Ronnie Bell Commits To Michigan
TMI's Brice Marich reports that Park Hill (MO) wide receiver Ronnie Bell has committed to Michigan:
Kansas City (MO.) Park Hill Ronnie Bell was slated to play basketball for the Missouri State Bears, but decided to pursue football and a few weeks later, he landed his biggest offer to date from Michigan. It didn't long for him to ponder the scholarship offer as he pledged to the Wolverines on Monday night.
Bell added his offer on Saturday. I assume because he was expected to play hoops in college, nobody's done a full scouting report yet; Rivals just created his profile, ESPN hasn't even gotten that far, and 247 only has articles since the Michigan offer went out. Bell has some impressive film, though, and numbers to match:
It's somewhat hard to believe that up until December 14, this year's Simone Award winner, given each year to the top football player in the Kansas City metro, was all set to play basketball in college.
That was the case for Ronnie Bell, a talented member of Team Rush (AAU) and once Missouri State commitment. Yet in a stunning announcement, Bell did what football fans had been hoping for since September by rescinding that verbal pledge, officially opening the door to college football.
Well, as you might've guessed, it didn't take long for programs to come calling on the Park Hill Trojan.
After catching 89 passes for 1,605 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior, Bell held an offer from Jim Harbaugh and Michigan within two days of being on the market.
Bell is the 18th commit in the 2018 class and the second in two days following in-state ATH Ben VanSumeren. I'll have a full Hello post on him tomorrow, hopefully after some more evaluations are posted. At first glance, it looks like Michigan got in early on an unheralded football talent. Expect him to finish higher than his current composite ranking of #1517 overall.
December 18th, 2017 at 9:32 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 11:42 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 9:17 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 9:22 PM ^
It was a rumor would probably be a good starting point to solve that little mystery.
December 18th, 2017 at 11:04 PM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 1:15 AM ^
Weird -- opposite reaction here on his speed. Guess we'll find out.
December 19th, 2017 at 6:02 AM ^
He looks like he can play. Looks very athletic and can get the YAC.
December 18th, 2017 at 11:47 PM ^
the reason you're seeing the coaching staff accept verbals from the last couple of committs is because the staff doesn't have a warm fuzzy feeling on some of the higher rated guys they have been pursuing.
December 19th, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^
to get exercised about a "recruiting class" is beyond me. The coaches do the best they can. What else is there to say? Even the top recruits are still hit or miss. You have to wait till they play.
December 19th, 2017 at 1:40 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 9:33 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 9:58 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 10:22 PM ^
he's a slot WR. Grant Perry doesn't high point the ball and doesn't have YAC ability.
December 19th, 2017 at 1:16 AM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 6:05 AM ^
Why not? You have the ability or you don't. He has it. It will be harder to come by in college for obvious reasons, but this kid is very athletic and has the football instincts to be elusive.
December 19th, 2017 at 7:02 AM ^
i'm with you, kid can play.
1600 yds & 21 tds is no joke.
Park Hills was Ondre Pipkins school
December 19th, 2017 at 11:57 AM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 12:11 PM ^
There's a big difference between having the breakaway speed to take anything to the house, and having the wiggle/balance/vision to make 8 yards out of nothing on a well-defended screen. To my amateur eye, Bell has the tools to do the latter.
December 19th, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^
Reminds me of another KC player who went on to Oklahoma and now with Miami Dolphins: Kenny Stills. Similar frames, similar types of players, etc. Hopefully Bell has a similar trajectory!
December 18th, 2017 at 9:24 PM ^
It says a lot about him how many people from all walks of life speak well about him on his Twitter account, and not just football people.
December 18th, 2017 at 9:25 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 9:32 PM ^
2013 class rank: 16 av. star rating: 87.74
2014 class rank: 14 av. star rating: 87.3
2015 class rank: 15 av. star rating: 88.2
2016 class rank: 19 av. star rating: 88.49
2017 class rank: 8 av. star rating: 89.93
Michigan 2018 class av. stars: 89.4
The first set of numbers are for CFP participant Oklahoma.
December 18th, 2017 at 9:38 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 9:47 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 9:53 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 10:17 PM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 7:39 AM ^
How about just a plain, ol' QB with a pulse? He doesn't have to be a Hiesman candidate, but pretty much any above average QB, coupled with Michigan's defense, is going to make this team a tough out for anyone.
