RECRUITING: Rivals Meet Face To Face

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LSU commitment Kenny Bell and Rayville gearing up for playoff opener versus Winnfield; Bell talks about LSU visit

by Daniel Mingea III
Tiger Rag Recruiting Analyst

(Photo courtesy of Rivals.com)

CLICK HERE to read Mingea’s recruiting blog at NOLA.com.

On Saturday afternoon Tiger Stadium played host to over 93,000 screaming fans as well as to some of the most talented high school football recruits in the country. The outcome may have not gone as planned, but the enthusiasm throughout the weekend could not have been any better.

Rayville High School product Kenny Bell (6′1, 170, 4.4) made the pilgrimage from northern Louisiana to Baton Rouge to watch his future team battle the Tide.

“It was exciting,” Bell expressed. “I really enjoyed myself. “LSU had a good chance of winning that game, they just needed some help at quarterback.

“I think the problems at quarterback really messed up LSU’s offense and it probably cost them the game,” Bell continued. “It concerns me (as a receiver), but I understand it is also Jarrett Lee’s first year playing. Next year when Lee gets everything straight I think he’ll have a big year. But if the coaches decide to go with someone else, I’ll be ready to play with whoever they decide.”

Throughout the weekend’s festivities Bell had the chance to hang out with some of his future teammates as well as some of his possible future opponents.

“I sat around and met some of the recruits that were there and some of the guys I might play against in the playoffs like the Capitol quarterback (Terrance Broadway),” Bell stated. “I thought we were going to have to play against his team, but we’re playing Winnfield High School instead.”

Another recruit the 4-star receiver chatted with happened to be a guy Bell has become familiar with over the past couple of years. It is a player regarded as the best at Bell’s position which may have created a little bit of an unspoken bitterness between the two stars.

“I saw Rueben Randle and we talked a little,” Bell informed. “I’m not going to say we’re enemies because we talk whenever we see each other. I do not know him that well, but we usually hold a small conversation.

“I asked him what he was doing about college and he said he wasn’t sure,” Bell added. “He said he was still thinking about it. I told him to make his own decision and to do what’s best for him.”

Being that they are both from the same area of Louisiana and are regarded as two of the state’s best prospects, does Bell look at Randle as competition?

“I can’t really say how I look at it,” Bell replied. “I think we both just make our teams better. Whenever our number is called, we make the most of it.

“I think Rueben is a cool person from what I’ve seen of him,” Bell continued. “I do not know him that well except for the two times I played against him. And even then it was more of just a what’s up and that was it.”

Prior to Rayville’s game against Bastrop High School this year, Bell claimed to have received phone calls from fans saying what Randle was going to do against his team. Rayville was dismantled in that game, 60-31.

Although Rayville was outmatched as a team, Bell held his own with 124 yards receiving including one score. Randle finished with 136 yards through the air with two passing touchdowns and added another 130 yards on the ground with an additional two scores.

Would those kinds of memories of Randle make it weird for Bell if he and Randle were to be wearing the same stripes in college?

“It wouldn’t feel funny to me,” Bell concluded. “I think it would be great!”