Proving it: Family motivates Baylor's Bella Fontleroy to become her best

Bella Fontleroy had the world at her fingertips going into her sophomore year of high school.

She was coming off a really strong freshman high school season, was in line for a big year on the AAU circuit, had just gotten an invite to the Team USA camp and was excited about the whole process.

During a tournament in Louisville, she got a steal and started driving the other way when she was bumped by an opponent.

Fontleroy went one way. Her knee went the other way.

“It was an injury that a lot of people don't come back and play basketball from,” Fontleroy said.

At a moment when the recruiting process usually ramps up in a major way, her basketball momentum came to a screeching halt.

She was originally tabbed as one of the Top 15 players in the country in her class. After her injury, that number dropped significantly, and many of the big-time programs that were interested started to call less and less.

Fontleroy would still sit on the bench with her dad, Will, who was also the coach. It gave her a different perspective on the game.

She never got discouraged.

“It was more of a flat-out determination,” Will said. “Once you have something like that happen and you hear that you’re done and you're never gonna be as good as you were, you have all the doubts and the questions. She attacked the rehab every day.

“She wanted to prove it to herself.”

After spending five years coaching in the WNBA, Nicki Collen wasn’t as intertwined in college recruiting circles as other college coaches when she was hired at Baylor in the spring of 2021, so she went down a list of anyone who was uncommitted and called.

Fontleroy was the first one she reached out to.

Following someone like Kim Mulkey, who won three national championships and 13 Big 12 titles as head coach at Baylor, is a tough act to follow.

“There was a parallel in proving people wrong and doing it together,” Collen said.

While there were some coaches who stuck with Fontleroy during her injury rehab, nobody built a connection as quickly or as deeply as Collen.

“I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder,” Fontleroy said. “Even though I hadn’t made all the big things and been chosen all the time, I was still that kid who plays with a lot of passion and heart. She saw that in me, and she saw that she had this opportunity to come in and start a new legacy at Baylor, and I feel like we just kind of clicked on that level.”

Four years later, she has helped usher in the next era of Baylor basketball.

The active leader in career games played for the Bears (131), she’s been a full-time starter over the last two years and was a part-time starter in her first two seasons, averaging nearly 10 points and more than five rebounds per game over her career.

“I'm very blessed,” Fontleroy said. “This is a school that, if you bring everything that you have to it, it's going to give you so much. I feel like that's what I did, and I've gotten the best of everything out of it.”

Born to hoop

Whether it was a bounce dunk or a posterization against an in-state rival, Will Fontleroy has his own basketball legacy.

Inducted into the Missouri State University Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2021, Will was a four-year starter for the Bears from 1996-2000, including during their run to the Sweet Sixteen in 1999.

When his playing days were over, he got into coaching.

Bella didn’t leave his side, and spent many days during her young years in a playpen in one corner of the gym.

“She really didn’t have a choice,” Will said.

By the time she was six or seven, she was out of the playpen and on the court mimicking drills that she was seeing. Then, Will set up some drills specifically for Bella, with one very serious command from his wife, Carolyn: You better not make her hate it.

“We just did some simple cone dribbling drills and some layups,” Bella said. “I was terrible. I was so bad at it. I wasn't very coordinated, but it was fun. It was just me and my dad. That was the thing that I did to connect with him.”

Growing up in the same town where her dad was a college basketball legend, people would sometimes pull up the highlights of his dunks on YouTube. Bella was partly annoyed, but mostly proud.

As Bella’s game became more well-known, he became less recognized around town for his high-flying dunks and more so for his daughter.

With Bella’s Baylor career winding down, he can’t help but reflect.

“I’m extremely proud of the kid and all that she’s accomplished,” Will said. “As a dad, I couldn’t have asked for more. This is more than what I ever thought it would or could be; more than what I dreamed of. I’m super proud of her.”

She wouldn’t be here without him.

“The reason that I play basketball is to make my family proud,” Fontleroy said. “I love it, I had fun doing it with him for a long time. We butted heads for a while there, and we had to separate as coach and player and become more father-daughter, but I will forever be grateful that he's the person who got me into doing what I love.”

Head of the snake

Fontleroy has mastered the art of drawing a charge.

Her uniform this season includes some extra padding on her legs and knees to soften the blow when a charging player comes at her.

By the time she’s helped up off the floor, she has an anguished look on her face and is holding her back as she stumbles to the free-throw line.

“You really have to sell it,” Fontleroy said. “Make sure that you're squared off like they're hitting you in your chest, whether you’ve got your arms up, just make sure that you tuck that chin so you don't hit your head and try to fall gracefully.

“Just go for it. If you're gonna do it, don't chicken out.”

While Fontleroy has had a share of offensive outbursts, including scoring a career high last season against Cincinnati or notching a double-double in an NCAA Tournament win over Vanderbilt two years ago, defense is the name of her game.

“Even when she doesn’t have huge games, Bella makes us better with her voice,” Collen said. “She’s a defensive captain for us, and her IQ and understanding (is elite). As long as her teammates listen, good things will happen for us as the defensive end.”

Fontleroy has led the team in charges each of the last two seasons. She has more than 100 blocks in her career and nearly 150 steals, and got her first All-Big 12 Defensive Team nod last season.

“Bella is the head of our defensive snake,” forward Kyla Abraham said. “She knows where to go, where to be, what to do and when to do it. We all listen to her. When she’s locked in defensively, we’re all locked in defensively.”

Her defense is her path to the pros.

Fontleroy hit 3-pointers at a 32% or better clip over the first three years of her Baylor career. Even if that has dropped to 27% this season, her ability to shoot is what makes her enticing to pro scouts.

“She has a real chance to be a really good pro,” Collen said. “If she leans into being an elite 3-and-D player and continues to get better making good simple reads off the bounce, with her size and her frame, the way she plays the game really fits the pro game.”

A communications major, Fontleroy plans to pursue a career in basketball when her time at Baylor is done, whether that be as a professional player or doing on-camera work in an analysis role.

“I don't know that I can give it up just yet,” Fontleroy said. “I know I've got some bumps and bruises and whatnot, but at the end of the day, it's just a matter of how bad you want it. It's not easy to walk away from something that literally raised you.

“Basketball is always going to be something that I want to do and play and be around.”