Bloomington South sophomore T.J. Bell, a transfer from Charleston, Ill. and perhaps the top Class of 2012 prospect in Southern Indiana, won’t be eligible to play varsity basketball until Feb. 4, the IHSAA announced today.

Under limited eligibility granted by the state association, Bell, who moved to Bloomington without his mother and is living with a family friend, must begin the season at the junior-varsity level.

“It’s a rule,” South coach J.R. Holmes told the Bloomington Herald-Times. “Nothing we can do about it.”