Jimmy Bell Jr. may be out of NCAA eligibility as a basketball player, but he will be trying to continue his athletic exploits on the gridiron.
Bell will join the Mississippi State football team later this week as the Bulldogs continue spring practice, a source with knowledge of the move told The Dispatch. Listed at 6-foot-10 and 280 pounds, Bell will work to earn a spot on MSU’s offensive line.
This is not the first time Bell has attempted to switch sports. After playing the 2022-23 basketball season at West Virginia, Bell worked with the Mountaineers’ football program but did not appear in a game. NCAA rules allow an athlete with exhausted eligibility in their primary sport to play one more year in a different sport.
Pat Spencer, a former lacrosse standout at Loyola-Maryland, played a postgraduate year of basketball at Northwestern and has played in three games this season with the Golden State Warriors. Tyler Buchner played quarterback at Notre Dame before transferring to Alabama, and this offseason chose to return to Notre Dame to play lacrosse.
Bell played left tackle in high school and had offers to play football at Akron and Eastern Michigan. He instead chose the hardwood, beginning his college basketball career at Saint Louis before transferring to Moberly (Mo.) Area Community College and then West Virginia. In his lone year with the Bulldogs, Bell started 16 games and averaged 5.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
