Texas commit Dia Bell is the 2025 Elite 11 MVP. The five-star quarterback recruit dazzled this week on the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles and was named the highest performer among the many 20 incoming highschool seniors in attendance. Along with his honor, Bell joined a fraternity of MVPs that features Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, NFL standout C.J. Stroud and quite a few different faculty soccer and professional stars.

Bell has at all times been thought to be one of many prime total prospects within the 2026 recruiting class. He debuted within the 247Sports rankings in April 2024 because the No. 21 recruit within the nation, and he entered the Elite 11 Finals at No. 24 total. He’s the fifth-ranked quarterback within the 2026 class and is the headliner of Texas’ haul, which additionally consists of five-star athlete Jermaine Bishop and two different blue-chip skills.

Bell, the son of longtime NBA participant Raja Bell, dedicated final summer time to Texas, shutting down his recruitment early within the cycle. He has since picked up presents from a lot of different prime packages — together with Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M — however stays locked in with the Longhorns forward of his senior yr at Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage.

No Texas commit had ever received the Elite 11 MVP award till Bell ended the drought. He’s the most recent in a line of big-name prospects to decide to the Longhorns below Steve Sarkisian, following former No. 1 total recruits Arch Manning and Quinn Ewers, the latter of which joined this system by way of the switch portal.

Final season was Bell’s greatest thus far at American Heritage, though he sustained a season-ending leg harm within the playoffs. He earned Florida’s Gatorade Participant of the 12 months award after he accomplished 70.6% of his passes for two,597 yards with 29 touchdowns to simply six interceptions. Bell additionally racked up 561 yards and 5 scores on the bottom.