Interview: 3-Star 2020 DE Leshaun Bell Previews Playoffs and Official to Arizona State

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG

One thing that everyone who follows high school football in Southern California knows, Leshaun Bell is a dangerous man off the edge. The 6-4, 240-pound, end was a captain of chaos as a junior with Westlake High School coming up with 77 stops, 11 sacks and two forced fumbles in partial stats from his season. With Calabasas High School this season, he has done more of the same but pushed his game to yet another level with an estimated 20 sacks helping the Coyotes to an 8-2 record reading to face No. 3 nationally ranked St. John Bosco (9-1) in the opening round of the Division I playoffs.

Bell’s accomplishments on the field have produced 11 offers and three-star recruiting status. The first of his five official visits that he can take is scheduled this weekend when Arizona State hosts USC. For insight on his season, the playoffs, and the upcoming visit, we caught up.

*Click link for June 19, 2019, RNG interview with LeShaun Bell

Interview

Leshaun, I always like getting updates on the play on the field. How has the season gone for you?

“It has gone very well. It has been a really good season. I am showing people where I am at this season with my play on the field and getting credibility for all the hard work put into my game.”

Where are you showing the improvements in talents on defense?

“My get off, my strength, and I have slimmed down becoming more agile and making it easier to get around offensive linemen. I am showing all around improvement. Coach (Chris) Claiborne (HC) has helped me a lot. I am dropping back into coverage. I almost had an interception in the JSerra game. I could not grip the ball right with the gloves to get my hands around the ball or I would have had it. I would not had been in that position last year to drop back into coverage to get a pick. I am an all-around better player this year.”

Of the games played, which has been your best performance?

“My top performance, I would say the Bakersfield game. I had six sacks in that game. The Gardena-Serra and Westlake games were top games as well. I was going against top players. In the Serra game I had three sacks and against Westlake I had four sacks.”

Nice. Turn to recruiting. Which schools are showing interest?

“Oregon, Colorado, and Ohio State followed me on Twitter. Boise State, Kansas State, UCLA, and Arizona – there are more showing interest, I cannot remember all of them right now.”

No worries. How many offers are you holding?

“Eleven.”

Bell’s Offer Sheet: Arizona State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon State, San Jose State (1^st), UNLV, Washington State, and Wyoming

Have you taken any visits from this summer to now?

“Yes. I took an unofficial to Fresno State this summer, Arizona and Arizona State last year, and I have been to Oregon and Oregon State.”

Do you have any official visits coming up?

“This weekend I am taking an official to Arizona State. It is USC week; they want to show out. It should be a good game.”

Going to ASU what are you excited to learn and see?

“I want to go up there and see what ASU has to offer – the campus and living situations. I want to be in a comfortable situation. I want to find out what I can learn from their coaches as a player and person. I want to see their academic offerings. Education comes first, you have to have an education. I want to be able to support my family if I do not make it to the league. I want to see if they are a school that can help me get to the league. I want to make sure they can help me with that. That is my main goal.”

Are there any other planned official visits?

“I want to wait until after the season to take my other officials.”

Are you going to put out a top schools list?

“After the season, I will make a Top 4 list. I am thinking more offers will come when the season is over.”

Certainly. What about a commitment date? You still have your officials to take, but is there a time frame when you want to have a decision made?

“After all my official visits, I will figure out a commitment date then. I want to see what the schools have to offer me. I have no set time frame for a commitment date. I want to visit the schools I have in mind to make sure I find the right fit.”

Back to football. The team has won five in a row, what is clicking for you guys at the right time heading into the playoffs?

“We had a young team this year, and we are still maturing. We are stronger and becoming better each week. Our coaches are keeping us focused on doing our jobs, same for me. If I see someone else mess up, I feel like I have to fix it, but we can’t do that. We have to do our own jobs. We have been working on that a lot and that is showing. We have been handling our business.”

St. John Bosco is a tough draw for the opening round of the playoffs, what are you expecting from their offense on the 15th?

“It will be a hard-fought battle. They will come out hard, we have to be ready to battle. If we come back and fire off, and put up a fight we will be alright. They may expect us to fall after a few plays, but we will keep fighting. We plan on shocking the world.”

Leshaun, always great getting time in with you. Wishing you and the team success in the playoffs.

“Thank you.”

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Photo credit: Bell family; LeShaun Bell at Oregon