Ohio State freshman wide receiver Phillip Bell loses black stripe

COLUMBUS — Ohio State seems to have another young wide receiver in the pipeline, developing for an eventual role.

This time, it’s freshman Phillip Bell. The former four-star prospect from Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, CA) lost his black stripe after practice Wednesday, a sign that he’s doing the right things in his first training camp with the Buckeyes.

He’s the second Ohio State wide receiver to lose the black stripe this week, joining second-year pass-catcher Damarion Witten. He’s also the second Buckeyes freshman wide receiver to shed the stripe this offseason, joining Quincy Porter, who lost his in the spring.

Bell is the eighth Ohio State freshman to lose the black stripe from the 2025 recruiting class. He joins wide receiver Quincy Porter, linebacker Riley Pettijohn, tight end Nate Roberts, cornerback Devin Sanchez, safety Faheem Delane and offensive lineman Jake Cook. Porter lost his during spring practice, while Pettijohn, Roberts and Sanchez shed theirs during the first week of training camp.

Delane and Cook lost their black stripe after the team’s second scrimmage of training camp on Saturday. Now Bell is losing his a week and a half before his Buckeyes debut in the Horseshoe.

Bell was ranked as the No. 324 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings. He was the No. 48 wide receiver and No. 26 player in the state of California for his class.

He chose Ohio State over USC, Washington and other top programs from the West Coast and across the country.

Now he’s in the Buckeyes loaded wide receiver room that’ll be tough to find playing time in. But Bell is developing nicely and coming along in his first year at Ohio State.

He took a big step in that developmental path on Wednesday, losing his black stripe to officially become a member of the football program.