Eldorado High School sophomore Bella Hines has become a national interest since scoring 67 points in one game in the Las Vegas Classic tournament three weeks ago.
Since then, Hines has received more than half-dozen offers from colleges throughout the country and is now on the fast track to landing a full scholarship with the college of her choosing.
She explained she didn’t even realize until toward the end of the game how many points she had scored.
“I shocked myself and when I went back into the game with 65 points. I just wanted to see if I could get a couple more, and I got fouled with five seconds left at the free-throw line and knocked down both. I was like, ‘This is crazy!’” she said.
Hines said she feels super blessed to have all of this attention after her 67-point game, when videos of her went viral.
“Just to get recognized in a lot of big platforms has been really, really cool, and just seeing all the people that have reached out to me has been awesome.”
Hines said although basketball is her favorite thing to do, she has been leaning toward majoring in culinary arts when she gets to college, but it would be a dream come true if she could make it to the WNBA.
The player she looks up to the most she said is Paige Beuckers, who plays for the University of Connecticut and just tore her ACL.
“Paige has always been my idol since I started playing basketball. I look up to her more than anyone,” Hines explained. “She is just definitely the one person that inspired me to start playing.”
Hines stated she has been playing basketball since fifth grade and that her brothers got her into the sport at an early age. She has no plans to stop anytime soon, even though she has had some obstacles to overcome. She had to get separate surgeries on both her feet a few years ago, and explained one of the most difficult things she has had to go through was the recovery process and not being able to be on her feet periodically more than 10 months.
“I was out for a while, and it was difficult to stay motivated and to play basketball afterward because it was such a super-long recovery, so that was one thing I faced that was super hard to come back from,” she said.
It didn’t stop her from pursuing her goals, though, and she said basketball actually helped her get through those hard times.
“It’s been one thing I can always rely on. I love basketball more than anything and is one thing I’ll never lose love for.”
When it comes to everyday things, she said she her favorite places to go are ABC Gym and Sadie’s for the salsa.
Hines said she also loves Eldorado because there are genuinely the nicest people there as she finds she can be herself and her Mom, Michelle Hines, is also an Eldorado alumna who supports all of her children’s goals, including her son, who is a baseball player.
She said about her parents, “I know they’re proud of me, and they just tell me to stay humble and keep pushing and not just be satisfied with where I am at.”
She said she is looking forward to going farther this year with her team because she thought the last season was cut a bit short.
“I am definitely looking forward to pushing through this season and seeing how far we can actually go this year,” Hines said.
For some highlights of her life-changing game, look below.
