With recruiting for high-school football players turned upside down by the transfer portal and ever-increasing NIL deals, Jacob Bell knew he was taking a chance.
The Naperville North senior was an elite talent in Illinois’ best and deepest quarterback class in years. But the three-star prospect did not make a college choice during the early signing period in December.
Bell initially committed to Ball State. A coaching change there prompted him to reopen his recruiting and he found an ideal landing spot, committing to CFP qualifier Indiana on Christmas Day.
The Hoosiers had an opening in their quarterback room after four-star prospect Julian Lewis committed to Deion Sanders and Colorado.
Bell took a gameday visit to Indiana early in the season. He remained in contact with coach Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers, who were the feel-good story of the year in college football.
“They made it clear to me that they were going to test the waters with [Lewis],” Bell said. “Once he ended up flipping to Colorado, they called me and said they would have an opportunity for me.”
The 6-3, 195-pounder was one of the state’s breakout stars this fall, throwing for 3,223 yards with a 68% completion rate in 10 games. A dual-threat quarterback, he accounted for 44 total touchdowns for the 7-3 Huskies.
Bell is the second Division I quarterback in his family. His older brother Jon is a junior at FCS power South Dakota State.
Interestingly, Jacob Bell came to the position late. He played “a little bit of everything” in youth football, including receiver, running back and defensive end.
It wasn’t till he got to high school that he started to follow in his older brother’s footsteps at quarterback.
Bell felt a strong connection with Cignetti, who took over a program that was 3-9 in 2023 and led the Hoosiers to an 11-2 finish in his first season.
“I can tell he’s a players’ coach,” Bell said. “Talking to him and asking around, no one had anything bad to say about him. He’s a light-hearted guy; he likes to make jokes and have fun.”
Now Bell can do the same after a recruiting process that had its stressful moments.
He wound up going against the flow in a time when almost every high-level prep prospect signs in December to avoid getting left on the outside looking in.
“I won’t lie, it was kind of nerve-racking,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going to come next.”
But now he does, and it couldn’t be much better.
Mizzou offers Warner
Young junior Max Warner, a two-way standout at defensive back and running back for the Public League champs, picked up his first Power Four offer from Missouri.
Warner is also one of the state’s top horizontal jumpers in the spring. He swept the Public League indoor long and triple jump titles as a freshman.