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Potential difference-making CB Micah Bell signs with Notre Dame football

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•12/21/22•

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Four-star cornerback Micah Bell with Notre Dame cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens

Player comparisons are often futile in college athletics. Student-athletes carve out their own careers, for better or worse. But let current Notre Dame freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison serve as an example for what a corner signee from the class of 2023 can be in the future.

Micah Bell signed with the Fighting Irish on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period. He’s a four-star recruit per the On3 Consensus, but he’s just a three-star recruit according to On3’s own rankings. Morrison had the same exact designations when he signed with Notre Dame one year ago.

Morrison was not a nationally-ranked recruit by On3’s metrics and was the No. 342 overall prospect in the class of 2022 according to the Consensus. Bell is not a nationally-ranked recruit in the eyes of On3 and is the No. 166 overall prospect nationally per On3. He’s the No. 22 corner in the country by way of the Consensus. Morrison was No. 36.

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Moral of the story? Don’t get too caught up in the numbers. Good players are good players, and Notre Dame has a way of finding them — especially in the secondary of late.

Again, this isn’t to say Bell, a Houston Kinkaid School product, is going to develop as quickly as Morrison. Not every true freshman picks off five passes in a span of three games and earns Freshman All-American status as a result like Morrison did. But trust in Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens when it comes to picking out prospective players.

They know what they’re doing.

“Bell is one of the fastest defensive backs in the cycle,” On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power said when Bell committed to Notre Dame in July. “He’s a little on the thinner side, but he can really go. He makes a lot of plays for his high school team. He shows playmaking ability with the ball in his hands. A big thing for him will be continuing to fill out. He has the speed to turn and run with receivers on the boundary, and Bell adds an important component of that speed to Notre Dame’s secondary.”

Bell is 5-11, 170 pounds. Morrison was 6-0, 172 pounds when he came out of Phoenix Brophy College Prep. Ball hawks are ball hawks. They can make plays at any weight. Bell might be that type of player for Notre Dame.

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