Danielle Bell finished her second season as a member of Norfolk State University women’s basketball coaching staff in 2017-18. Bell brought a wealth of experience from working in the SEC and the Atlantic 10 Conference after joining the Spartans as an assistant coach prior to the 2016-17 season.
In addition to her coaching responsibilities and working with the team’s guards, the Virginia Beach, Va., native’s other duties include scheduling, recruiting, team academics, film exchange, game preparation and managing summer camps.
Norfolk State’s turnaround continued in 2017-18, as the Spartans posted an 18-11 record for their first overall winning season since 2001-02. The 18 wins are the third-most in program Division-I history and the most since 2001-02. NSU was equally successful in conference play, going 11-5 and tying for the third-most MEAC victories in program history.
The Spartans set numerous D-I program records in 2017-18 including team field goal percentage (39.3) and total 3-pointers (145). NSU ranked second in the MEAC in field goal accuracy and third in 3-point field goal percentage (30.6). Defensively, the Spartans ranked 18th nationally in scoring defense (56.2), setting D-I era records for fewest points allowed and opponent scoring average.
Bell also helped guide Armani Franklin to 2018 All-MEAC Rookie Team recognition.
NSU won 15 games in Bell’s first season on the bench. The Spartans improved their record by 12 wins for the largest single-season turnaround in program history, and they also clinched a winning record in MEAC play for only the fourth time since joining the conference in 1997-98.
Bell helped guide Norfolk State to the second-highest scoring offense in the MEAC in 2016-17, averaging 62.7 points per game. The Spartans led the conference with 14.1 assists per game and ranked third with a plus-1.43 turnover margin.
Prior to NSU, Bell spent three seasons (2013-16) as director of basketball operations at Richmond. In that capacity, she helped oversee the administrative tasks for her alma mater, including supervising managers and practice players, managing the team’s uniforms and equipment, and serving as co-director for Richmond’s summer camps.
Prior to Richmond, Bell spent three seasons working in the SEC with a one-year stint at Auburn (2012-13) and two seasons at Georgia (2010-12). At Auburn, she served as director of operations for the Tigers. In addition to overseeing the administrative tasks that supported the women’s basketball team, Bell helped coordinate team travel, managed practice logistics, assisted in game-day preparations, served as academic liaison and maintained the recruiting database.
Bell’s first stint in the SEC came at the University of Georgia, where she served as a graduate assistant coach while she attended school. She was a part of a Georgia program that went 45-20 in her two seasons and advanced to two NCAA tournaments, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2011 under Hall of Fame coach Andy Landers.
At Georgia, Bell assisted in the day-to-day operations of the program, including practice, travel and official recruit visits. In addition, she aided in player development with an emphasis on the team’s guards, and also helped with in-game responsibilities and in the marketing of the Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball camps.
Bell was a four-year letterwinner and two-year starter for Richmond from 2006-10. She helped guide the Spiders to consecutive 20-win seasons and two postseason appearances. Bell completed her career seventh in the school record books with 133 career 3-pointers and was the Atlantic 10's top 3-point shooter as a freshman, connecting on 51.9 percent of her shots from behind the arc. She was also named A-10 Rookie of the Week once as a freshman. Bell finished her collegiate career with 801 career points.
Bell was a four-year letterwinner at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach and is a veteran of the Boo Williams AAU summer league program. She earned her bachelor's degree in business administration from Richmond in 2010 and received her master's degree in adult education and sports management from Georgia in 2012.
