GT Hoops Recruit #3 - D'Andre Bell (updated)

Well, we just received our 3rd verbal for the 2005 class - D'Andre Bell. Obviously this means that Paul Hewitt finally extended Bell that 'ship offer that had not been there until he visited this weekend.

Let me get you acquainted with Bell:

He is 6'5" 185lb (although I have seen his height listed anywhere from 6'4 - 6'6" and weight from 180-200lb). He is a left-handed wing forward from Palisades Charter High School in California. He is a physical specimen with a solid frame and very muscular. In fact, in some ways he might be compared to Isma'il Muhammad. He is very defensive minded and has good overall skills in all the important areas. He prides himself on shutting down opponents so comparisons to Muhammad are inevitable. He has a wide wingspan and will probably play the 2/3 spots. He has range out to the 3pt line and a good mid-range game.

Interesting, Bell is only ranked by one of the recruiting services that I can find - Prepstars at 99. However, my guess is that will probably change after this coming high school season. We will see. Bottom line is that he seems to have flown under the national recruiting radar, much like Jeremis Smith early in his recruiting process. He was named LA City Section All-City - link here.

Bell was considering GT, Georgetown, Michigan State and UCLA. Growing up, UNC was actually a dream school for him. It was believed that Mich.St was the leader but they stopped recruiting him when they said they were not going to sign 3 guards. UCLA was a distant choice, but not a strong one. It really came down to GT and GTown. When Octavious Spann committed to Georgetown last week, it probably gave GT a strong edge. It probably didn't help GTown either that they run a Princeton offense, very half-court oriented.

Academically he had a 2.6 GPA and scored 1070 on his SAT.

Now for some statistics. As a high school junior he averaged 24.3 pts, 11.6 boards (4.2 offensive), 2.24 blocks, 2.44 steals, 4.9 assists. He hit 1.8 3-pt shots/game and made about 4.3 free throws per game (don't know the percentages). His team finished 15-10. Overall he led his team in scoring, 3pt shots, blocks, boards, steals, 2nd in assists. I'll post more if I can find it.

UPDATED - NEW LINKS
Coutesy of Mike:

Bell stats - link here. Bell was 2nd in scoring, 2nd in 3pt FG's, 2nd in blocks, 2nd in boards, 3rd in steals, and 3rd in assists in his 6 team conference.

ABCD CAMP ARTICLE - FREEBIE

The first day of the Reebok ABCD Camp was highlighted by a single player. D'Andre Bell was by far the best player of the day.

Bell is a 6'6" senior guard weighing 210 pounds. Bell is a pure shooter. His stroke was on and he was the most shooter impressive of the day. He played like he was a much older, more experienced player.

Bell moves well without the ball, hustles up and down the floor, is a great jumper, crashes the boards hard and has a strong ability to see the whole court.