One stop shopping. Apparently that's the idea here. I don't know if this was the philosophy of the staff after the last couple of games, which was to find some JUCO talent. I don't know if it just worked out that way, but at the time I'm writing this (Saturday morning) the coaching staff has signed three teammates from Riverside C.C. (CA) (DE Lee Adams, LB Will Smith and WR Sadale Foster) and three teammates from Gulf Coast C.C. (MS) (WR Javon Bell, LB Chris Payne and OL Rashad Fortenberry). Perhaps the thought was to find successful JUCO teams, Riverside went undefeated this year, while Gulf Coast was 10-2, and grab the best talent available. Maybe the thought was to try to build a team of players that had some familiarity and could work together. Its interesting to say to the least.
Let's get to Mr. Bell.
The Measurables:
JAVON BELL
Position: WR
DTN Profile
Video: Clip 1
Rivals5.7
Scout
ESPN N/R
24/7 Sports
Ht: 6'0" | Wt: 170 lbs | Forty: N/A
JUCO: Gulf Coast C.C. (Perkinston, MS)
The Player Speaks: LAJ's Don Williams spoke with Bell, who said this:
"I like the people out there in Lubbock," Bell said. "I felt comfortable around there. I feel like I can make that my second home. It wasn’t just because of the football program. It was all about the people there and the environment."
And Bell's JUCO coach had this to say about him:
"Javon will be a great player," Campbell said. "I will be disappointed if he’s not a Biletnikoff (Award) watch guy and have a chance to be an NFL player. We’ve had quite a few guys make it to that level. He’s got as much ability as anybody to come through this program."
Offers and Rankings: Bell has quite a few solid offers, including Mississippi St., Tennessee, S. Carolina and Southern Miss. That's not bad. Bell is the #17 ranked JUCO recruit in the nation, but then again, WR Marcus Kennard was the #18 best JUCO and DE Leon Mackey was the #7 best JUCO last year. This is one of those things, just like the high school players, that recruiting is an attempt at an educated crap-shoot. Perhaps the most encouraging thing is that Bell is given a grade of 95 by 24/7 Sports, which is as high as WR Dominique Wheeler and one point ahead of DL Michael Starts, and so I'm thinking that the thought for 24/7 is that they think Bell is a high-impact player.
More after the jump.
The Video: Film don't lie.
JAVON BELL'S 2010 HIGHLIGHT VIDEO (via MPMballer)
Scouting Report: I really like Bell's ability to go up and get the ball, very much like Lyle Leong in that he's not the biggest or tallest guy, but Bell seems to have quite a bit of height on his jumps and times them incredibly well. The LAJ article says that he is a guy that did a lot of work inside this year, but in the film, he's almost strictly an outside receiver that's just running past opponents. In 2011, Bell had 65 catches for 939 yards for a 14.4 YPC average and 10 touchdowns, which is quite different than his 2010 season where he had 46 catches for 1,313 yards and 17 touchdowns. That's the video that you're watching.
Javon, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!
The 2012 Class: No table until after the holidays. It will be like a very late Christmas present.