The Pete Bell Story
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:36 am
[SIZE="4"]Waldron, Indiana Summer of 1972[/SIZE]
Bad news spreads fast in a small town. News of little Petey Bell's injury spread like wildfire. Just days away from starting the eighth grade
Petey injured his back working on the Bell Family Farm and as rumor has it his basketball career is all but over. Considered a basketball prodigy,
the 14 year old was due to start for the Waldron varsity as an eighth grader during the '72 season. By word of mouth Bell's basketball dominance
and intelligence spread over southern Indiana to the point that that his seventh grade games were standing room only last season drawing bigger
crowds than the varsity team themselves.
In an unprecedented move Indiana coach Bobby Knight extended a scholorship offer to a then 13 year old Bell after Knight had traveled from
Bloomington to watch one of his seventh grade games last season. "This kid is unbelievable," Knight said after the game. "He could run my team
right now if the NCAA would let him."
Newly appointed Kentucky Head Coach Joe Hall visited the tiny Waldron gym as a member of Adolph Rupp's staff in the fall of 1971. At the time Hall
was stunned at what he saw. "I've never seen a 13 year old that good," Hall told a Shelbyville, Indiana newspaper at the time. "If it were my team I'd
offer him a full ride right now but I'll have to go back to Lexington and see if I can get Coach Rupp to give him a look."
Although never confirmed, there were rumors that UCLA coach and Martinsville, Indiana native John Wooden had been seen at the Bell Family Farm
earlier in the summer.
When news of the injury reached coach Knight he was visibly upset. "Pete Bell would have been an All American at Indiana. By far the smartest basketball
player I have ever seen play."