By
Maxx Wolfson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Tolleson's Bell staying close to home
With only two days left until national letter-of-intent signing day, the UA football team received a verbal commitment from arguably the most sought-after running back on the West Coast.
Mike Bell, who is ranked the 16th-best running back in the nation by Rivals100.com recruiting service, gave a verbal commitment to the Wildcats Saturday.
Bell, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound tailback from Tolleson, chose to attend UA over Arizona State and Colorado State despite rumors that he was heading north to play for the Rams, members of the Mountain West Conference.
"I liked Coach Mackovic a lot, and he told me there's a chance I can come in and play right away if I'm ready to," Bell told Student Sports. "All of the schools I considered were great schools, but I just felt like Arizona is where I would fit in the best."
Repeated phone calls to the Arizona football offices were not returned.
As a senior at Tolleson High School, Bell rushed for 2,484 yards and 32 touchdowns and was named the Gatorade Player of the Year Award winner in Arizona and a Parade All-American.
The signing of Bell creates a logjam at running back next season for UA.
According to Rivals100.com, Arizona has received four verbal commitments from running backs - Bell, Ganius Scott (LaPorte, Tx.), Antoine Singfield (Moreno Valley, Calif.) and Sean Jones (Houston, Tx.) so far this signing period.
The Wildcats also return six running backs from the 2000 season, including Clarence Farmer, who ran for 666 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman.
