Cal Senior Transfer Chris Bell Set For Return to Syracuse

Chris Bell will be the third and final Cal player this season to go up against his former ACC school. The senior forward hopes for a result on Wednesday night neither Dai Dai Ames or John Camden achieved.

Cal (17-7, 5-6 ACC) visits Syracuse (13-11, 4-7) for a 4 p.m. PT tip-off, and Bell will try to help get a victory at his former school that eluded both Ames and Camden.

Ames, who leads the Bears in scoring at 17.0 points per game, went for 18 when Cal lost 84-60 at Virginia on Jan. 7.

Camden played last season at Delaware, where he scored 16.8 per game. He spent the two previous seasons at Virginia Tech, where he produced an average of just 1.5 points per outing.

Camden is third on the team this season at 13.9 points but had a rough time when Cal lost 78-75 at Tech three days after their defeat at Virginia. He scored just two points on a pair of free throws, missing all five of his shots from the field.

Bell grew up in the East Bay community of Concord and attended De La Salle High School before spending one year at Wasatch Academy in Utah. In three seasons at Syracuse, he averaged 9.4 points over 95 games, including 75 starts.

Bell is the Bears’ No. 4 scorer this season, posting a career-best 13.0 points per game on 36-percent accuracy from the 3-point arc and 87.5 percent at the free throw line. He has been a steady performer, scoring double digits 18 times in 24 games, with season highs of 27 vs. Kansas State and 28 vs. Morgan State.

“The impact of Chris Bell has been huge for our program,” Cal coach Mark Madsen said. “Chris Bell’s worth ethic is that of an NBA player. He is, obviously, an elite shooter, but he is so much more than that. He’s a strong finisher at the rim. He has a really good basketball IQ.

“He’s someone who literally everybody on the team loves. So he’s a guy that has really helped our program in a lot of ways.”

Syracuse coach Adrian “Red” Autry said he’s seen a growing maturity in Bell this season.

“Chris has played really well. He’s a senior. He’s shooting the ball and he’s putting it on the floor a little bit more,” Autry said. “He’s having a really solid season for Cal.”

Madsen said folks at Syracuse had only good things to say about Bell after he entered the transfer portal last year and Cal called to get a reference.

“We live in a different era where player mobility is paramount. Players have this right and I’m sure Syracuse misses Chris,” Madsen said. “Chris has meant the world to us. I believe and hope this opportunity here at Cal has been a very positive one for Chris.”

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