Plantation, Fla. • Raja Bell knew his oldest son, Dia, was going to sit him down one day to have “the talk.” The 47-year-old former NBA guard just wasn’t expecting it to happen when Dia was in sixth grade.
“Initially, I was a little shocked he had that type of conviction about it at that age,” said Bell, who played 12 years in the NBA and earned a name for himself guarding the late Kobe Bryant in the playoffs.
“On one hand, as a dad, it made me feel good. Dia felt comfortable and secure enough to have that conversation knowing basketball was my true passion. But as a dad, you know your children, know where their heart is. It was clear to us Dia’s passion was football.”
Dia’s mom was a soccer star at FIU, and one of his aunts was drafted by a WNBA team, so it’s safe to say Bell comes from a strong gene pool. No one has to convince college coaches of that. Getting them to believe Dia plays basketball just for fun is the tough part. He’s too good at hoops.
As a freshman point guard on Plantation American Heritage’s varsity team last season, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Bell averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals a game. And that was with no preseason practice since he didn’t join the team until the football season ended.
As a quarterback, Dia’s career is just getting started. In his first season as the starter, Bell is ranked No. 48 overall and the No. 3 quarterback in the Class of 2026 by On3. Rivals also ranks him as a four-star recruit.
In four starts, Bell has completed 61 percent of his passes for 647 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions.
He has led the Patriots — a program that lost 27 seniors off of a state runner-up squad — to a 3-1 start with wins over Washington (D.C.) St. John’s, Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian and local rival Cardinal Gibbons. Heritage’s only loss was to Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna, ranked No. 3 nationally. Bell struggled in the 28-16 loss, completing only 13 of 30 attempts with two interceptions.
“I think our quarterback is going to be pretty good,” Heritage coach Mike Smith said. “He’s very cerebral. It’s just gonna take a little bit of time. We’re going to have to be a little patient with that.”
Two local recruiting experts believe Bell, who boasts a 4.8 grade-point average, has NFL potential.
“When I first watched him two years ago, he was probably a lower-level Division I player,” said Charles Fishbein of Elite Scouting Services. “But he’s grown 4 or 5 inches and improved and made himself a Power 5 quarterback. I don’t know where I’d rank him right now (nationally), but I think he has a chance to be very good.”
Larry Blustein, who has been ranking recruits in the state for decades, said Bell’s work ethic is what separates him from other quarterbacks his age.
“I don’t think anybody’s worked harder than him to get to where he is,” Blustein said. “He’s impressed the hell out of me. During the summer, he went to Utah, Notre Dame, went everywhere and did extremely well. He throws the ball well. He’s smart. He uses his offense — the great running game and receivers around him.”
In August, Bell said Florida, Penn State, West Virginia, BYU, Notre Dame, Utah and Miami were among the Power 5 programs recruiting him the hardest. His father said Monday that LSU and Texas have come on strong in the past few months.
“He’s got nightly calls, sometimes two calls a night with these guys,” Raja said. “The juggling act, that’s what we’re trying to balance right now, between him being a student and then all the responsibilities that come along with being QB1 and carving out the time for all these coaches who are trying to get to know him a little bit.”
Dia has attended games at Florida and Miami and would like to get to Penn State before the season ends.
“If I had to pick one school that I kind of rooted for because I lived in Cleveland, it was probably Ohio State,” said Dia, who looks up to and studies Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young.
Bell has been on Heritage’s varsity squad as the backup quarterback since the seventh grade. Smith did his best to keep Bell involved in the game even when there was little chance — barring injury — that he would take the field.
“He really does know the game, really is a student of the game,” Smith said. “If I had one knock on him early — and it’s not even a knock — he tries to be too perfect. Sometimes, you just gotta let it rip. He has that kind of arm talent. But that’s just gonna come with experience.”
Bell has developed a rapport with teammate Malachi Toney, a four-star receiver in the Class of 2026 who is committed to Miami.
“Dia’s accuracy is off the charts,” Toney said. “He puts the ball where only I can get it. Our connection is special.”
Bell said his ability to extend plays with his legs and throw the deep ball are his strengths. He can fling it about 60 to 65 yards. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.73 seconds this summer at a camp at West Virginia.
Bell doesn’t concern himself with measuring up to the athletic achievements of his father. He has very little memory of Raja’s playing career, which ended with the Utah Jazz in 2012.
“My dad told me not to really worry about holding myself up to his standard, just play and be who I am,” Bell said. “He’s been really supportive in that way. I mean, there’s always gonna be times when people are gonna put you up against your dad, especially when you star on the basketball team. I just try to back it up with what I do on the court and on the field. It’s not just about who he is, but it’s who I am, as well.”
Raja Bell, who worked as an executive with the Cleveland Cavaliers and won a championship with the organization in 2016, has been a podcast host for The Ringer for the past few years.
Raja said he seeks advice from other parents who have gone through the recruiting process. Bell said he wants his son to get to know the coaches recruiting him and make the best decision for himself.
In a way, Bell said he’s glad basketball isn’t going to add an extra layer for his son to deal with.
“Once basketball was taken off his plate and he didn’t have to worry about training for it, his focus on football, the prep, the understanding of coverages … he soaked it all up,” Bell said.
“I have no disillusion that he’s coming back or wants to play basketball in any real capacity other than probably for fun in high school.”
— This article originally appeared in The Athletic.