MYO BAXTER-BELL
High school: Chaminade Julienne
Personal: 6-4, sr.
Averages: 14.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists
Notable: Scored season-high 25 vs. Dunbar; helped CJ advance to D-III final four
College: Liberty University (Va.)
NCAA D-I AREA BASKETBALL SIGNEES/COMMITS
Kyle Ahrens, Versailles / Michigan State
Myo Baxter-Bell, Chaminade Julienne / Liberty (Va.)
Bryce Crosen, Springboro / Holy Cross
Amos “A.J.” Harris, Dunbar / Ohio State
Luke Kennard, Franklin / Duke
Luke Knapke, Marion Local / Toledo
Ryan Mikesell, St. Henry / Dayton
Alan Vest, Chaminade Julienne / Wright State
Ahmad Wagner, Wayne / Iowa
Xeyrius Williams, Wayne / Dayton
Myo Baxter-Bell, a huge reason Chaminade Julienne advanced to the Division III high school state final four this past season, has committed to play basketball at Liberty University.
His academic status following graduation will depend if he signs. Regardless, he’ll attend school at the NCAA Division I program at Lynchburg, Va., this fall and will redshirt the 2015-16 men’s basketball season.
“This means a lot,” said Baxter-Bell, who chose Liberty over Radford (Va.). “I was thinking about going to a prep school or junior college. Liberty gives me a chance to play at a really good university. I hope to make a difference.”
Baxter-Bell began his career at Lakota East then transferred to CJ for his junior and senior seasons. At a robust 6-foot-4, he made an immediate impact for the Eagles with his versatility. Besides handling the ball well, he was a dominating inside factor.
He averaged 14.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists and tallied a season-high 25 points in a close loss to Dunbar as a senior. The Eagles were 22-7 overall and won the Greater Catholic League North Division (9-1) and sectional, district and regional championships.
CJ lost 55-50 to Lima Central Catholic in the D-III state semifinals at Columbus.
A lineup that featured Baxter-Bell, Wright State signee and leading scorer Alan Vest, senior Zach Burneka (Ashland for football), junior Jacob Harrison (decommitted to Akron for football) and promising sophomore Christian Montague enabled CJ to advance to state for the first time since 2004.
Eagles coach Joe Staley said CJ was 33-9 after switching to Baxter-Bell to bring the ball up court and start the offense.
“It’s Myo’s versatility that attracted a lot of colleges to him,” Staley said. “They see Myo as someone who’s going to turn into a really good perimeter player. For us he was a dream come true because he was good in the post and good on the perimeter. He was pretty much a matchup nightmare for most of the teams we played.”
Liberty was 8-24 this past season and 2-16 in the Big South Conference. The Flames won the Big South title in 2013.
The most recent area players to attend Liberty to play basketball were the Frazee triplets of Xenia Christian — Megan, Molly and Moriah — from 2005-09. Megan was a two-time Big South player of the year and plays in the Turkish Women’s League. Former Dayton Christian standout David Dees also played at Liberty from 2003-05 before transferring to Louisiana–Lafayette.
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