Ring the Bell: Badgers land three-star senior wide receiver
Wide receiver was the last big position of need in Wisconsin's 2021 recruiting class. Sunday, the Badgers plugged that hole with a commitment from Skyler Bell, arguably the top target for UW at that position all summer.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound rising senior from The Taft School in Connecticut chose Wisconsin from a top five that also included Iowa, Rutgers, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Bell, who had 36 receptions for 549 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior, picked up an offer from Wisconsin in late April. He was recruited by first-year receivers coach Alvis Whitted.
"It (Wisconsin offer) was definitely a little surreal because (high school) Coach (Tyler) Whitley has been talking to me about Wisconsin and how he’s been reaching out to them and trying to get them on board," Bell told BadgerBlitz.com in a previous interview. "After they pulled the trigger I was excited because everyone knows Wisconsin is the real deal. It’s a top five program almost every year and they’ve been trying to get over that hump of the Big Ten championship. They are trying to take that next step of winning a national championship and they think I can be a part of that.
"I feel really comfortable with Wisconsin. Me and Coach Whitted have a great relationship and I talk to him pretty much twice a week - not always about football. He’s a great dude and he thinks that he can help me take the next step and hopefully be an NFL player, which is my goal. He wants to win championships and he tells me that all the time. People may say that Wisconsin is a run-heavy team, but he thinks that if I come there and I work for it, I can help open up the offense and make Wisconsin a little more dynamic."
Bell is commit No. 16 in a 2021 class for the Badgers that will likely feature two scholarship wide receivers.
“He is extremely impressive athletically,” Bell’s head coach, Tyler Whitley, told Rivals.com last fall. “He is 6-foot-1, almost 190-pounds with a 40-inch vertical and he ran a 4.51 at Penn State. Physically, he looks like what you would make on Madden if you were making a receiver.
"He has good ball skills, he is tough, and he is a worker. He really works hard on his craft and is a very good ball player. He is also a track runner who is a multi-sport athlete. His father is a personal trainer, so he has been working with him since he was able to walk. He is a kid that is very focused on what it takes to be an athlete at the highest level, and he is doing everything he can to get to that point.”