PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — This past Tuesday the McDonald’s All-American game rosters were announced, and one local girl made the cut.
“It’s super exciting,” said Jesuit’s Sofia Bell of the honor. “I put a lot of work into the sport so to achieve a goal that I’ve had for a really long time is super cool.”
There was some anxiety though for Bell before she found out she was one of the best 24 female players in the country, in the most relatable way possible.
“I had an idea that it was coming out around noon and that it would be on ESPN, but I couldn’t get it to connect properly so I wasn’t sure,” said Bell, as the page refused to load. “I knew it had been released. Then I started getting a lot of texts, so at that point I kind of knew.”
The first person to actually alert Sofia that she had made it was her next head coach, Kelly Graves at Oregon. He told her the honor was well-deserved.
Her current head coach, Jason Lowery, couldn’t agree more.
“Her own demand for her own excellence is huge just in her standards and expectations for herself,” said Lowery. “There’s a lot of natural gifts there, but the hard work and the preparation exceeds what she has naturally, so you put those two things together, and you get a pretty special player.”
As for what makes Bell special as a person?
“I’ve always said she’s the adult in the room. She’s calm, she’s smart, she’s thoughtful. I’ve never seen her have a bad day. Just a joy to be around,” said Lowery.
Bell becomes Jesuit’s first female McDonald’s All-American and one of just two players ever from the school to make the game, the last being Mike Dunleavy Jr. in 1999.
Bell understands the magnitude of that, especially at a school with such a storied athletic legacy like Jesuit.
“All the athletic programs here are super strong, so to be the first at anything is exciting here,” said Bell.
And Bell hopes to translate that excitement into something tangible in the game in March, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s read this story.
“I want to win,” said Bell.
