If you know much about Division II college football you've heard of this guy.
Wayne State University's 6-foot-1, 223-pound Joique Bell is one of the top running backs in the nation in Division II, and there are some who think he could hold his own at the major Division I level.
In fact, there are some who think the 23-year-old Bell will soon go from playing football on Saturdays (in college) to playing ball on Sundays (in the National Football League).
With that as the backdrop, the Detroit News wrote a nice feature story on Bell who has been tearing up the competition this year in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Here is an excerpt from the Detroit News article:
That is high praise indeed, but the praise seems warranted as Bell is having a monster season on the football field this fall. In a game against Ashland, Bell rushed the football 32 times for 272 yards and five touchdowns. And, for good measure, he also had a touchdown reception of 45 yards for a six-TD performance on Oct. 3 as the Warriors upset nationally-ranked Ashland 47-40 at Adams Field in Detroit."Michigan State wanted me as a running back and Michigan as a safety," Bell said of being recruited. "My grades were good, but my ACT score was low and I had to get a four-point my last semester to be eligible for a scholarship. I guess Michigan State didn't think I'd get it so they pulled it. I did get the four-point, though. Coach (Paul) Winters said he'd give me a full scholarship no matter what and I decided to take it. And, I'm glad I did. I'm very happy here."
Bell has 5,914 career rushing yards, just 646 behind Adrian Peterson (Division I-AA Georgia Southern, now with the Chicago Bears) for 10th place in all collegiate divisions.
Winters, in his sixth year as Wayne State's head coach, knows Bell has the ability to play in the NFL. Winters was an outstanding running back for Akron in the late '70s and was running backs coach at Wisconsin.
"I have no doubts," Winters said. "Put it this way, I coached at Wisconsin when Terrell Fletcher was there, and he played many years in the NFL (1995-2002
with San Diego) and Joique's a better back.
"Joique's very strong. He has quick feet in the way he changes direction. He has great acceleration and great vision. He anticipates where the hole is. He studies and understands the offense. Has great hand-eye coordination. He's the total package.
"There's usually something that holds you back, some physical or mental ability that holds you back. But, like I said before, he's the total package. He can catch and be a third-down guy or block and be the third-down guy. He can carry the ball 30 times and be an every-down back. The NFL scouts come in and say that they don't know about his burst. They come back and take multiple looks and are more impressed the more they see him. They say he needs to get to the Combine and run a fast time."
Ferris State University will be in Detroit to take on Wayne State University with kickoff scheduled for noon from Adams Field on the WSU campus.
The Bulldogs will have their hands full against one of the best to ever play in the GLIAC.
Check out the article on Bell: http://www.detnews.com/article/20091013/SPORTS0203/910130341/1004/SPORTS/Wayne-State-RB-Joique-Bell-looks-to-make-transition-to-NFL-Sundays
0 comments:
Post a Comment