Wolverine Wednesday: Ronnie "Ring the" Bell

Toledo Blade

There are many reasons why players "are under the radar" on the recruiting trail.   They could play at a small school in a small town, they could excel as a senior when most recruiting takes places during their junior year, or there was an injury that kept a talented player on the bench in high school.

That wasn't the case for Ronnie Bell.  He was a basketball commit and had verbally agreed to play at Missouri State.  So instead of doing summer football camps he was playing AAU basketball.   Schools didn't take notice of a talented WR that had 89 catches and 21 TD's.  That was ranked on the All State Team or won a award for the best football player in Kansas City.  Or even one whose father was a former college football coach at Missouri Western.

In fact, Jimmy wouldn't have even known about Ronnie if not for his brother-in-law who had mentioned him during a conversation.

Just to re-cap Ronnie had the following things that most top schools look for:

• Father who coached football
• Good Grades 
• Multi-Sport Athlete
• All State Performer
• Big School in a Big City 
• Top Player in KC 

No Power 5 offers - None.   A complete miss by all other schools, even Michigan.   If Jimmy's brother-in-law doesn't mentioned Ronnie, he is at a Missouri directional school right now and maybe not even playing football.   

Fast forward to fall camp, where he becomes friends and roommates with Grant Perry, learns the offense very quickly, and is now contributing with two TD's as a true freshman.   On Saturday night, he will be playing in a national TV primetime game with millions watching.   

Tom Brady's draft spot motivates him everyday.   Ronnie uses being the basketball guy and not being recruited everyday.   He wants to prove he belongs and that motivation will take him a long way.