Wharton's Jones gets Nebraska offer
Wharton safety Jairus Jones (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) has received his first two scholarship offers. One came from Florida Atlantic; the second from Nebraska. According to Wildcats assistant Craig Rainey, this might just be the start. "He's getting a ton of interest," Rainey said.
With respect to FAU, the Nebraska offer is the more significant of the two. That's partly because of the program's prestige, but also because first-year 'Huskers coach Bo Pelini is considered one of college football's brightest defensive minds.
The FAU offer comes with a twist.
Owls coach Howard Schnellenberger knows Jones' father, former NFL fullback James Jones, well. In the late 1970s, he tried to recruit the elder Jones to play for the Miami Hurricanes, whom he coached at the time. James Jones instead signed with Florida and in 1982 helped the Gators beat Miami with a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch in the northeast corner of the endzone at Florida Field. The following week, the grab was shown in Sports Illustrated (this issue). In Gator lore, the play to many is known simply as "the catch."
--KEITH NIEBUHR
The St. Petersburg Times High School Sports blog is written and compiled by the Times preps sports staff from Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties. We invite your participation in the comments area.
Go to Nebraska!
Posted by: tim | May 15, 2008 at 07:12 PM
Hoping I get it.
Posted by: | May 15, 2008 at 02:11 PM
Congrat. to the Jairus. He is a great player. I saw him last year and he can play.
Does anyone have any information on the Spoto coaching position? Who got the job?
Posted by: Spoto Fan | May 15, 2008 at 11:20 AM
He is an athlete to the core, any position. Built like a thorobred.
Posted by: | May 14, 2008 at 11:14 PM