Baylor Bears Deuce Bello transfers to Missouri Tigers

Missouri Tigers head coach Frank Haith added a high-impact transfer from the Baylor Bears today, as Mizzou Rivals beat writer Gabe DeArmond reported earlier that the former four-star small forward in the 2011 class is headed to Missouri and the SEC. He and Quincy Miller headlined a big, top 25 recruiting class for Baylor and head coach Scott Drew, but now the former top 20 SF prospect is leaving after 66 games and two seasons with the Bears.

Bello was touted coming out of high school as an excellent scorer from High Point, North Carolina, and he chose Baylor over offers from major programs like Florida State and Louisville. A great dunk-artist, Bello showed off a high amount of pure scoring ability in high school with a great three-point shot, but he was actually known for something else while at Baylor.

In his two seasons with the Bears, Deuce Bello was more valuable on defense than offense and had better win shares on defense. In fact, it was his defense that was influential in the Bears NIT Championship run, and his very good career 3.0% steal percentage is a testament to this. Missouri and Haith want to get better on defense, and they are certainly getting better in that regard with the addition of Bello. That’s not to say he can’t hit some shots either, as he had a TS% of 52.2% as a freshman. However, he digressed in his sophomore year and didn’t show that three-point shooting that was so touted coming out of high school.

Missouri is getting an extremely athletic SF in Bello, and he is eligible to start for the Tigers once the 2014 season rolls around.