James Tahj Mainor-Bell (born January 7, 1992) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for Passlab Yamagata Wyverns of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for Villanova before playing professionally in Italy, France, Israel, Turkey and Croatia. Born and raised in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

, he moved to Orlando, Florida to attend Montverde Academy. In his senior year at Montverde, he averaged 18.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game to lead Montverde to a 23–5 record and was named a third team All-American by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

''. Both his freshman and sophomore years at Villanova were hampered by injuries to his leg and ankle. He increased his scoring average to 8.6 points per game as a junior to lead Villanova to the NCAA tournament.

Early life and high school career

Bell was born on January 7, 1992, to James Mainor and Erika Bell. He has two younger brothers, Jayden and Justin. Bell was raised in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

but moved to Orlando, Florida to attend Montverde Academy where he was coached by Kevin Sutton. He was named Lake County player of the year as a junior and senior. As a senior, he averaged 18.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game to lead Montverde to a 23–5 record and national ranking. The ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...

'' selected Bell to the first team all-area at the conclusion of his senior year. ''

'' named him a third team All-American, and '' ''Parade'''' named him a fourth team All-American. He was

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

's No. 78-ranked player in the 2010 recruiting class. , - , colspan="7" style="padding-left:10px;" , Overall Recruiting Rankings: Scout – 78

College career

Freshman

As a freshman, Bell was a backup to guards Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes, and

Maalik Wayns Maalik Benjamin Wayns (born May 2, 1991) is an American-Belarusian former basketball player and coach. He played high school basketball for Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, where he was a ''Parade'' All-American as well as a McDonald's ...

. He was hampered by stress fractures in his tibia. The injury was so bad it required metal rods to be inserted in both legs. He missed the first five games of his freshman year recuperating from the surgery. With Stokes injured, Bell scored a season-high 21 points in a win over

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesa ...

on February 15, 2011. He averaged 2.4 points and 1.3 rebounds per game as a freshman.

Sophomore

As a sophomore, Bell averaged 7.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game and shot 36% from behind the three-point arc. He scored a season-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting along with six rebounds to help the Wildcats beat Seton Hall 84–76 on January 21, 2012. On January 25, he recorded his first

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

with 14 points and 13 rebounds in a loss to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. He suffered a sprained ankle on February 15, 2012, which derailed the rest of his sophomore season. Villanova finished the season a disappointing 13–19.

Junior

Bell posted averages of 8.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in his junior season. Villanova went 11–2 in games that he scored in excess of 10 points. His season-high 19 points came on November 11, when the Wildcats defeated the

Marshall Thundering Herd The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are member ...

. The following game, Bell hit two three-pointers in overtime to help Villanova defeat Purdue 89–81. He finished with 16 points. Bell tallied 12 points–including the winning three-pointer–in a December 11 victory over crosstown rival Saint Joseph's. On January 26, 2013, Bell notched 13 ponts and hit consecutive three-pointers in overtime in a win over Syracuse. Villanova reached the NCAA tournament, and Bell scored four points in their matchup versus

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Senior

Bell averaged 15.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game to lead Villanova to three wins over USC,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

and the Battle 4 Atlantis championship. As a result, he earned Big East and Philadelphia Big 5 player of the week honors on December 2, 2013. He scored a career-high 30 points in a 94–85 overtime win over Marquette on January 25, 2014. The performance earned him Big 5 player of the week honors. He was named the Big 5 player of the week the following week after scoring 19 points in a victory over

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

. For the week of February 10, he garnered his third straight Big 5 player of the week honors as well as being named Big East player of the week. On February 13, he was named one of the 30 finalists for

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. History an ...

. Bell scored his 1000th point in a Villanova uniform in a March 6 game against Xavier. By defeating the Musketeers, Villanova clinched their first regular season Big East championship since 1982. As a senior, Bell led the team in scoring, averaging 14.4 points per game, and tied for the team high in rebounding with 6.1 per game. In the NCAA Tournament, Bell posted 14 points and 5 rebounds in a loss to eventual national champion

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. He was named to the all-Big East First Team at the conclusion of the regular season. He was selected to the District Ii (NY, NJ, DE, DC, PA, WV) All-District team by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Bell was listed on the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University ...

Division I All‐District 5 first team on March 12. He won the Robert V. Geasey Trophy honoring the best player in the Big 5. Villanova coach Jay Wright said that Bell's "got as much respect as any player we've had here."

Professional career

Vanoli Cremona (2014–2015)

After going undrafted in the

2014 NBA draft The 2014 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2014, at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, Bell joined the Charlotte Hornets in the

2014 NBA Summer League The 2014 NBA Summer League consists of two pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA and the Orlando Magic just after the 2014 NBA Draft. Ten teams took part in the week-long summer league at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, from July 5 t ...

. On July 27, 2014, Bell signed with the Italian team

Vanoli Cremona Guerino Vanoli Basket, also known as Vanoli Cremona, is a professional basketball team of the city of Cremona. The team played in the LBA, the top Italian basketball league, for 12 years until 2021. From 1999 to 2011 the society had the name of ...

for the 2014–15 season.

Nancy (2015–2016)

On July 11, 2015, Bell signed a one-year deal with the French team

SLUC Nancy Stade Lorrain Université Club Nancy Basket, commonly referred to as SLUC Nancy Basket, is a French professional basketball club based in Nancy. The club currently competes in the LNB Pro A, the top league in France, and holds two league titles. S ...

