"She is very determined': Kierstan Bell overcomes knee injury, set to be WNBA draft pick

FORT MYERS, FLA. — Undergoing knee surgery in the middle of her junior season — just days after announcing she would enter the WNBA Draft — provided quite a challenge to Kierstan Bell.

She met it head on.

The McKinley High School graduate returned to action for Florida Gulf Coast University in 29 days and finished off another memorable season last month.

As she preps for the 2022 WNBA Draft on Monday — where she is expected to be a top-10 pick — Bell does so knowing she overcame the toughest obstacle in her basketball career.

“It was tough on me mentally because I never thought that I would get injured and tear my meniscus," Bell said. "But the support that I had throughout the whole year helped me grow as a person. It helped me mature more toward the end of the season.”

Bell dealt with injuries in the past, but finding out she had torn her meniscus in January was the worst of them. Bell had been battling through the soreness in her knee. After finding out she tore her meniscus, there was a chance Bell was going to miss the rest of the season.

“I didn’t think nothing of it,” Bell said. “I just knew there were sharp pains in my knee. So when I heard that I had torn my meniscus and I had to get surgery, it shocked me because I was always scared to get surgery. But when I got it, it wasn’t a big deal.

"I think it was God telling me that I needed to slow down a little bit. You’re going to get there, but you just need to slow down."

One thing about Bell, even when she falls, she finds a way to get back up and not let the pain distract her. Pam Davis, Bell's head coach at McKinley coach, knew that firsthand.

Davis remembered an AAU tournament where Bell rolled her ankle. It was a pretty good sprain, with her ankle turning black and blue. That injury didn’t stop Bell from getting back on the court the same way surgery didn’t stop her from finishing her college career at FGCU.

“That’s the kind of kid she is,” Davis said. “She endures a significant amount of pain, and even though it was her first significant injury, it does not surprise me one bit. “

Remembering when LeBron James watched her play

The 6-foot-1 Bell, an Alliance native, was a five-star prospect coming out of high school.

She enjoyed a memorable career at McKinley, rewriting records and becoming Ohio's only three-time Ms. Basketball. She knew the Canton community believed she could be the next big thing in basketball to come out of Northeast Ohio since LeBron James. Some even called her“SheBron.” But you can call her "KB."

LeBron James did come to watch one of her games when McKinley played at Jackson, which was led by Taylor Mikesell, now a star at Ohio State. Bell and Mikesell are 1-2 in career points in the county and they both were finalists this season for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award given to the nation's best shooting guard

“I will never forget those moments when we played against each other. I never forgot that moment when LeBron came and watched both of us play,” Bell said. “That was the greatest moment of my life, so that is something that I’ll never forget. “

Davis coached at McKinley for 13 seasons before moving on to Hoban. Before Bell became a high school player, Davis saw the potential in her at an early age. As she got older, she kept excelling.

“She had the it-factor, and what I mean by that is she has a very high motor on both ends of the court,” Davis said. “She had the knack for the ball, and she was explosive. She was strong as a 12-year-old. As she transitioned into high school, we really saw that she developed into (having) a very high basketball IQ.”

Kierstan Bell's 'Jordan Game'

Davis recalled a districtfinal against Stow in 2017, while Bell was a junior. McKinley was trailing with five seconds left in the game. Davis called a timeout to draw a play where originally Bell was supposed to be a decoy.

Bell wasn’t going for that. Davis made a quick audible and put the ball in Bell’s hands. Coming off a screen and pass, she hit a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left.

Bell considered it her “Jordan game” because she was battling sickness the entire time, similar to Michael Jordan leading the Bulls to a win in the 1997 NBA Finals while dealing with flu-like symptoms.

“I was sick like a dog. I remember waking up, feeling terrible," Bell said. "My family was like, ‘she can’t play this game.'"

Bell had other ideas.

“It was an important game, and I don’t want to miss it and leave my team out there hanging,. So, I fought through. It was that game that I knew I had that dog in me because I didn’t let my sickness affect that game. I still went out there and played my best basketball."

That year, the Bulldogs played in the state final four. After shattering Stark County's career scoring record, Bell headed to Ohio State and made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in the 2019-20 season before transferring to FGCU in the spring of 2020.

She averaged 24.3 points in her first season with the Eagles, leading them to the NCAA Tournament.

