Dylan Darling nickname, explained: The story behind Rick Pitino's 'Bells' moniker for star

Dylan Darling nickname, explained: The story behind Rick Pitino's 'Bells' moniker for star originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Coaches will often give players nicknames to not only help them remember their names, but also to help the team bond. St. John's head coach Rick Pitino is one of the longest tenured coaches in college basketball.

Pitino is known for using nicknames to foster camaraderie among his roster and boost their confidence. He has done this throughout his coaching career. Pitino often refers to his national championship-winning Kentucky team as "the Untouchables." While he was at Kentucky, he called Jamal Mashburn, "Monster Mash." Mashburn picked up the nickname during high school, but Pitino really leaned into it.

When he coached at Louisville, Russ Smith played for him. Due to Smith's high-octane style of play, Pitino referred to him as "Russdiculous." Now at St. John's, Pitino has added another iconic nickname to his collection after he christened guard Dylan Darling as "Bells." 

Here is more on why Pitino calls Darling "Bells."

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Dylan Darling nickname

Darling is a junior guard for the Red Storm. He played in 34 games this season, largely coming off the bench. Darling averaged 6.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 21.2 minutes per game. 

Pitino continued his nickname history, but the newest origin isn't as easy to pick up on just from hearing the name. The St. John's head coach calls Darling "Bells." 

MORE: Looking back at each team Rick Pitino has coached

Why does Rick Pitino call Dylan Darling 'Bells'?

Despite the unconventional nickname, it actually has a funny backstory. Pitino gave Darling the nickname after the Red Storm guard knocked down a game-winning three against Xavier in mid-February.

After the game, Pitino was in his press conference talking about the moment. He said, "Dylan Darling, he’s got balls as big as church bells. I mean it’s unbelievable." 

The nickname initially started as "Church Bells," but was quickly shortened to "Bells." Darling continued to come up in big moments for St. John's, and the team instituted a new team award. 

Now, after each of St. John's games, the best player of the night is awarded a red church bell which is called the "Big Bells Award." Pitino said about the award, "Now, each game we have a church bell that we bought for like a hundred and fifty dollars and on it, it says most valuable player that night of St. John’s basketball. I go into the locker room after a victory and I ring the bell and I said the winner of ‘Big Bells Award’ last game was Ruben Prey, and everybody gets crazy. Then Ruben gets his name on the front — just in tape — with two church bells to be a replica of something else. And everybody goes crazy.”