Dayton offers first scholarship to 2028 recruit

Bell attends Mater Lakes Academy in Hialeah, Fla. He averaged 26 points per game as a freshman.

“I’m an aggressive guard that can create for myself and my teammates,” he told Phenom Hoops earlier this month. “Whether I’m scoring more or setting up others depends on my team and the game situation. I rebound well for my position and I am a disruptive defender.

Bell is the son of Raja Bell, a Miami native who spent 12 years in the NBA (2000-12). Tai’s brother, Dia Bell, is a quarterback who ranks in the top 100 of 2026 football recruits. He has committed to Texas.

The Bells have a connection to Jordan Derkack, a Rutgers transfer who committed to Dayton this spring, and Jordan’s brother Aiden, a top-100 2026 basketball recruit who received a scholarship offer from Dayton. Raja Bell and Gene Derkack, the father of Jordan and Aiden, played together at Florida International University, where their coach was Shakey Rodriguez, Dayton coach Anthony Grant’s high school coach.

“We played and roomed together at FIU,” Raja Bell told The Knight Report in 2024. “Our wives played soccer together and roomed together at FIU as well. All of our kids are like family. Jordan was like our son, before we had kids. I’d catch the train out when I was (in New York City) to play the Knicks, to watch his CYO games. They visit us whenever they can.”

In other recruiting news:

• Cayden Daughtry, a 5-11 point guard from Fort Lauderdale, Fla, announced Saturday he received a scholarship offer from Dayton.

Daughtry is the third member of the 2027 class to receive a Dayton offer this month. Shawn Foster, a 6-foot-2 point guard from Lima Senior High School, received the first offer earlier this month. Isaiah Mack-Russell, a 6-foot-5 guard who will attend Winton Woods High School in Cincinnati next season, received an offer last week.

Daughtry attends Calvary Christian Academy. He’s the No. 22 recruit in the class of 2027, according to 247Sports.com. Cincinnati, Michigan and Rutgers are among the other schools that have offered him scholarships this month.