Simone Award winner Ronnie Bell reverses course, commits to Michigan football

Two weeks ago, Park Hill senior Ronnie Bell paraded around a gymnasium with a three-foot tall trophy, one reserved for the top high school football player in Kansas City. But the college football offers had oddly remained silent, so Bell had instead secured a Division I basketball scholarship.

On Monday, he reversed course.

Three days after receiving his release from the Missouri State basketball program, Bell announced his intention to attend Michigan on a football scholarship. It was his only football offer from a major Division I program.

Better late than never.

“I just kinda hoped and prayed that somebody would take a chance on me,” Bell said. “I knew if anybody reached out, I was going to let them know that football is what I wanted to do.”

The initial plan was always football, Bell said. He loved the game his father once played collegiately, and there was a certain appeal to following an identical path.

But as his senior season progressed, and as the touchdowns reached record-breaking numbers, the offers never came. So Bell, a wide receiver who won the Thomas A. Simone Award, took the opportunity he had on the basketball court, signing to play at Missouri State.

Last week, he reverted to his initial instinct and reopened his recruitment. Missouri State officially released him from his letter of intent Friday.

Michigan came calling. Even if no one else did.

“It’s such a blessing,” Bell said. “When I signed for basketball, that’s what was best for my family, so I stuck with it. But once my dad said to go do what I want, I knew that was football.”

Bell caught 89 passes for 1,605 yards and 21 touchdowns in his senior season, helping Park Hill win its first Suburban Gold Conference championship.

For a player who has been described as loud, even boisterous, in an athletic arena, the commitment was quiet and subtle. Bell simply changed his Twitter bio to read, “University of Michigan commit.”

Then he headed to basketball practice. He returned to a phone littered with messages.

“I guess I didn’t realize how many people read a Twitter bio,” he joked.

Bell plans to make the decision official Wednesday, when the early signing period opens, by signing a national letter of intent.

For the second time.

This one, he insists, is final.

“It’s been absolutely insane this week,” Bell said. “I have tons of homework to catch up on.”

This story was originally published December 18, 2017 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Simone Award winner Ronnie Bell reverses course, commits to Michigan football."