Alabama jumbo-athlete Trinity Bell trims list to eight

Trinity Bell is a 6-foot-7, 250 pound athlete out of Albertville, Ala. When we say athlete, we mean athlete.

His future is likely in football, but he has options in basketball to. Jacksonville State, Samford, St. Louis and UAB have offered Bell scholarships to play basketball.

If hoops comes more into play, we will discuss that further, but today, we are focusing on the football side.

He has 16 offers to play football on the next level, and going back to the athlete subject, some schools like him as a defensive end, then others prefer him as a tight end.

Out of the offers, Bell has cut his list in half, and he is focused on eight schools.

"Auburn, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Purdue, Nebraska, Tennessee and UCF are my top schools," said Bell. "The Coronavirus has definitely had an effect on me, and I have only been able to visit two of the schools in my top eight, so this list has a lot to do with relationships.

"I have connections with at least two coaches from each of the schools and I am hearing from each school almost every day. I feel the coaches from these schools have gone over the top to recruit me, I like how they are being genuine with me and that has put them in my top eight."

The only schools Bell has visited are Auburn and Tennessee. Auburn is an in-state school, and he has tripped to the Plains three times, but Tennessee was first to offer, and he has visited Knoxville five times.

Each made strong impressions.

"I really like the same stuff about Auburn and Tennessee. I love the atmosphere at each school, the coaches are cool at each program and the people are nice. I cannot really one thing I like about one of these schools that I don't like about the other. They are very similar to me."

There is no order to Bell's top eight, but he admitted the visits to those two SEC schools "sort of" game the Tigers and Vols an advantage.

The other six schools have all given Bell a virtual tour and he's taken advantage of that technology.

"It is insane where technology is and that we are able to see the schools like we do," said Bell. "I feel like I am taking visits to these schools from my house.

"I have learned a lot from the virtual visits, the videos they send and it has showed me a lot about each school. I have seen the crowds at games, I have seen how the students interact with players, I have seen the facilities and it has been great.

"I cannot get out for visits right now, so having this available is insane. It has helped a lot."

Bell's plan now is to continue to build onto his relationships, keep researching the schools on his list, and wait for the opportunity to take more visits. He is not sure when he will make his decision. He said he is not close to one at this time, but the communication with these schools is imperative moving forward.

"My decision will come down to a lot of the same things my top eight did, and the biggest key is the relationships I have with coaches. I will pick a school where I feel I have that strong connection with the coaches.

"It will be to a school that I feel the coaches are keeping it 100-percent real with me. The way schools recruit me and who I connect best with will be very important."

Out of the eight schools, Bell said Indiana, Kentucky and Nebraska want him as a defense end. The rest like him at tight end. He said position will not play into his decision and that he likes playing both equally.