Former Nebraska running back Greg Bell has finally found a home -- back home.
Bell announced his intent to transfer last October, but the Huskers barred him from transferring to any Big Ten school, any future Nebraska non-conference opponent and Oregon State, which happened to be the employer of former Nebraska head coach Mike Riley and former Huskers assistant Trent Bray. Three ex-Huskers wound up in Corvallis, and Nebraska wasn’t going to let Bell become the fourth.
Five months later, it’s not clear if Bell had any interest in Oregon State in the first place, but he does have a new destination.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Bell returned to San Diego over the winter and plans to enroll for summer classes, with the plan of becoming the Aztecs’ starting running back this fall.
“I’m most definitely coming in to compete for a starting job,” Bell told the paper. “I know I can go there and make plays right away, so I think I’ll fit in as soon as I get out there.”
Bell is a San Diego native and originally signed with his hometown team out of Bonita Vista High School, but did not qualify academically. He played two seasons at Arizona Western College where, 2,000 yards later, his JuCo recruiting profile of 2018 dwarfed where he stood on the proverbial totem pole in 2016, so he spurned SDSU the second time around in favor of Nebraska. Bell won the starting job out of fall camp and rushed for 104 yards on 13 carries in the Huskers’ season-opener, but his usage fell off a cliff from there -- 14 carries for 64 yards against Troy, six carries for three yards at Michigan, two for two against Purdue on Sept. 29. He didn’t travel to Wisconsin on Oct. 6 and was off the team days later, hence the transfer announcement.
Bell told the Union-Tribune his play declined because he was distracted by the ailing health of a family member back home, so the transfer to San Diego State will solve that problem. He plans to apply for a waiver that would allow him: A) to play immediately in 2019 and B) to have two years of eligibility remaining.