Boilermakers’ Bell Hopes to Take Toll on USC Receivers

Henry Bell grew up only a five-minute drive from the Coliseum and was a huge USC fan as a kid.

But when Bell takes the field for the Pigskin Classic at the Coliseum at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, he’ll be wearing the black and gold of Purdue, not the cardinal and gold of USC.

“This will definitely be a type of homecoming for me,” said Bell, a 1995 graduate of Montclair Prep.

“When I signed with Purdue, I never thought I would be coming home to play unless we made it to the Rose Bowl.”

Bell, a 5-foot-11, 177-pound senior cornerback, won’t start against USC, but will play in the Boilermakers’ nickel defense and in punt situations.

Bell had 31 tackles, intercepted three passes and started two games last season when Purdue went 9-3, tied Ohio State and Penn State for second in the Big Ten Conference and defeated Oklahoma State, 33-20, in the Alamo Bowl.

The Boilermakers, who averaged a school-record 33 points a game, were ranked 15th in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN coaches’ polls.

Bell says this team will be even better, although Purdue was a 7 1/2-point underdog to unranked USC as of Friday.

“I think we’ve got a real good shot [at winning the conference title] because we’re much better now than we were at this time last year,” Bell said. “We improved a lot in the spring and we’re better now than we were then. I think a lot of people have underestimated us.”

The same thing could be said of Bell, a good--but not great--high school player who earned All-Western State Conference South Division honors as a sophomore at Valley College in 1996.

“He’s a young man who has matured a great deal as a person and as a football player since he got out of high school,” Montclair Prep Coach George Giannini said.

“He was an average to good high school player as a junior and a good to very good player as a senior, but he was never one of our stars.”

Montclair Prep went 10-1 during each of Bell’s two seasons on the varsity.

The Mounties won the Southern Section Division X title when he was a senior, but that team was led by quarterback-defensive back Darrell Dent, tailback Akil Anderson, defensive tackle Langston Woodberry and tight end Anwan Jones.

“You could see the potential was there with Henry,” Giannini said. “But I could tell that he was a couple of years away from playing at the [four-year] college level. I think it’s a real credit to Henry and to Valley College that he’s developed into the player he has.”

Bell’s improvement on the field has come despite the death of his older brother off it.

James Bell was shot and killed in the summer of 1996.

The usually talkative Henry speaks quietly of James’ death, calling it a case of “mistaken identity” and “one of those mean streets of L.A. stories.”

Although he misses his brother, Henry is looking forward to playing in front of a large group of family and friends Sunday.

Bell’s parents, Henry and Shirley, his brother Darren, his girlfriend Cherise Holmes and their daughter Jade will be among about 40 family members and friends in attendance at the Coliseum.

Bell said many of them are USC fans, but he figures they’ll also be rooting for the Purdue player wearing jersey No. 27.

“They have a tremendous amount of talent,” Bell said of a USC team that was 6-5 last year. “Especially at the wide receiver position. But I feel good about [our chances]. I’m excited. Very excited.”