No Texas commit had ever won the Elite 11 MVP award until Bell ended the drought. He is the latest in a line of big-name prospects to commit to the Longhorns under Steve Sarkisian, following former No. 1 overall recruits Arch Manning and Quinn Ewers, the latter of which joined the program via the transfer portal.

Bell was named the MVP of the 2025 Elite 11 high school quarterback competition: The Longhorns commit is a 5-star prospect and the No. 3 quarterback of the 2026 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He shined the brightest from a group of some of the most promising signal-callers in the country.

And despite soon becoming signal callers on opposing sides of the revived Lone Star Showdown, the Longhorn-Aggie rivalry has not gotten in the way of Bell and Casuga developing a friendship at the Elite 11 Finals this week.