Elite 11 takeaways: Bruce Feldman on Texas-bound Dia Bell, rising star Keisean Henderson and more

New York Times

20-06-2025

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — I've been coming to the Elite 11 quarterback competition for 20-plus years. The 2025 group was one of the better crops I've seen. The most highly touted guys were every bit as good as they were hyped to be. That's often not the case.
'I think this year's group was as competitive, one through 20, as we've had in a long time, and the fight for who made the 11 was tougher than ever,' Elite 11 president Brian Stumpf said, 'just because so many guys had really strong moments or showings in certain components of the event versus typically one to five guys dominate most everything. I think it speaks to the depth of the class and some guys who have really emerged over the past three to four months to join some of the earlier established big names in the class.'
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Two QBs came in ranked in 247Sports' top three overall prospects in the 2026 class — No. 1 Faizon Brandon and No. 3 Keisean Henderson. Those two, along with Dia Bell (No. 24 overall) and Landon Duckworth (No. 50), were especially impressive at the three-day event. Bell took home the camp's MVP honors.
Bell, the son of former NBA player Raja Bell, is very accurate and polished. The word that kept coming to mind while watching him each day was smooth. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder is just really smooth. The Texas commit also has a presence about him that stood out with how he interacted with the other players.
The Elite 11 coaches raved about his performance in Thursday's 7-on-7 competition.
'What he did today in the 7-on-7 was beautiful,' said former Packers quarterback Craig Nall, one of the camp's coaches. 'It's his command, and it's the little things. On one ball, the receiver was supposed to be off, and (Bell) adjusted. He's never frantic. He's always in control. Doesn't get too high. Doesn't get too low.'
A few other QBs had 'awesome days' in Wednesday's accuracy and 'pro day' competitions and were slotted above Bell in the second day's rankings.
'It was cool to see how he responded,' coach Justin Hoover said. 'Like he noticed we moved him down a bit, and went, 'Watch this.' That was super impressive.'
The 6-3, 185-pound Henderson, a Spring, Texas, native who is committed to Houston, was the guy numerous Elite 11 coaches told me they thought had the highest ceiling.
'It's like he has just one more gear in terms of arm and sped-up athleticism than Bell,' one of the coaches said Thursday after the event. 'And I think Bell's awesome too.'
Henderson is an enormous get for the Cougars and coach Willie Fritz, and he figures to be someone other schools will keep pursuing — though he recently announced he is shutting down his recruitment.
'Sometimes you see a throw from a kid and you think 'Wow!' But it isn't often that same kid is able to replicate that 'wow' type of throw that less than 1 percent of humans can make,' former Michigan QB Devin Gardner said. 'For Henderson, he was able to replicate it over and over again, over a three-day period. He's special, and as long as he stays the course and continues to develop mentally, physically and emotionally, I believe he has a chance at being a household name some day soon.'
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Henderson has elite arm talent and athleticism, but it was his personality that folks at the event kept gushing about. One of the coaches who has worked the Elite 11 for almost a decade said that five-star QBs can often have an air about them that can be off-putting. But Henderson wasn't like that at all. Zero entitlement. Just full of life and full of joy.
He still needs to hone his passing skills, one of the coaches pointed out, saying once he refines his ability to get some throws up and down — a bucket throw — more consistently, he'll be even more impressive.
'He's a really, really good quarterback, but he's an even better human,' Hoover said. 'I can't wait to watch him continue to grow and develop because he is so talented. He just has 'it.' People gravitate towards him. I'd want him in my locker room, I know that. He was the most talented kid there. His ceiling is so high, and his floor also is high, so with that comes high expectations.'
Nall said Henderson is one of the most impressive high school quarterbacks he's ever seen.
'This is my 13th season coaching the Elite 11, and I'd put him in the top 10 percent of all our QBs in arm talent,' he said. 'We've had some super special guys, like Trevor Lawrence and Tua (Tagovailoa), but he's in that discussion. Wherever he lands, they're getting a special kid.
'He's super athletic. He's very gifted. He's constantly smiling. He made me feel special as a coach by the way he'd thank you and look you in the eye. He has this sense of gratitude about how glad he was to be here, and then he went out and did his thing.'
