell, Mills has drawn the best out of Bell by putting the ball in his hands more, spacing the floor better and giving the 6-foot-2, 185-pound junior a chance to use his sturdy frame to overpower smaller point-guard defenders in the paint.
After averaging 4 points in a reserve role last season, Bell is averaging a career-high 15.3 points through four games this season with the bulk of those points being scored in the paint.
“My whole life I was used to going straight from football right into basketball season, so I do think it’s translated,” said Bell, a former all-state receiver at Andover Central. “Plus you add in the college weight training and I’ve been able to take advantage of some of those matchups.”
While Bell is shooting about the same percentage at the rim (55.6%) this season as he did last, the contrast in attempts at the rim per game is staggering.
Bell shot 29 of 53 at the rim last season, meaning he attempted 1.7 shots at the rim per game. Through WSU’s first four games, the lefty Wichita native is 20 of 36 at the rim for 9 attempts at the rim per game — a more than 5-time increase on a per-game basis.
“X is great at getting downhill and if you give him any space, he’s going to attack and bump you before you bump him,” WSU sharpshooter Colby Rogers said. “He’s aggressive when he’s the initiator and we love him doing that because he’s very effective doing that. He’s good at it.”
Bell added four more buckets in Thursday’s game where he barreled his way to the rim and finished. Sometimes Bell is able to capitalize in transition when he has a head of steam, but the majority of his baskets in the paint come in a half-court setting where WSU isolates him on the perimeter and lets him attack.
His father, Wayne, a former football player himself for Wichita State, is reminded of his son’s football days on some of the drives.
“Going to the basket as much as he does, sometimes he’s got to go through guys,” Wayne said. “The way he tucks the ball is as if he’s running with a football.”
But Bell played much more than just a brand of bully-ball on Thursday, as he delivered what was unanimously agreed afterward as his best game in a Shocker uniform.
On top of a game-high 20 points, Bell added a career-high 7 rebounds, 5 assists, another career-high 3 steals and a block in 34 minutes. According to Mills, he also added a team-high 9 deflections.
“From a point perspective, he was great, but I think Xavier’s leadership gets lost on people,” Mills said. “He’s obviously been in this position and is able to lead others. He’s seen what this looks like up close and he knows how to assemble everybody in those rough moments. When you’re up (double-digits) and they cut it to 3, you really don’t worry that much because you have his leadership out there.”
Bell is shooting a superb 52.3% from the field this season, but his offensive efficiency is being weighed down by 11 turnovers. He committed 5 in Thursday’s game, although Mills took responsibility for two of them for what he thought were bad calls on baseline out-of-bounds plays.
The coach is confident the turnovers can be limited going forward, which will only improve what is shaping up to be a breakthrough season for Bell.
The biggest difference watching from the stands? His father says confidence has been restored in his son.
“One focus I really see that has been translating has been the player development under coach Mills,” Wayne Bell said. “They really spend a lot of time in the gym individually and Xavier has been eating that up and obviously it’s paying off this year. He’s still got a long way to go. We’ve got to stay on top of him with those turnovers, but I’m really happy for him and love seeing his progress.”
