I was excited for the Keegan Bell era at Vanderbilt.  He was a top 30 high school point guard that Coach Stallings wrestled away from LSU and Mississippi in 2007's recruiting process. Bell was supposed to add stability at guard behind Jermaine Beal and eventually run the point in Beal's absence.  He was a decent athlete who, as the son of a basketball coach, was touted as having a great basketball IQ and slick shot.  As a freshman, he played in 34 games and showed flashes of talent, but was turnover prone, a weak defender, and developed a nasty habit of taking bad shots and missing 3-pointers in SEC games. 

These all seemed to be growing pains for a young basketball player, and Bell was expected to keep improving and work his way deeper into the Commodore rotation as a ballhandler and distributor.  However, his decision to transfer changed that, and left the 'Dores temporarily shorthanded on a 2008-2009 squad that needed veteran players.  Citing philosophical disagreements with the coaching style, Bell left Vandy to play for Chattanooga, a system where he'd be guaranteed more playing time and a chance to put his talents to their best use.  Vanderbilt, meanwhile, used his now vacated scholarship spot to recruit Brad Tinsley, who would immediately step in to the backup PG role as a true freshman in 2008.

Expectations were high for Bell coming into this year - his status made him one of the highest profile players to take the court for tiny Chattanooga.  Rivals.com named him the Southern Conference's preseason Newcomer of the Year in their annual preview.  With a year of SEC experience and two years of college practices under his belt, Keegan Bell seemed prepared to take the SoCon by storm; unfortunately, Bell's impact has been underwhelming so far.  Read more after the jump:

Any excuse I have to post a picture of Alex Gordon, I'm going to use.  via cache.daylife.com

Bell's been a backcourt presence for the Mocs, starting all but one game and playing big minutes for the squad.  In his first two games as a member of the SoCon, he averaged 17.5 points and 6.5 assists and looked to be the big time player the team needed.  However, when competition has stepped up, Bell has shrunk in the face of adversity.  Take into account the stats from Chattanooga's three biggest out of conference games:

vs. Richmond:

vs. Missouri:

vs. Georgia Tech:

All in all,  Bell is averaging 6.7 points in 32 minutes per game against good teams.  He's shooting 29% from the field, 22% on threes, and has 9 turnovers versus 11 assists in three games.  In short, he's playing poorly and his team is getting blown out by a higher level of competition.  And while his stats look better when factoring in games against Longwood, Mississippi Valley State, and Eastern Kentucky, the young PG had been underwhelming so far.  

All this leads to the question: was transferring out of the SEC the right move?  Bell has had a year to acclimate to his new team, but even facing lesser opponents, doesn't appear to be any better than he was two years ago with Coach Stallings.  While Chattanooga was supposed to be the right fit for his playing style, it seems to just foster the same problems he had in Nashville, just with more minutes to showcase these shortcomings.

Of course, I may be wrong.  I haven't actually seen Bell play other than a few clips this year, and it's entirely possible that he's just slumping or having trouble adjusting to the pressure of starting for a NCAA team.  There is a chance he'll snap back and become the floor general that scouts thought he would become, limiting turnovers and draining threes.  However, it appears that his basketball IQ might just be a step ahead of his athleticism - he understands the moves he wants to make, but just can't pull them off against a higher level of competition.  Only time will tell if Keegan Bell can reconcile the two and become a consistent leader for a team that could desperately need one.