The future stars of Ohio State football officially begin their Buckeye careers today as standouts from all over the country put pens to their National Letters of Intent. Signing Day is here.
Eleven Warriors would like to officially welcome Dre'Mont Jones to the Ohio State football program.
The Jones File
- Class 2015
- Position DE
- Size 6-3/266
- School St. Ignatius (Cleveland, OH)
- Composite ★★★★
- Rank 11 (SSDE)
Cleveland St. Ignatius has no shortage of football talent and it rarely ever has. The Wildcats have been one of the most prestigious football programs in America for decades, and Dre'Mont Jones is the latest in a number of standouts to make an impact on, and off, the field.
He's bigger than most at 6-foot-3 and 266-pounds, but Jones' game might be even bigger than his frame. Still, at Ignatius, talent waits behind talent, and getting on the field as a freshman or sophomore is more difficult than it is at most schools. Because of that, Jones didn't receive the attention most players with his prodigious talent would have. In fact, he didn't receive his first offer — from the University of Iowa — until February of 2014, after his junior year for coach Chuck Kyle and the Wildcats. But Ohio State, Michigan and others were paying attention.
18 days after his Iowa offer, the Buckeyes followed suit after evaluating an impressive junior highlight tape. Jones reciprocated the interest quickly and visited Ohio State.
Despite the excellent experience at Ohio State, Jones said he was not yet ready to end his suddenly intriguing recruitment.
"Yes they did," Jones told 11W when asked if Ohio State had set a high-standard. "But I'm not ready to commit, I want to explore my options still."
Those options for Jones had expanded. Michigan, Kentucky, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Cincinnati and others offered, but only Michigan and Kentucky got visits from the Ignatius star. On April 2nd, He told MGoBlog.com that he was definitely considering the Wolverines after a visit to Ann Arbor, despite being considered a "lock" for the Buckeyes.
"Ohio State is my straight up leader right now but I’m still very open to other schools," Jones shared with MGoBlog. "That’s the reason why I haven’t committed anywhere yet."
Jones isn't, and hasn't, been incredibly interested in the recruiting saga or the games that came with it. He visited the schools he liked, including a trip to Columbus for the Ohio State spring game, a weekend that many thought he could shut his recruitment down.
A spring commitment didn't come, but a summer one did. One June 18th, Jones became the eighth verbal pledge in the "Elite '15" when he committed on a visit to campus.
After his commitment, Jones did what most expected him to do: he disappeared, at least off the field. On the field, he dominated on both sides of the ball for the Wildcats, playing defensive end and tight end and earned an invitation to the US Army All-American Game where he was consistently named as one of the week's top performers.
