Chris Bell returns home, leads Syracuse into matchup with Stanford

Chris Bell gets an opportunity to celebrate a San Francisco Bay Area homecoming under a new name when he leads Syracuse against host Stanford in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Wednesday night.

Known then as Chris Bunch, the Syracuse junior played three seasons at De La Salle High on the east side of the San Francisco Bay before transferring to Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, for his senior season.

In 2019, Bunch's freshman season, De La Salle went 29-4, and then the squad finished two wins of a state title the following year in a 24-8 campaign.

Bunch's junior year in 2021 was short-circuited by COVID.

Enrolled at Syracuse as Chris Bell, the 6-foot-7 forward admits his desire to play 3,000 miles from home was created by former coach Jim Boeheim.

"In high school I used to always tell my dad I wanted to play for a legendary coach," he recalled. "That's kind of what I got coming (to Syracuse) 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 ranked second in the ACC in 3-point field-goal percentage last season (42.0 percent), losing the league title to Pittsburgh's Blake Hinson by one-tenth of a point. He has slumped to 31.6 percent this season, but he has made four or more in three of his past seven games, going 14-for-28 over that stretch.

He did all his scoring from outside the arc when Syracuse (9-11, 3-6 ACC) fell 77-73 at home to Pittsburgh on Saturday, going 4-for-9 from deep for 12 points.

At Stanford (14-6, 6-3), Bell will run up against two of the conference's leading 3-point shooters, Oziyah Sellers and Maxime Raynaud. Both rank in the top 16 in made 3-pointers this season, with Sellers having hit 37 and Raynaud 36, both in 20 games.

Sellers took the lead over his more heralded teammate with a 4-for-5 effort in a career-best 27-point explosion on Saturday in Stanford's 78-71 home win over Florida State.

Still, the 6-foot-5 Sellers was more excited by a rare dunk than his 3-point prowess.

"I was gonna go lay it up," he said, "but I'm like: Why not try it? It's early. Might as well try it, and it went well for me. So that was good."

The Cardinal have won three in a row and five of six. The Orange have lost two in a row.

--Field Level Media