. On October 31, 2015, Bell recorded a career-high 32 points, shooting 13-of-21 from the field, along with four rebounds and two steals in a 104–108 loss to Pau-Orthez.

Hapoel Holon (2016–2017)

On August 3, 2016, Bell signed with the Israeli team

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club ( he, מועדון הכדורסל הפועל חולון), known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Atsmon Playgrounds Holon (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli ...

for the 2016–17 season. On December 29, 2016, Bell recorded a season-high and a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 10-of-15 from the field in a 100–93 win over

Hapoel Gilboa Galil Hapoel Gilboa Galil ( he, הפועל גלבוע גליל) is a professional basketball club that is based in north-east Israel. The club plays its home game in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball) in a 2,250- ...

. In 37 games played during the 2016–17, Bell averaged 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He was named two-time Israeli League Player of the Month (for games played in March and April), three-time MVP of the Round and made the All-Israeli League First Team. Bell helped Holon to reach the 2017 Israeli League Playoffs as the first seed, but they eventually were eliminated by

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

in the Quarterfinals.

Darüşşafaka (2017–2018)

On June 30, 2017, Bell joined the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

for the

2017 NBA Summer League The 2017 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Eight teams participated in the wee ...

. On July 15, 2017, Bell signed a one-year contract with the Turkish team Darüşşafaka. On March 6, 2018, Bell has been ruled out for the rest of the season after he suffered a foot injury in a match against

KK Budućnost KK Budućnost (, ), currently known as Budućnost VOLI () for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Podgorica, Montenegro. The club competes in Montenegrin Basketball League, Adriatic League and Eurocup. It is a part o ...

. In 36 games played for Darüşşafaka (including the EuroCup and all Turkish competitions), he averaged 9.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Bell won the 2018 EuroCup title with Darüşşafaka.

Cedevita (2018)

On July 31, 2018, Bell signed with the Croatian team

Cedevita Cedevita d.o.o. is a Croatian company which produces a wide range of teas, instant drinks, and dietetic products. A notable owner of the company was the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva d.d. Since 2001 Cedevita has been part of the Atlantic ...

for the 2018–19 season. In 19 games played for Cedevita, Bell averaged 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists per game, shooting 42.3 percent from 3-point range.

Budućnost (2018–2019)

On December 21, 2018, Bell joined Budućnost Podgorica of the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

and the EuroLeague, signing for the rest of the season.

Partizan (2019)

On November 1, 2019, Bell signed a one-year deal

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

of the

and the EuroCup, but the contract was terminated after a few days due to the failure of medical examinations.

Promitheas Patras (2020)

On January 28, 2020, Bell signed with Promitheas Patras.

New Basket Brindisi (2020–2021)

On July 11, 2020, Bell signed with

New Basket Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Happy Casa Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. It plays in the first division LBA in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 2004, the well ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

(LBA) and the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercont ...

Anwil Włocławek (2021–2022)

On July 8, 2021, Bell signed with

Anwil Włocławek Anwil is a municipality in the district of Sissach in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Anwil is first mentioned in 1276. Geography Anwil has an area, , of . Of this area, or 63.6% is used for agricultural purposes, wh ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crow ...

National team career

Following the close of his freshman year at Villanova, Bell was selected to the U.S. team sent to Riga, Latvia for the

2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Latvian: 2011. gada FIBA pasaules čempionāts līdz 19 gadu vecumam) was the 10th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by ...

. Bell started all nine matches and averaged 3.8 points per game on and 3.1 rebounds per contest. The United States finished 7–2, good for fifth in the tournament. His best game was a 16-point, eight-rebound performance to help the U.S. defeat Canada 83–34 in the opening day of the second round of the tournament.

Career statistics

EuroCup

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=1, Nancy , 10 , , 3 , , 19.2 , , .441 , , .486 , , 1.00 , , 2.4 , , .8 , , .4 , , .0 , , 8.6 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=1, Darüşşafaka , 17 , , 12 , , 23.2 , , .380 , , .293 , , .808 , , 3.5 , , .8 , , .5 , , .2 , , 8.7 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=1,

, 7 , , 5 , , 26.6 , , .362 , , .341 , , .857 , , 3.1 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .1 , , 10.8 , , 7.6 , -

College

, - , align="left" ,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, align="left" ,

Villanova Wildcats The Villanova Wildcats are the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East (NCAA Division I) for every sport; except football and rowing where they compete in the Colonial Athletic Association ( Football Championship ...

, 25 , , 0 , , 9.1 , , .417 , , .323 , , .786 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.4 , - , align="left" , 2011–12 , align="left" ,

, 29 , , 18 , , 23.0 , , .393 , , .361 , , .794 , , 3.8 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 7.0 , - , align="left" ,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, align="left" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 28.5 , , .401 , , .364 , , .737 , , 4.2 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.4 , , 8.6 , - , align="left" , 2013–14 , align="left" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 29.5 , , .426 , , .371 , , .815 , , 6.1 , , 1.6 , , 1.3 , , 0.6 , , 14.4 , -class="sortbottom" , colspan=2 style="text-align:center;", Career , 122 , , 86 , , 23.5 , , .411 , , .364 , , .789 , , 4.0 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .3 , , 8.5

References

External links