STARKVILLE — Unlike the rest of Mississippi State’s football team, Jimmy Bell Jr. is not coming off three-plus months away from the grind of the season.
Bell and the Bulldogs’ men’s basketball team’s season concluded only two weeks ago with a first-round loss to Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament. But now the fifth-year senior center, who played football in high school and had offers to play the sport at a couple of Mid-American Conference schools, is trying to return to the gridiron.
The 6-foot-10-inch, 280-pound Bell practiced with MSU football for the first time Thursday, and while he naturally has a lot of room to grow, head coach Jeff Lebby expressed excitement about what Bell’s size and strength can bring to the Bulldogs’ offensive line.
“We’re going to take some baby steps with him and make sure we’re setting him up for success,” Lebby said. “It’ll be a little bit slower of a process than some other guys (with) him coming off the hardwood, but I love the fact that he wants to be out here after a long season. He’s ready to get out here and get going, so that says a lot about him.”
Lebby said Bell approached him and the football coaching staff about switching sports. Bell had exhausted his eligibility in basketball — he previously played at Saint Louis, Moberly Area Community College and West Virginia — but NCAA rules allow him to play one more year in a different sport. He practiced briefly with the Mountaineers’ football team last year but never appeared in a game before transferring to MSU for his final season of hoops.
The path to playing time for Bell would likely involve beating out several of the transfers the Bulldogs added up front over the winter, including Ethan Miner (North Texas), Makylan Pounders (Memphis) and Jacoby Jackson (Texas Tech). Marlon Martinez, formerly of LSU, will also compete for a starting role along with holdovers from last season’s roster like Albert Reese and Canon Boone.
“They’ve done exactly what we’ve asked them to do,” Lebby said. “We’re nowhere close to where we want to be, but I like the fact that we’ve got guys who have played a lot of football, maybe not here but at other places. They understand the expectation and they’ve done a really good job. We’ve got a ton of work to do.”
Bolstered receiving corps
MSU has upgraded its receiving corps more than probably any other position group. In addition to the three four-star freshmen the Bulldogs brought in — JJ Harrell, Braylon Burnside and Mario Craver — Lebby and company also added a pair of quality transfers in Kevin Coleman from Louisville and Kelly Akharaiyi from Texas-El Paso who bring an ability to stretch the field and make explosive plays.
Coleman, the SWAC Freshman of the Year at Jackson State before coming to Louisville, displayed optimism about the receivers room that also includes returners Justin Robinson and Creed Whittemore, among others.
“We can be elite,” Coleman said. “We have a couple guys (who are) older, but the young guys have surprised me. All of them have been working hard each and every day. They’re humble guys, so they like listening, they like learning and they put the work in. I feel like this receiver group can really be special.”
Uncertainty at running back
The biggest question mark offensively is at running back, where Seth Davis is still working his way back from an injury he sustained during the Egg Bowl. Keyvone Lee, in his second year as a Bulldog after transferring from Penn State, was taking first-team reps earlier this spring, and MSU also has a pair of former junior college standouts in Jeffery Pittman and Johnnie Daniels.
Lebby emphasized the need for improvement in the backfield, and the Bulldogs could still upgrade further there when the transfer portal reopens later this month.
“We don’t have a ton of production in that room,” Lebby said. “Keyvone has done a really good job. He’s coachable, he takes the coaching, he’s detail-oriented and he’s a big, physical guy who can do some things. But we definitely have to get better at that position.”
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