Tony Jones Commits To Notre Dame
Notre Dame has found it's next running back. Or at least one of them.
Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy three-star running back Tony Jones committed to Notre Dame on Sunday.
Advertisement
Jones — who is ranked as the No. 29 running back in the country — was in South Bend for Notre Dame's Junior Day.
The 6-1, 212-pounder arrived on Friday with his family and stayed through Sunday.
He decided to give a verbal pledge to the Irish and head coach Brian Kelly before leaving campus and returning home.
"It felt right to me," Jones said. "I loved it here and the tradition is just amazing."
Jones was one of new running backs coach Autry Denson's top targets at the position. The Irish offered Jones back on March 6 — just a few days after Denson was hired — and began to put the full-court press on the running back shortly after.
Jones picked the Irish over scholarship offers from Miami, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, Indiana, Illinois and Mississippi State.
He ran for a team-high 771 yards and 12 touchdowns last season for an IMG Academy squad that had 12 players sign with Football Bowl Subdivision schools in the class of 2015.
Jones is in line to become the fourth running back from the state of Florida to sign with the Irish since 2013.
He joins Cincinnati Elder four-star offensive tackle Tommy Kraemer, LaGrange Park (Ill.) Nazareth Academy three-star cornerback Julian Love and long snapper John Shannon as the initial pledges in the class of 2016.
Notre Dame is expected to take two running backs this cycle, and Jones gives the Irish coaching staff a solid option in the backfield and a piece to build the class around moving forward.
Click Here to view this Link.