Hoover senior defensive end Christian Bell committed to play football at Alabama in late April of 2014, but will not sign his national letter-of-intent on National Signing Day on Wednesday.

Bell told AL.com on Monday he has accepted a grayshirt to still continue his career in Tuscaloosa. He will enroll in January and be a part of the scholarship count for the Class of 2016.

"I have decided to stay committed to Alabama and take a grayshirt," Bell said in a telephone interview with AL.com. "I will start in January after the first semester this fall."

A grayshirt is more like a pause button on the recruiting process than a delayed redshirt. A grayshirt will not report for summer drills or fall practices. Those student-athletes wait until the second semester to begin their freshman year.

The strategy keeps the NCAA five-year eligibility window from opening.

Grayshirts are not permitted to enroll as a full-time student or receive scholarship benefits or be a part of the program in any official capacity, including practices.

Bell said the Alabama coaching staff asked him to grayshirt last Monday. He thought it over and wanted to continue to pursue his dream of playing college football at Alabama.

"A lot of schools called me and stuff after that got out but I didn't make or show any interest towards them or anything," he said.

He mentioned a couple of reasons why Alabama asked him to grayshirt, but chose not to go into great detail.

"It pertains to me working on my physical development and also working on my academics," he said.

Bell declined comment on whether or not he was qualified to receive a scholarship at this time. He aims to study financial planning or even run his own business one day. He has said in previous interviews that his favorite subject in school growing up was math.

The senior has an impressive personal story. He's the oldest of seven siblings. He wears No. 49 because he was nine years old when his father passed away. His Twitter bio reveals a young man with sound judgement. He notes he is starless in reference to recruiting perceptions because he feels those stars mean nothing once a prospect gets on a college campus.

Bell began the season rated as the No. 10 prospect in Alabama on AL.com's A-List, but was not among the Top 15 players in the state in recent updates to that list.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound defensive end is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com and the No. 18 weakside defensive end in the nation. Scout.com also has him as a three-star and at No. 40 overall among all defensive ends.

247sports pegged Bell as a three-star recruit and at No. 19 nationally among weakside defensive ends. ESPN has him as a four-star recruit and the No. 225 overall prospect in America.

He finished his senior season with 33 tackles, five stops for losses and four sacks. He also had seven quarterback pressures. While those aren't beefy numbers for an elite SEC prospect, the fact that he plays on a defensive front with at least four other junior or senior Bucs who will play college football also must be taken into consideration.

His two teammates, R.J. Arnold and Auburn commitment Darrell Williams, were both up for the Class 7A Lineman of the Year this season from the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Arnold wound up winning the award.

Bell was a three-year starter on three consecutive state championship teams at Hoover. The Bucs went a combined 42-2 during his time on the varsity. The senior said he will be signing an agreement on Wednesday that he will intend to enroll at Alabama in January. His name will not appear on the signees list among Alabama's Class of 2015 recruits this week.

"God has a plan for me," Bell said. "It is all going to work out for me in the end. I've been praying about it and this is just the right thing for me to do. I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't still take advantage of this great opportunity for me to play at Alabama."

ESPN National Recruiting Director Tom Luginbill gave Bell a glowing evaluation prior to the start of the season. Hoover has four members of this signing class committed to schools from Power 5 conferences, but Luginbill rated Bell the highest of those recruits back in August.

He saw him as a hybrid player who could fill both a defensive end and a "Jack" outside linebacker spot. The lines between those roles are blurred at Alabama.

"The interesting thing about Christian Bell is the type of linebacker you have to be at Alabama and how you have to be so versatile to play in that scheme because of all the things you are asked to do," Luginbill said. "The linebacker position at Alabama takes a lot to perform at a high level because of your coverage responsibilities, your run support responsibilities and all those things coupled with your pass rush. To be able to have that level of play in a prospect really stands out."

When Bell chose the Crimson Tide, he said his second choice was Mississippi State. He took no further official or unofficial visits. He also had scholarship offers from Akron, Louisville, South Carolina, Southern Miss and UCLA, among others.