NEW LONDON – Changing direction at high speed is one of Jourdain Bell’s gifts. When he altered his course during the college recruiting process as a senior at Bishop Brady, the crossover landed him at an unexpected place – Division III Colby-Sawyer.
“We’re very fortunate to have him,” Chargers Coach Bill Foti said. “He’s a great kid, a very good student, a leader on campus … basketball-wise, he’s been fantastic.”
A preseason knee injury slowed Bell down last year as a freshman, but now the 6-foot guard is scoring 22.0 points per game, which leads the team and is third in the North Atlantic Conference.
“Scoring isn’t easy, but it comes easy to him and he makes it look easy,” Foti said. “He has an affinity for it, whether it’s getting to the rim, or getting to the free throw line, or shooting the 3, or scoring on a putback … he’s been scoring at a very high rate for us.”
But, just like in his Brady days, Bell does more than score. He leads the 4-4 Chargers in steals (2.5 per game), is third in rebounds (5.5) and is second in assists (3.5). But considering the display of no-look, one-handed, while-driving passes he doled out in Saturday’s 88-57 win over Maine Maritime, it’s hard to imagine how he’s not the team’s leading playmaker.
“He’s clearly our prominent scorer, but he looks for everyone. He’s a great person to play with, he’s never selfish,” Colby-Sawyer freshman Dana Bean said. “He’s always helpful, and I really couldn’t be happier playing with him.”
The 6-8 Bean, who scored more than 1,000 points at Franklin High, is another local product making an impact in New London. He leads the Chargers in rebounds (9.4 per game), blocks (1.6) and shooting percentage (59.6), and is third in scoring (10.1 ppg).
“He’s doing a great job,” Bell said of Bean. “We’re trying to get him to be really tough because we’re all underclassmen, so we just need everybody to be tough, but he’s really doing a great job. Even in our first game, you could see it in spurts, that’s the kid we need to play every game.”
The Chargers have no seniors and start a freshman, three sophomores and a junior.
Bell’s athleticism, vision and scoring stood out during Saturday’s game, just like it did as he led Bishop Brady to the 2015 D-II title. And Bean stood out with a mix of footwork, touch, timing and end-to-end speed, a rare skill set for the tallest guy in the gym. The local talent has clearly given Colby-Sawyer an impressive young foundation.
“They’re both very high-ceiling guys,” Foti said.
Bell’s high ceiling has been attracting attention ever since he was in grade school in Alton and middle school in Concord. His high school choice was a topic of conversation in local circles, and it proved to be a worthwhile talking point after he was named the D-II Player of the Year as a junior and senior.
During that senior season, Bell decided he would spend a year in prep school after graduating from Brady. But after not receiving much financial assistance for a post-grad year, he figured he’d go straight to college. By then, however, the D-II schools that were looking at him had no scholarships left for that year.
That’s when a former AAU coach, Matt Lemieux, suggested he check out his alma mater, Colby-Sawyer. The school had already been in touch with Bell, so he took a visit. The small-school feel reminded him of Brady, he liked the academic offerings and he quickly decided Colby-Sawyer was the place for him.
“Most people were under the impression that he was going to prep school, and so we just kind of did our due diligence and kept in touch with him,” Foti said. “I always tell my assistants, you never know.”
The prized recruit got off to a rough start, however. Bell injured his knee during an early practice and missed the first 15 games of the season. It was his first major injury, so watching his team from the bench was a new experience.
“In our first scrimmage, I was on the bench and I was shaking because I wanted to go in so bad,” Bell said. “Then I felt the same way, shaking and stuff, the second time I watched everybody play. But after that I realized there was nothing I could do about it, so I just decided to be a good teammate.”
He went to all the practices and games, rehabbed his knee and played his first college game on Jan. 16, finishing with eight points, two rebounds and two assists in 10 minutes. By the end of the year, he was the third leading scorer (10.1 ppg) for a Chargers team that was 19-8 and went to a second consecutive NAC championship game.
It was a good freshman season, but Bell has come a long way since then. His knee is finally 100 percent. He’s the primary scoring option on a young team that just graduated two all-conference players. And his game has also grown on the other end, where he’s know being tasked with guarding the opposing team’s top perimeter player, a responsibility Foti said he “never would have dreamed of” giving Bell in the past.
“Part of his development is his own improvement as a well-rounded player, but then the other thing is just being healthy and getting those opportunities,” Foti said. “We lean on him to do a lot, and he’s delivered thus far.”
The same can be said of Bean, who has started every game for Colby-Sawyer. Staying in games, however, has been an issue.
“Foul trouble,” Bean said quickly when asked what he’s struggled with the most at the college level. “The first four games I had four or five fouls, and I couldn’t get into any rhythm coming in and out of the game. But games like today (against Maine Maritime, where he had just three fouls, played 29 minutes and finished with 15 points and eight rebounds) are great.”
Bean considered the University of New England and St. Joseph’s (Maine) before landing at Colby-Sawyer. Foti recruited him out of Franklin, but he wasn’t exactly sure what he’d be getting since Bean was always swarmed by double and triple teams in high school. But Bean has thrived in the college game, and Foti believes he’s only going to get better. Much better.
“He’s been improving exponentially from the preseason to now, and you probably won’t even recognize him by the time he’s a junior,” Foti said. “He could be a monster.”
If Bean and Bell keep improving at their current rate, the Chargers may morph into monsters sooner than that.
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or at tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20.)