In this file photo, Vonn Bell from Ridgeland High School poses in the Times Free Press studio.While other high school students made their way to the beach for a week of sun and fun, or simply relaxed around the house, Vonn Bell and his parents headed west for a “business trip.”
During spring break, Ridgeland High School’s four-star football safety prospect and his family made campus visits to the University of Texas, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Notre Dame and Ohio State, all of which have made scholarship offers. Bell seems to get at least one new offer with each passing day, the list having grown to 27 since February when Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee extended offers in that order.
“Me and my family just wanted to get out and see the differences at schools in other conferences besides the SEC,” Bell said. “I’ve been to a lot of SEC schools, so I know what it’s like there. It was nice to travel and meet with Coach [Mack] Brown at Texas and Coach [Urban] Meyer at Ohio State. I wanted to watch how those staffs interacted with the players and see how they would talk with my parents. I’m trying to get a feel for the people and the places wherever I visit, so I’ll know where I feel most comfortable when it comes time to decide.
“At this point in my life, all of these visits I take are business trips. I’m planning to cut my list down to five or six by the end of spring, and that’s going to be tough. So I felt like I had to meet as many coaches and see as many campuses as possible before I start cutting the list.”
He has offers from 12 of the 14 SEC programs (only LSU and Texas A&M haven’t made offers yet) as well as from Clemson, Virginia Tech, UCLA and Southern California. Florida coaches were on the Ridgeland campus last Monday, and USC assistant and former Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin visited this past week as well – after head coach Lane Kiffin saw just two plays of a highlight DVD and decided Bell was one of the few players outside of California the Trojans would pursue.