Accepting coaching, building relationships

Bell said she's blessed to have had all the coaches that helped her develop as a player throughout her young basketball career. But nothing compared to the relationship she's had with both Pam and Willie Davis.

Willie, Pam’s husband and an assistant coach for her at McKinley and Hoban, would be the one who worked with Bell one-on-one, helping her improve all the little things. Pam prepared game plans on and off the court, including speaking to the public.

“That’s what made them so different,” Bell said. “Coach Willie (Davis) was the one who was hard on me, and Coach Pam was the one like …let's do it, bring it in, come on, give a hug and stuff like that. They have different personalities, but they both pushed you to your greatest ability, and I love coaches like that. They are very demanding, but off the court, they will love you unconditionally.”

They stayed in touch after graduating. Pam subscribed to ESPN+ so she could watch Bell in action at FGCU. Their relationship goes beyond basketball. Bell would check in on her former high school coach, remembering her birthday, holiday breaks, or anniversary.

Bell kept her former head coach in the loop on her decision to forgo her final season at FGCU to enter the WNBA Draft, telling her the news before she went public. As Bell dealt with her injury, Pam Davis was there for her.

“I think she handled it maturely,” Pam said. “She knew that she had to have the surgery. She said in her mind what her timeline was going to be to return. I know doctors or surgeons would have a timeline, but she had her own, and she is very determined."

Finishing season strong

Bell had her surgery Jan. 26. The timetable for her return was four to six weeks, with six seeming more likely. She was back in four, scoring 23 points in each of her first two games back.

Bell led the Eagles to the ASUN Conference title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. The Eagles knocked off Virginia Tech in the first round before losing to Maryland in the second.

Bell was honorable mention All American for the second year in a row after averaging 23.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. She became the first player to repeat as the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year winner.

“Within our style of play, she was able to show all the things she was capable of doing,” said FGCU head coach Karl Smesko, who coached Walsh University to an NAIA national title in 1998. "I think the biggest thing is she was able to show what she is great at, and she just had two of the best seasons that any (FGCU) player has ever had.”

High IQ, versatility impress

After leaving her mark at FGCU, she is focused on the WNBA Draft, which is 7 p.m., Monday, in New York City. Bell is one of 12 prospects invited by the league to the draft.

Only one previous Stark County player has been drafted by the WNBA — former McKinley great Ameryst Alston. A two-time Ohio Ms. Basketball who went on to star at Ohio State before being drafted in the second round (24th overall) by the New York Liberty in 2016

in recent days, Bell has communicated with a combination of coaches and executives with nonstop text messages and phone calls. Bell is projected to be picked in the top 10. CBS Sports has Bell going at No. 4 to the Indiana Fever, a rebuilding team with four first-round picks Monday.

If Bell does get picked fourth, she would equal a Stark County legend for the highest spot a county athlete was drafted by a major professional sports league. Yankees great Thurman Munson was the No. 4 overall pick by New York in the 1967 MLB Draft. The highest NBA pick from the county is C.J. McCollum, who was drafted 10th overall in 2013 by Portland.

Bell has played all five positions. WNBA teams value her versatility and high IQ. The Atlanta Dream have the No. 1 overall pick. Dan Padover, Atlanta’s general manager/executive VP of basketball operations, spoke highly of Bell during a media conference call Thursday.

“I think someone like Kierstan Bell, she has some offensive talent that is pro ready,” Padover said to the Canton Repository. “I think the questions about her is can she play both ends of the floor, and how long can she play both ends of the floor for. But offensively, she can shoot from the outside, she can post up smaller players, she can get by players, she's got quick feet and she has a natural basketball instinct from playing for a great program and also having a good IQ herself."

Bell mentioned she has a connection with former Ohio State All-American and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Katie Smith, associate head coach of the Minnesota Lynx. They first met when Bell played at Ohio State.

“It was great to talk to her first because she is the one who set me up to be better with interviews," Bell said. "She would tell me not to miss an opportunity, and you know you could be with this team for one year, but the next year you might be traded, so you just got to have a great relationship with everybody."

Wherever Bell is drafted, knows it's "an opportunity for me to go and learn and ask for advice."

She not only hopes to make an impact right away but also be part of changes around the league.

“I think in a couple of years," Bell said, "the league will be expanding, and everybody will get to see how the WNBA is, with a lot of great players.”

This article originally appeared on The Repository: McKinley grad Kierstan Bell of FGCU readies for WNBA Draft