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Montevallo boys basketball ring in new era with Bell
Keegan Bell played basketball at every level and has been an assistant coach in both high school and college. Now he takes over at Montevallo High School where he’ll lead the Bulldogs’ boys basketball team. (Courtesy: Keegan Bell)

Montevallo boys basketball ring in new era with Bell

MONTEVALLO, Ala. (BVM) — Keegan Bell lives, breathes and sleeps basketball. Growing up with a dad who was an NCAA Division I head men’s basketball coach, you oftentimes have no other choice. But for Bell, the newly-hired head coach of the Montevallo High School boys basketball team, he’d have it no other way.

With his ties to the basketball community, and an equal amount of skill, as a youngster, Bell had the opportunity to participate in NBA Top 100 camps and ABCD camps hosted by Adidas. He was heavily recruited out of Hazel Green High School in 2007, with scholarship offers to both Duke and UNC.

Then he chose Vanderbilt. 

“My dad and I are close; he actually coached me in high school, so I wanted to go somewhere close but not too far,” Bell said. “And Vanderbilt was one of my mom’s dream schools. So it all just made sense.”

So he made the two-hour trip to Nashville where he became a Commodore, and his parents made the same trip very often, coming to the majority of games. After a freshman year where Vanderbilt went 26-8 under head coach Kevin Stallings, the Commodores were upset by Siena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 

That was Bell’s last game as a member of the SEC.

Due to various reasons, Vanderbilt no longer felt like the right situation. Bell’s transfer recruiting picked up steam, and he was highly sought after once again. But this time, Bell decided to take mid-major schools into account, something he hadn’t done the first time.

That’s how he became connected with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

“Head coach John Shulman called me for the first time and left a five-minute voicemail,” Bell said. “I was looking for a connection with a coach, and I called him back and it was history. He knocked everyone else out of the park.”

So Bell transferred to Chattanooga, playing out the remainder of his NCAA career with the Mocs. After sitting the 2008-09 season due to transfer rules, he became a three-year starter, and broke UTC’s all-time assist record (538) at Rupp Arena against Anthony Davis and the Kentucky Wildcats. From there, he played a year of professional basketball in Iceland during the 2012-13 season, where his career within the game of basketball took an interesting turn.

Keegan Bell broke the Mocs’ all-time assists record (538) during his three seasons playing at Chattanooga. (Photo: Chattanooga Athletics)

“In Iceland, I worked with a group of their younger players a lot and I always liked working with kids,” Bell said. “That’s when I realized my love for playing shifted into a love for coaching.” 

All of these incredible basketball experiences throughout his life have allowed Bell to create relationships, become an expert on the game, and the transition to coaching was flawless. Lennie Acuff, a longtime friend of Bell’s father, and now the head coach of Lipscomb University’s men’s team, was the head coach at the University of Alabama – Huntsville following Bell’s first year overseas. 

In 2013, Acuff had an opportunity for Bell, and that’s where he got his foot in the door of the coaching realm. Since then, he has made three stops at the collegiate level: UAH, Lincoln Memorial University and Shorter University. Plus, three stopovers at the high school level: Oneonta, Montgomery Catholic and Pike Road. 

Now, his first head coaching gig awaits him as the leader of the Montevallo Bulldogs.

What drew him most to the position is his connection with athletic director Blake Boren. Both of them were coaches at Pike Road High School, and when Boren left, Bell sent him a long text message. He had wished they’d been together longer so that he could pick Boren’s brain, as he respected the way he coached and communicated. 

Besides that, Bell’s former Vanderbilt teammate George Drake is the head coach at Calera High School seven miles down the road from Montevallo. The two schools are rivals, and now the former collegiate ball players will get to battle every year.

“He (George Drake) had nothing but great things to say about Montevallo,” Bell said. “With everything I heard about the school, I loved it. When I walked around on my own, it just felt right in my gut.” 

Now with his mind fully fixated on his first season, Bell has big plans for the Bulldogs.

“I’m a huge skill development guy. I’m big on guys being skilled. The more skilled they are, the more up-tempo you can play and freedom they can have,” Bell said. “I want to give them structured freedom. Put them in spaces but allow them to still be basketball players.”

One of the target areas he wants to hammer home with his new team will be rebounding. In college he did a study on successful basketball teams and what makes them click. This was an area that stood out to him. 

“I like to control the controllables. If a shot is missed, I want that,” Bell said. “The best shooters in the world shoot 50%. So they are probably taking 20 shots a game and missing 10 of them. I want all 10 rebounds.”

But off the court, Bell wants to make sure he’s investing in his young men as people, not just basketball players. Helping them find a mentor in a desired field of study, being there as someone they can talk to about their problems and simply treating them as family are all on Bell’s agenda. 

“I want to create that family environment,” Bell said. “Ten years down the road from now when you return, that’s when I’ll know if I’ve done my job as a successful coach.”