Austin Bell Commits to BYU Football as PWO
On the same day that BYU football offered Austin Bell a PWO spot, Bell committed to the Cougars. Bell is a running back out of Corner Canyon who describes BYU as his "dream school." Bell verbally committed to BYU on Wednesday afternoon:
"After talking with the coaches at BYU and talking to my family and coaches I have decided that I’m going to COMMIT to BYU!!! I’m so honored to have received the PWO. I’m looking forward to getting down there and earning my spot, I’m so grateful for everything and everyone." - Austin Bell
Bell preps at Corner Canyon alongside BYU targets Jaxson Dart, Cody Hagen, and Noah Kjar. Bell is rated as a three-star prospect by 247Sports with scholarship offers Air Force, Army, and Navy.
Bell amassed over 1,300 yards at Corner Canyon as a sophmore and over 1,400 yards as a junior where he earned first team all state. He suffered a season-ending injury that prematurely ended his senior campaign. Bell tells Sports Illustrated that he is "three months out of surgery and making huge progress. I'm going to come back stronger than ever." You can check out his sophmore highlights here:
You can check out his junior highlights here:
On his relationship with BYU running back's coach Harvey Unga, Bell said, "Coach Unga is a great guy and I love the way he coaches, I feel like it’s a perfect fit."
While Bell considers BYU his dream school, it wasn't always that way:
"Honestly growing up I cheered for Utah, but these past couple years, I’ve realized how good of a school BYU is. The Coaching staff is awesome and the way they use their running backs is a perfect fit for me, I’m all in."
Bell tells SI that he will enroll at BYU in June. BYU has found a lot of success with preferred walk-ons that eventually earn scholarships. The Cougars' leading rusher Tyler Allgeier arrived at BYU as a PWO. Bell hopes to be the next PWO to earn a scholarship.