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Texas 5-star QB commit Dia Bell earns Florida Gatorade Player of the Year

Eric Nahlinby:Eric Nahlin•12/06/24
Dia Bell UT
Dia Bell. (courtesy of Bell)

Everything is coming up Texas right now. On the same day the Texas Longhorns secured the No. 1 recruiting class for the 2025 cycle, it’s bell cow commit for the 2026 class, Dia Bell, was named Florida’s Gatorade Player of the Year.

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Bell, the son of former NBA star Raja Bell, is a junior quarterback at American Heritage high school in Plantation, Florida. For the season, he compiled 2,597 yards after going 161/228 passing. That’s a sterling 71-percent completion percentage. He also threw 29 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. On the ground, he tallied 561 yards on 61 carries for a robust 8.4 yards per carry and another 5 touchdowns.

While the stats and award are nice, it’s Bell’s traits that caught the eye of some of the nation’s top programs. Stylistically, Bell actually reminds me of Arch Manning. The 6-foot-2, 200 pound Bell is just as comfortable working from the pocket and going through his reads as he is moving around and improvising. He’s a plus athlete but he’s looking to hurt defenses with his arm first.

After taking numerous visits around the country to the likes of Ohio State, Penn State, LSU, and Texas, he committed to the Horns on June 17th. We knew things were looking really good for Texas when his travel itinerary was interrupted and he was forced to take an Uber all the way from Dallas to Austin.

Bell suffered a minor leg injury in November but X-rays came back negative.

Needless to say, Texas is loaded at quarterback for the long-term. Quinn Ewers hopes to lead Texas to the SEC Championship on Saturday in Atlanta. He’ll be followed by Manning who will be followed by Trey Owens, or maybe KJ Lacey who signed with Texas on Wednesday, or perhaps even Bell.

Dia Bell is an On3 Industry Ranking five-star in the 2026 class. His rating is 95.75 and he’s the No. 12 player and No. 4 quarterback in the country.

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