Buckeyes Land Commitment From Cali Receiver Phillip Bell

The Buckeyes won on the field and the recruiting trail on Saturday, handing a resounding defeat to Akron in their season opener and landing a verbal commitment from four-star wide receiver Phillip Bell later in the night.

Bell (6-2 195) attends Mission Viejo High School in Mission Viejo, California where he is ranked the No. 19 receiver in the nation and the No. 184 player overall in the 247Sports Composite. He is also ranked the No. 16 player in the state of California.

Bell took official visits to Ohio State, Georgia, USC, Penn State, and Washington back in the spring. His final two schools came down to the Buckeyes and the Trojans.

As a junior, Bell caught 56 passes for 644 yards and seven touchdowns. As a sophomore at Sacramento Christian Brothers, he went for 818 yards and 20 touchdowns on 73 receptions. He posted 56 catches for 1,002 yards and 12 touchdowns as a freshman.

Bell opened his senior season with a pair of touchdown catches last week.

Ohio State now has four wide receivers committed in their 2025 recruiting class. He joins four-star Quincy Porter (6-3 190) out of Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey, fellow Jersey native and four-star prospect De’zie Jones out of DePaul Catholic, and three-star Ohio prospect Bodpegn Miller out of Ontario High School.

The Buckeyes currently have 26 verbal commitments in their 2025 recruiting class. They have the top-ranked class in the nation.

You can check out Phillip Bell’s junior highlights below.