Syracuse basketball’s Chris Bell on being the best shooter in ACC: ‘Without a doubt’

Syracuse returns its top three-point threat from a season ago.

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball program returns one of the best shooters in the ACC from last season. Chris Bell knocked down 84 triples as a sophomore at a 42.0 percent clip, a shooting percentage good for second in the league. Asked if he thought he was the best shooter in the league this season, much like his shooting release, Bell didn’t hesitate.

“Without a doubt,” Bell responded swiftly.

While working on his jumpshot is always a focus, Bell added weight to his frame over the course of the summer, focusing on lifting and ball handling. He “stayed in the gym” with his trainer and returned to Syracuse for the second summer session.

“As well as he shot the ball, he’s shooting it better now and he’s actually making plays better now. He’s getting more rim twos. He’s gotten stronger. The biggest thing what we talked about, he’s been able to grow and mature and be able to get to the next play,” Adrian Autry said on an ACCN interview.

Bell’s three-point shooting percentage from a season ago trailed only Pittsburgh’s Blake Hinson in the ACC by a tenth of a percent. Hinson is now with the Golden State Warriors organization. Bell was tied for fourth in the league in threes made per game with 2.63. Among the top five ACC players in that category, only RJ Davis returns to the league along with Bell. The Syracuse sharpshooter made eight triples on two separate occasions last year, one of those performances coming in a single half (at NC State).

“He’s the one guy that thinks he’s supposed to make every shot in life,” Autry said. “That’s what makes him a great shooter.”

Teams will try to take away Bell’s shooting ability as he moves up a notch on the scouting report. At 6-foot-7, that will be hard to do and with improved spacing and ball-movement under a five-out offense, that should help further Bell’s game. Too, he’ll be expected to put that ball on the floor a little more this season and round out his game.

Last season, an Eastern Conference NBA scout took interest in Bell as a potential three-and-D player at the next level. He’s proven he can shoot with the best of them and now has an opportunity to show himself as a man-to-man defender under Autry. Bell sees that kind of role for himself at the professional level.

“To that avail, I agree with him 100 percent. When you look at the league today, no one who’s drafted top 20 is going to be that guy this year. You have to realize where you can fit in,” Bell said. “That’s one of the things I see myself as.”

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Which brings us to the season ahead where Bell is a bit of a sole survivor. Of Syracuse’s six-member 2022 class, five have moved on from the Orange in one way or another. The class once referred to by Jim Boeheim as “the best we’ve ever had” was expected to serve as the bridge between coaching regimes. Bell is the last man standing.

“If you would’ve asked that freshman year I would’ve said, ‘Wow, I don’t think that would be me.’ Just getting older, appreciating it and being able to be out here and play in the orange. I’m just thankful for it,” Bell said.

While once publicly critiqued by his former head coach for not rebounding, Bell has taken it in stride. Bell, who gives the impression as being thoughtful and introspective, has had time to contemplate his sophomore season and self-reflect on some aspects that didn’t work last year.

“I think I would get too frustrated in games sometimes and things like that,” Bell said. “But also not being an energy consumer. I’m a junior now so I have to lead by example.”

While there might be more experienced college basketball players on Syracuse’s roster, Bell is the most seasoned player in an Orange uniform. An expected third-year starter, he represents the last Boeheim recruit still at Syracuse.

“In high school I used to always tell my dad I wanted to play for a legendary coach. That’s kind of what I got coming here and playing for Coach Boeheim. I fulfilled my dream in doing that. It’s kind of an honor being able to say, ‘Yeah that was my coach for a year.’ So just being able to still be here and make him proud is a big deal for me,” Bell said.