Eldorado's Bella Hines has emerged as a national name in girls basketball

Jul. 22—The national stock of Bella Hines is perhaps hotter than even New Mexico's scorching temperatures. Hines arrives at Eldorado High School week after next for her academic junior year. There is a strong and maybe unshakeable case to be made that she has blossomed into the state's most recognizable prep athlete, regardless of gender. It's been a whirlwind spring and summer for Hines, the Eagles' 5-foot-10 combo guard who has rapidly evolved into New Mexico's most recruited girls basketball player — probably ever. Hines certainly rates as one of the country's best prospects. "I feel like I've put in the work to be able to say I am," Hines said. "I just try to stay humble and keep working. I can't be satisfied with where I'm at." Where she's at is here: Hines has, in essence, been her own personal heat wave, racking up 32 Division I scholarship offers to date, with more certainly on the horizon. This list of suitors includes some heavy hitters — none of them more prominent than Iowa, which fell to LSU in last season's national championship game. "Big shock to me," Hines said of the Iowa offer. She had just returned to Albuquerque from the Nike Nationals event in Chicago, where the Hawkeyes scouted Hines. It was a game-changing type of offer in an offseason from Eldorado that has been chock full of them. "I was super excited," Hines said. "I don't like to show my emotions, but inside I was really happy." "She's really good at controlling her emotions," her father Josh, sitting next to Bella for this interview, said with a smile. "We get a whole lot more excited." The full list: SMU, Cincinnati, Florida State, TCU, San Francisco, BYU, New Mexico, Arizona State, Alabama, New Mexico State, Delaware, Colorado State, Utah, Kansas State, UAB, Texas Tech, North Texas, Vanderbilt, Houston, Syracuse, UTEP, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Texas A&M, Arizona, Iowa, Auburn, West Virginia, Pitt, Florida State, UTSA and, most recently, Cal. "They all pitch me a lot of stuff, saying they'll promise me this (or that), but it's the relationships I built with certain schools (that matter)," Hines said. Pressed to name her favorites, Iowa and Alabama top the current short list. (UNM is not in contention, she said.) "I know what my top five is," she said, smiling, but keeping her cards close to the vest. She did reveal that she'll be taking an official visit to Alabama in September. And she might plot a trip to Iowa this upcoming school year, if for no other reason than to meet Hawkeyes' superstar Caitlin Clark. This burst of attention, which has practically been nonstop and elevated Hines from one of the region's most recognized prospects to a name ingrained on a national scale, does not fluster her. "I don't think it's been overwhelming," Hines, 16, said. "I like getting to know people. I'm a really talkative person, so I don't mind talking to multiple coaches." Hines said she hopes to decide by perhaps early next year on a college. She is coming off a sensational sophomore campaign in which she averaged a state-leading 30 points a game for the Eagles. The explosion in D1 offers for Hines can likely be directly traced to her decision to change club teams this year. Two-thirds of her D1 offers, she said, have come since this current club season started. Hines has been playing for CyFair Elite, a Houston-based squad. How elite? Hines' 32 offers, she said, rank a distant third on this roster alone, which includes seven of the top 50 prospects in the country. Shaquille O'Neal's daugher Me'Arah is among Hines' teammates. "I fit in really well with this program," she said. She played primarily for a club team in Colorado a year ago. "Being on a team full of ranked players has just really boosted all of our exposure in general, and playing with Shaq's daughter doesn't hurt." The CyFair travel has been intensive, to be sure. There have been events in Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Virginia; she is in Orlando, Florida, this weekend, and her club calendar ends at the end of this month with a special invite event in Memphis. "When I was on (previous club teams in Colorado and New Mexico), I was getting exposure, but I wasn't getting the exposure I wanted," Hines said. "So I knew I had to branch off and go play for another team in a different state to get my exposure. ... I just feel like I made the best move." Amari Brown left New Mexico last year, moving to Atlanta, in part, to expand his national profile. He would perhaps have played at Cibola had he stayed in town; he is returning to Albuquerque later this year to compete for ABC Prep. Hines was asked if she had considered a similar relocation to heighten awareness of her game. "It's definitely crossed my mind," she said candidly. "I don't know. It might happen, it might not." Her father said Bella could and perhaps should average more than 35 points next season at Eldorado, given her improvements. "Being able to play off the ball," Hines said of how her game has improved since joining CyFair. "In high school, I consistently have the ball in my hands, always trying to get the ball in the hole by myself. With CyFair, I'm able to work off the ball, off of screens, work on other parts of my game that doesn't include me having the ball 24/7." She definitely has become must-watch basketball in these parts. As much as any girl Albuquerque has ever seen. And, Hines said, as a post script, if her 3-point shooting becomes more consistent, "then I feel like this season nobody will be able to guard me."