Graduate Manager bios

REESE

KENNY BELL GAINES

GRADUATE MANAGER • GEORGIA ’22 GRADUATE MANAGER • GEORGIA ’16

Reese Bell is in his third season working with Georgia Basketball and his first in a graduate assistant role.

A native of Dawson, Ga., Bell was a two-sport standout at Terrell Academy as a prep athlete. He was a four-year letterwinner in both basketball and football and started at shooting guard and quarterback as a junior and a senior. He was named All-State and All-Region in football as a senior after passing for 2,319 yards, rushing for 384 yards and scoring nine touchdowns while leading the Eagles to the semifinals of the GISA Class AA state tournament. Bell also earned All-Region honors in basketball.

Bell began his collegiate career at Georgia Southern before transferring to the University of North Georgia’s Oconee Campus. He transferred to UGA in 2019 and served as a manager for the Bulldogs during the 2019-20 season. After spending a year away from the program, he returned as a manager for the 2021-22 campaign and transitioned into his current role as a graduate manager last summer.

Bell received his bachelor’s degree in Sport Management and Policy from Georgia in 2022 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Sport Management and Policy.

Kenny Gaines returned to his alma mater as a graduate manager in the summer of 2022. Gaines was an electrifying guard for the Bulldogs from 2012-16 and helped lead Georgia to three consecutive 20-win seasons for only the second time in the program's 100-plus seasons of competition.

A Parade All-American honors and the 2012 Georgia Class A Player of the Year at Whitefield Academy, Gaines came off the bench as a freshman before starting 96 of 98 games during his sophomore, junior and senior campaigns.

Gaines finished his career ranked No. 19 among Georgia’s career scoring leaders with 1,324 points, as well as No. 4 in 3-pointers (213), No. 4 in 3-point attempts (569) and No. 7 in 3-point percentage (.374). He also is third among UGA’s single-season 3-pointer leaders, connecting on 85 during his senior year. Gaines also set the school record for scoring the highest percentage of points by a Bulldog in a game when he accounted for 35 of Georgia’s 63 points (55.6 percent) in a 63-52 victory over Murray State on Nov. 20, 2016.

Gaines earned his bachelor's degree in Housing Management and Policy from Georgia in 2016. His professional career that included stints with the Houston Rockets in the NBA Summer League and in Europe in France, Italy and Lithuania. Gaines, whose son Christian was born in 2021, is pursuing his master’s in Nonprofit Management and Leadership.

JUSTIN COUSIN

GRADUATE MANAGER • RADFORD ’18

Justin Cousin joined the Georgia staff in June of 2022 after serving in a similar role at Radford, his alma mater, during the 2021-22 campaign.

Cousin was a four-year letterwinner for the Highlanders from 2013-18 and wrapped up his career ranked seventh in program history in games played with 127 outings. He was a key piece of the 2018 Big South Championship squad that recorded the first NCAA Tournament victory in school history. The son of former Highlander standout Rod Cousin, his best season came as a junior in 2016-17 when he started all 32 games and contributed 11.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.

After graduating from Radford in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Cousin played professionally for the Taranaki Airs in New Plymouth, New Zealand during 2018-19. He averaged 11.3 points and was named Team Man of the Year, an award voted on by coaches and teammates for exemplifying the qualities of a team leader. While in New Zealand, he also served as a volunteer youth coach at Stratford Primary School.

Cousin then returned to his hometown of Burlington, N.C., to work as a counselor for at-risk youths in the area. He also served as a 5th grade teacher and middle school basketball coach at Positive Day School. Cousin is pursuing a master’s in Nonprofit Management and Leadership.

DEE MITCHELL

GRADUATE MANAGER • OKLAHOMA STATE ’22

Dee Mitchell, a three-year letterwinner for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, is in his first season as a graduate manager with the Bulldogs.

Mitchell joined the Cowboys’ roster as a walk-on in January 2019 and played in five games that season, highlighted by a clutch 3-pointer at No. 11 Texas Tech to help force overtime. After playing in 19 contests in 2019-20, including a pair of starts against Houston and Minnesota, he played in six games during Oklahoma State’s 21-9 campaign in 2020-21 which culminated with an NCAA bid and the Cowboys being ranked No. 11 in the final AP poll.

Mitchell drew national attention in January 2021 when head coach Mike Boynton surprised him with the news that he was going to be placed on scholarship while he was at his full-time job at Walmart.

Mitchell was the 2018 District 16-3A MVP at Jefferson (Texas) High School after averaging 20.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals. He helped the Bulldogs compile a combined 51-14 record and back-to-back perfect 14-0 district marks as a junior and a senior. Mitchell also was a first-team alldistrict performer in football with 97 tackles and six interceptions as a senior.

Mitchell earned his bachelor’s degree in Sports & Coaching Science from Oklahoma State in 2022 and is pursuing a master’s in Kinesiology (Sport Pedagogy) at Georgia.