University of Minnesota Athletics
Courtside with Kenisha Bell
12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Kenisha Bell (Minneapolis, Minn.) joined the Gophers' starting lineup after her transfer redshirt season.
What did you work on or improve the most during your redshirt season?
Being more of a leader. Being smarter with some of the things that I used to do, like some of the passes I used to make. Also being able to get a bond with everybody on and off the court. I think that came up a lot.
You got to watch a lot of the teams you'll face this year. What's a Big Ten team you think will be fun to play?
Ohio State. Kelsey Mitchell is a good player. I've talked about her a lot, played against her once in AAU, and she's a good scorer. She's a good passer. She's an all-around player that I like and I want to play against her to make me more competitive and show the best ability I can.
What did you do when the rest of the team was on road trips?
Watching the games. I was pumped at home. I was screaming at the TV, acting like I was on the bench, even making statuses so everybody could keep up with the score if they couldn't watch the game.
After being through a whole season in the program, did your first game this year feel like you fit in smoothly right away?
It felt like I fit in pretty well. It feels normal to me. Playing with them a lot in practices and playing on the scout team and all that, I recognize how they play and I was able to adjust to the team pretty well.
As a point guard with plenty of ability to score, how do you balance scoring and distributing?
It comes pretty naturally, but if I feel like I'm having an off game, I look more to pass the ball and get other people scoring.
What is it like to be back playing games on the court where you played in the state tournament?
It's pretty fun playing at the Barn. I got used to playing there and being able to get a win that I didn't get in high school, even though in high school that was the last game and we needed that, but I'm able to get it back by playing these games.
How excited are your family and friends to have back on the court in Minneapolis?
Everybody wants tickets, and I only get four, so… They're super excited. They've been shouting me out on social media every chance they get. Every game day they're wishing me the best of luck. If they can't make it, they'll make the next game. They've been pretty supportive since I've been back.
Your big family has a lot of athletes. Are some of your siblings still playing college basketball?
I have one brother at Riverland Community College still playing, and the other ones are playing, not at a bigger college, but they're still playing basketball. I think everybody's just feeding off each other.
Did you have some competitive pickup games growing up?
Yeah. It's more like, if you don't win, you get mad and want to fight. But I think it helped us be stronger with each other. For me, sacrificing my body to play against boys, that helped a whole lot. They helped me be stronger and tougher when I played and not worry about the smallest things that I could adjust to the next game.
Do you still play when you all get together?
Yeah, we try to stay on the same team, though, and school the other people that bring their starting fives and come to the gym. It's pretty fun.
What were the best things about the trip to Bimini, Bahamas, for the Junkanoo Jam?
Meeting new people. We met a lot of new people who were super friendly and kind. The beaches. And I don't normally do snorkeling. I've never been the water type. But snorkeling was kind of fun, too, even though I thought I was going to drown or something. It was good.
What did you see when you were snorkeling?
Sting rays and fish.
