Longtime WPIAL Basketball Coach Rick Bell Hired as New Duquesne Assistant

After coaching for 30 years in various levels of basketball, longtime Canon-McMillan High School boys coach Rick Bell is moving to Division-I college basketball.

Bell has been hired as an assistant coach on Dan Burt’s staff at Duquesne, it was announced on Tuesda.

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Bell enjoyed a successful run at Canon-McMillan from 2001-19, finishing with a career record of 428-316, six playoff appearances and the schools first-even trip to the WPIAL semifinals. Prior to that, Bell had a 13 year run at Peters Township, where he made 11-straight trips to the playoffs. For the past two seasons, Bell worked with the Geneva men’s basketball team where his son played.

“I am so honored to be a part of Duquesne, one of the nation’s top Catholic universities,” said Bell. “I am equally honored to be a part of the women’s basketball program and Coach Burt’s staff. It is exciting to be a part of a program and staff that has been the winningest Division I basketball program in Pittsburgh during Coach Burt’s tenure.”

“We are excited to have Coach Bell join our program. He is not stranger to our team after attending numerous practices over the last couple of years,” said Burt. “Coach Bell’s strong x’s and o’s knowledge with numerous local coaches, and player development skill set will make our program better. A man of the highest ethics and integrity, we believe that we have hit a home run with this hire and we can’t wait to get the season started.”

Bell will replace Matt Schmidt, who was hired as the head coach at Division-II Wheeling.

Duquesne Assistant Matt Schmidt Hired as Head Coach at D-II Wheeling