December 18th, 2017 at 9:55 PM ^
Just need to join the Big12 and find a walkon heisman QB, shouldn't be too tough
December 18th, 2017 at 10:00 PM ^
Clemson/Dabo is the better comparison. Both in terms of recruiting profiles (top-12 classes, not top-3s) and in terms of timeline/arc. It took Dabo four years to win 10 games, four years to finish ranked, six years to win a BCS bowl, six years to finish in the top ten. He had one conference title in his first seven years and it ended with the worst bowl meltdown in history.
He started 0-5 against South Carolina.
0-3 against Georgia Tech.
2-5 against Florida State.
2-13 in rivalry games!
If you are feeling like Harbaugh isn't winning quickly enough, just look to Dabo.
December 19th, 2017 at 12:50 AM ^
was ranked #42 overall. Lower than Patterson, lower than Brandon Peters.
Are you suggesting we can't recruit the same caliber of QB? If so you are incorrect
December 18th, 2017 at 10:37 PM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 12:48 AM ^
Who cares? Our recruiting classes always finish higher than theirs.
December 19th, 2017 at 12:09 PM ^
Their bagman must suck.
December 19th, 2017 at 7:42 AM ^
It was dormant and inconsequential for so long that it shriveled up and died. Took a while to rebuild it...
Apparently, Georgia's apparatus was alive and well, just waiting for the go-ahead from someone not named Mark Richt.
December 18th, 2017 at 10:03 PM ^
You're wasting your time. The "I AM DISAPPOINT IN 2018 RECRUITING" people don't want to be reasoned with. They just want to keep offering their non-unique opinion about how they are dissapointed and expected more without any actual thought or analysis other than STARZ, OSU and BAMA. I would say that I hope all of these people go away if the 2018 class "pulls it's weight" so to speak in terms of producing starters, but I'm sure by then they'll be making long posts detailing how they are extremely disappointed in the start of the 2023 class.
To your point above, Clemson's rankings are very similar. What does a single recruiting class need to provide a good team anyways? Consider there are ~30 key players on a team (11+11 starters, 2-3 specialists, slot WR, nickel CB, maybe dime CB/3rd safety and backup DL). Throw redshirting into the mix and I'd say you need somewhere between 6-12 key players per class. If you look at the 2018 class through this lense and see what Clemson/OU have done with classes in the teens, everything should be fine on the talent side.
December 19th, 2017 at 8:32 AM ^
Thank you. The fact is that many teams have the raw talent on their rosters to be very competetive. The importance of coaching cannot be over-stated here. I believe it is the coaching learning curve that is in play here for Michigan-few catch the "genie in a bottle' and challenge for an NC from the beginning. And though Harbaugh has been at this for a while he was/is still challenged to construct a new team-with the change of venue.
Lot of stars are good but they only indicate potential. The move from HS to big-time college ball is huge. The coaching these kids receive and how they step up to the challenges are the real difference-makers here.
December 19th, 2017 at 10:53 AM ^
My supposition is that people like to bitch like they have A) some hidden knowledge and B) are the arbiters of truth that apparently everyone else is in denial about.
It always makes me laugh when I hear, often in the same day during recruting season that:
* We can't recruit like OSU and that's why they'll always beat us.
and
* Stars don't matter, its finding the right guys, That's why MSU will always beat us.
There is no win, other than for the person who likes to feel intelligent and deliver bad news.
December 19th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^
How the hell does Oklahoma - next door to the state of Texas and only 190 miles from Dallas - recruit so relatively poorly??
December 18th, 2017 at 9:32 PM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 7:00 AM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 9:36 PM ^
December 19th, 2017 at 5:45 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 9:43 PM ^
I don't mind the 3 stars in a small class where its tough to sell playing time, but I wish more of them were the high ceiling/ low floor variety. Right now the only 3 stars I can see with top level athleticism are Upshaw, Schoonmaker, the OTs and maybe VanSumeren at FB.
December 18th, 2017 at 9:55 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 10:02 PM ^
He certainly has great hands and football instincts. He high points the ball and runs well after the catch. But he's doing all of this at 175 lbs so he will have to be able to keep his quicks when he adds weight. What worries me is, I don't see him getting much separation even against suspect competition so he'll have to develope into a route artisan to be an impact player. Best of luck to him and Go Blue
December 18th, 2017 at 10:36 PM ^
December 18th, 2017 at 11:25 PM ^
If u run precise routes, the separation wil come.
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