Brandon, a Tennessee commit from North Carolina, was one of the youngest QBs at the event, having just turned 17 earlier this month. He won the event's Rail Shot competition on the first night. I thought he stepped up when the lights were brightest, especially on Day 1 and then again on Day 3.
'Tennessee hit a home run,' said George Whitfield, one of the Elite 11's most senior coaches. 'He has a big arm. Good lower body. You can tell he worked on his feet, hits his drops, no false steps. You can tell he's figured some stuff out. He should be fun to watch.'
RAIL SHOT 🎥🎯 pic.twitter.com/pL96jxsvDg
— Elite11 (@Elite11) June 18, 2025
Duckworth, a 6-3, 195-pound three-sport athlete from Alabama who has won state titles as a basketball player and as a sprinter on a 4×100 relay team, is the subject of a big Auburn-South Carolina recruiting battle. The Elite 11 coaches really buzzed about his potential, a guy with a great frame and a big arm who is really fast. He's still pretty raw, but coaches said it's more inexperience than immaturity. One coach told me that he probably needs two years of seasoning, and with that, 'he could be special. But who's that patient and can develop him?'
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• The most pleasant surprise to me was Ohio's Matt Ponatoski, ranked as the No. 29 QB by 247Sports. The two-sport star has an electric arm, having been clocked at 97 mph as a pitcher. That arm wowed me Thursday morning in his 7-on-7 performance. The 6-1, 196-pounder, who is uncommitted, made two 'wow' throws to receivers who didn't look open at all, but he fired the ball into the only spot he could and completed the passes. It was impressive.
'He had a couple of those every day we were here,' Hoover said. 'He's got some confidence to put it in places that others wouldn't even attempt to throw. He really stood out.'
I was told Ponatoski was looking at taking a visit to Oregon this weekend.
• Bryson Beaver, a three-star recruit from Southern California (No. 54 QB in the class), turned a lot of heads as well this week. The 6-2, 200-pounder, who recently decommitted from Boise State, is getting a lot of interest from some Power 4 powers, including Oregon. It wasn't hard to see why. He has an excellent arm and good feet.
'I loved him,' Whitfield said. 'Him and Henderson (are) guys you want to go coach because of their personality and charisma and how guys want to follow them.'
• Texan Bowe Bentley is another hot prospect who colleges are scrambling to land. He's about the same size as Beaver, but more highly ranked, at No. 78 overall and the No. 7 QB. LSU and Oklahoma are both after him. I thought he was one of the most impressive guys I watched Wednesday. He's got a lot of juice in his arm and exudes confidence in it. He's a guy I could see putting up big numbers in major college football.
'I was high on his tape coming in,' Nall said. 'I could tell the competitive temperament that he has. I think the sky is the limit for that kid.'
• Clemson commit Tait Reynolds came into the event as a three-star prospect, ranked the No. 26 QB by 247Sports. Expect him to jump up the rankings. The 6-2, 220-pounder from Arizona is intriguing. He's got this big, muscled-up frame and looks like a guy who really knows his way around a squat rack, but he threw and moved much more fluidly than most of the coaches expected.
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• Jeff Brohm has long proven to be one of the brightest minds in football, and it seems like he's ahead of the curve when it comes to Louisville commit Briggs Cherry. He came into the event ranked No. 84 on 247Sports' QB board. I suspect the 6-4, 210-pounder from Tennessee will soar up a few dozen spots after this week. His accuracy was really impressive Wednesday and Thursday.
'He absolutely shredded it in 7-on-7,' Nall said. 'It was absolutely one of the best performances in this format that I've ever seen. He didn't miss a throw.'
• Jett Thomalla, who made news at the start of the week when he flipped from Iowa State to Alabama, also really impressed me. The 6-4, 210-pound four-star from Nebraska is a really good basketball player who's thrown down some eye-catching dunks. That athleticism shows up on the field. He's a big, rangy kid who was firing the ball downfield effortlessly and also displayed some deft touch, floating the ball in on big bucket throws. In addition, he displayed a good demeanor.
• Helaman Casuga, a 6-1, 220-pound four-star committed to Texas A&M, was one of the most accurate QBs at the event. The coaches said he loves Tagovailoa, and you do see some of that in him.
• USC commit Jonas Williams finished the week with a flurry. He made one spectacular deep throw on a corner route that beat double coverage for a touchdown, one of seven TD passes he threw in the 7-on-7 competition. The 6-1, 215-pound four-star from Illinois definitely improved his stock.
(Photo of Keisean Henderson courtesy of Elite 11)