Tennessee has had Trinity Bell on their radar for quite some time. Now, it appears he’s close to announcing a decision, and the Vols are one of his two finalists.
Bell, a three-star tight end/defensive end who plays for Albertville High School in Albertville, Alabama, tweeted out a graphic showcasing the final two schools he’s considering in his recruitment on Tuesday. The Vols were one of those finalists, and the other program to make the cut is the in-state Auburn Tigers.
final two #Ttime? pic.twitter.com/eYTbxZDNZS
— Trinity ?️ (@OfficialTrinnn) May 19, 2020
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Bell is the No. 495 overall prospect, No. 42 athlete, and 19th-best recruit in the state of Alabama in the 2021 class. Bell originally had a list of five finalists a little over a week ago, but he’s trimmed that down to just two. He also holds offers from Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ole Miss, UCF, and others.
At 6-foot-7, 250 pounds, Bell is a large-bodied athlete who didn’t play football for his first two years of high school. After playing football a lot growing up, he elected to focus on basketball his first couple years of high school, and he excelled there. As a sophomore, he averaged 15.1 points and 9.8 rebounds while totaling 13 double-doubles. He was voted to the Class 6A Third Team All-State team.
But heading into this junior year of high school, he decided to give football a try again. UT was the first school to offer him, giving him an offer back in February of 2019. Illinois followed in August, and Nebraska, Auburn, Indiana, and Purdue all gave him offers in September. Kentucky and UCF are the most recent schools to offer him, doing so in March and April of this year.
Now, Bell’s recruitment is down to just Tennessee and Auburn. He has not announced when he’ll be making a commitment, however.
Bell has been a frequent visitor to Tennessee’s campus, attending the Vols’ home match-up with BYU in Week 2 of the 2019 season and coming back for a Junior Day event on February 1st of this year. He’s also taken multiple visits to Auburn, but the Vols got his last visit before the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily shut down recruiting visits.
Bell’s size and strength make him an ideal weapon on offense, and he’s a match-up nightmare for anyone in high school. Even in college, he’ll be tough to guard and defend. On defense, he has some solid skills and a good foundation to build upon, but it looks like he’s more polished and has a bit of a higher ceiling on offense. But he could play on either side of the ball in college depending on how he develops.
On offense, Bell caught 26 passes for 415 yards and six touchdowns as a junior. Defensively, he totaled 28 tackles, two sacks, six tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and a defensive touchdown. He also has a reported 6-foot-9 wingspan and a 31-inch vertical leap.
The Vols hold commitments from 22 prospects in their 2021 class, a class that currently ranks No. 2 in the country and No. 1 in the SEC. Of those 22 commits, five hail from the state of Alabama, including five-star defensive end Dylan Brooks and four-star wide receiver Jordan Mosley.
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