WNBA selects UNC senior

Midway through the 2004-05 season, North Carolina senior Nikita Bell lost her starting spot after scoring just four points in consecutive contests against Miami and Florida State.

But after Bell permanently returned to the starting lineup Feb. 16 at Wake Forest, she not only scored double-figures in all but one of her final 11 games but also earned a multitude of honors:

n The ACC’s coaches deemed Bell the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.

n Sportswriters deemed her an honorable mention All-America, even though she was not even nominated for the All-ACC awards.

n And Saturday, the Detroit Shock deemed her a professional basketball player, as Bell culminated her successful two-month stretch by becoming the ninth UNC women’s basketball player to hear her name called at the WNBA Draft.

After Shock coach Bill Laimbeer selected Bell with the 20th overall pick, she exhaled while several of her North Carolina teammates and team director of operations Greg Law watched the broadcast with her in UNC’s basketball office.

“Finally, they called my name — it was a relief,” Bell said. “I was happy and relieved at the same time.”

When she was coming off the bench in early February, it appeared that Bell might not have had the opportunity to rejoice.

But her dominant, face-to-face pressure defense fused with a more prevalent offensive game to help carry the Tar Heels to conference championships in the regular season and the ACC Tournament.

Most notably, Bell’s 14 points, 11 rebounds and nine steals keyed the Tar Heels’ stunning win in their regular-season finale against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. And a week later, her 15 second-half points allowed the Tar Heels to erase a 17-point deficit and stun Virginia in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

“There were a couple times when we sat her down a little bit, mainly to get her head on a little more straight,” said UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell. “I’ve really been impressed with her maturity, her attitude when she didn’t start or different situations. When she was younger, she would not have handled them quite as well as she did.”

That increased maturity, along with her defensive prowess, earned Bell a spot at the WNBA’s Pre-Draft Camp in Tarrytown, N.Y., last weekend.

At the exhibitions, which featured 40 potential draftees, she felt the pressure of needing to impress talent evaluators in two days that would determine the future of her basketball career.

“At first, it was kind of awkward, kind of nervous — don’t want to do too much or too little, just kind of in the middle,” Bell said. “I just tried to be energetic, tried to be a hustler, running, playing defense.”

At the camp, Bell noticed UNC assistant coach and Washington Mystics player Charlotte Smith-Taylor engaging in discussions with the Shock’s personnel staff, giving Bell the impression that the franchise might be interested in acquiring her services.

Laimbeer, known for his physical defense as a player with the Detroit Pistons, has implemented a similar philosophy coaching at the WNBA level. He also employs a fast-paced style of play similar to Hatchell’s rapid tempo and motion offense.

“I think she’ll fit in real well there,” Hatchell said. “They play a lot like we do. It’s a place where she can use her skills and abilities, her athletic ability and how strong she is physically. I think she is happy, and I am too.”

Already, though, Bell is dealing with some of the frenzy associated with her WNBA duties. For a senior poised to earn a degree in communication studies, Bell is trying to work out the logistics of simultaneously finishing her courses and participating in the Shock’s training camp.

She will report to the league’s rookie orientation this week, and the Shock’s first exhibition game is in less than three weeks — on May 7 against the Minnesota Lynx.

And while Bell’s next challenge is to improve her outside shooting and to find her niche in the WNBA, she surpassed expectations at North Carolina this season by being the defensive catalyst on the third team in school history to reach the Elite Eight.

“I’m just going to miss her so much because of her defensive pressure,” said UNC sophomore Ivory Latta. “I’m like, ‘One day, I’m going to be just like Nikita Bell on the ball and just play pressure defense like her.’”

 

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.