ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 20, 1996 TAG: 9601200009
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: VMI NOTES
DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Jason Bell is a man of many basketball influences.
At present, VMI coach Bart Bellairs is molding the freshman shooting guard into a good Division I player. Bell's father, Larry, who played at - of all places - The Citadel, began the project.
In between, a couple of Roanoke natives got their hands on him. All that shaping and kneading is beginning to produce a nice piece of work.
Even with forgettable performances in his past two games, Bell is third on the team in scoring, at 9.8 points per outing while averaging a little more than 13 minutes per game.
For the first eight games, Bell averaged a point a minute.
Bell credits Andy Gray, one of his coaches at Gar-Field High School in Dale City, for much of his success. Gray, a 1983 graduate of William Byrd High School and former assistant at William Fleming High School, took over for Bell's father during Jason's senior year there.
``He really taught me a lot about the fundamentals,'' said Bell, who redshirted last season with a knee injury.
``Jason had a lot of raw skills that I hope I enhanced,'' Gray said. ``He was the best big-game player I've ever coached.''
When it came time for Bell to find a college, few were interested. Most said the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder was too short, and a knee injury in his junior year didn't help his cause. That's when Gray called another Roanoke connection, VMI assistant coach and William Fleming alumnus Ramon Williams.
``I begged him to see this kid,'' said Gray, who played with Williams in the William Fleming summer league. ``He was a strong connection in the recruitment of Jason.''
When Bellairs took over in April 1994, Williams told him they should stay in hot pursuit. Then, Bell picked VMI instead of The Citadel. It is arguably the Keydets' least-known victory over the Bulldogs.
``It was basically there or here,'' Bell said.
``To me, he was probably underrated,'' Williams said. ``I thought it would be tough recruiting him knowing where his dad had gone, but I think he wanted to stay closer to home.''
Bell doesn't start for the Keydets because the man in front of him, Martinsville High School graduate Maurice Spencer, is making 47.4 percent of his 3-point attempts, third best in the Southern Conference. But Bell contributes whenever he's on the floor.
Aside from his scoring, for example, Bell is eighth in the league in steals, with 1.5 per game. ``Jason gets as many points off his defense as his offense,'' Bellairs said. ``It's amazing.''
NO-WIN SITUATION: A day after VMI made 15 of 79 shots (20 percent) in a 90-49 loss at William and Mary on Wednesday, Bellairs had this to say:
``We couldn't have won an intrasquad scrimmage.''
HOT DATES: The Keydets already have lined up home games against North Carolina and Penn State for next season. Other top Division I programs keep signing up.
In the 1996-97 season, VMI will begin series with Wake Forest and UNC Charlotte. The Keydets play on the road twice to get a home game from each.
UNC Charlotte will come to Cameron Hall for the 1997-98 season, while the Demon Deacons visit in 1998-99. Also on tap are future engagements with Navy and Army.
According to VMI athletic director Davis Babb, the dates for next season's UNC and Penn State games are not set, but he anticipates the Nittany Lions will visit early in the season and the Tar Heels later.
PRINCE'S PACE: Senior point guard Bobby Prince, already VMI's single-season assists leader with 173 in 1994-95, is on pace to finish second on the all-time list.
Currently averaging six assists per game, the former Lord Botetourt High School standout is on pace for 446 by the end of the regular season. That would place him second behind Mike Huffman's 480.
To break Huffman's all-time mark, Prince would have to average 8.6 per game the rest of the way.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: VMI. Freshman guard Jason Bell (12) averages almost aby CNBpoint a minute for VMI.|