Busy summer for Bell

With baseball and football duties this summer, Vicksburg, Miss., native Devon Bell will spend much of his school break on the road and on the athletic fields. But that suits the Warren Central High School kicker just fine.

"I've been to camps at Mississippi State and Ole Miss," said the 6-foot-3 and 180-pound rising senior. "And then I am going to Auburn and Florida State next week, too, and check those schools out. I am also playing summer league baseball with my high school team and we play in Meridian in the State Games at the end of June."

During his MSU camp stay, Bell said he was pleased with his performance and talked of his showing in front of the Bulldog coaches.

"It went pretty good and I enjoyed it a lot," said Bell. "I feel I did alright on my punts but I need more consistenty. I did really well on my kickoffs but I didn't kick any field goals.

"Their coaches told me to keep on working hard and that maybe one day I could sign with Mississippi State. They just told me to wait and be patient and see what happens. They are still not sure if they will offer a kicker this year and told me just to be patient."

And before he camped at MSU, Bell also had a good day at Ole Miss camp.

"I went to Ole Miss a couple of weeks ago," said Bell. "They pretty much said the same thing Mississippi State said and they want me to walkon there and redshirt my first year. They didn't say anything about an offer and they have two pretty good kickers now that are both seniors."

Naturally and like all prospects, Bell is hoping to get an offer from a Division 1 program. He noted the Bulldogs are his favorite school but that he may opt for the junior college route if need be.

"I really like Mississippi State and I always have," said Bell. "But I am really hoping for a full ride from any college that will give me a scholarship. If I can't get an offer this year (from a Division 1 school), then I may go to junior college first and then see what happens after that."