re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition

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Emory Jones still strongly considering Alabama

FRANKLIN, Ga. — Ever since Emory Jones was 5 years old, it has just been him and his mother, Trina, living in the same house after his parents separated. That age also happened to be when Jones got into football.

Jones, a 4-star quarterback who’s committed to Ohio State, started playing the position when he was 5. On Wednesday, he officially accomplished one of his football dreams by being honored with his Under Armour All-America Game jersey.

Jones’ mother knew her son may have a future in football when he transferred to Heard County High School in the eighth grade.

“Emory tossed a 75-yard ball in eighth grade,” Trina Jones told SEC Country. “It wasn’t captured on anyone’s camera; I couldn’t find it, but I wish I could. That’s when I knew he was different. We went to a camp one time and he played in a game and someone walked away and said, ‘Oh, he just has raw talent.’

“So, I said, ‘What does that mean? Is raw cool? Is raw like, he’s bad?’ So I asked someone because I wasn’t sure from a football perspective. So, I looked it up and I talked to someone and they said it means he’s just athletic; he doesn’t have mechanics. That’s the moment I put him in training and he soared from there. He picked it up very quickly and he took off from there.”

Jones is now ranked as the nation’s No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the 2018 class and is a major target for Alabama. The Crimson Tide will need to flip Jones from his commitment to Ohio State, though. Jones has been committed to the Buckeyes for more than a year now. It’s the school he’s been dreaming about representing for several years now.

“Ever since [former Ohio State quarterback] Braxton Miller started playing, he’s always been an Ohio State fan,” Trina said. “I have family all around Ohio. From Cincinnati to Dayton to Cleveland to Columbus. We have family in the area, and in Pennsylvania, so we’ve traveled the area frequently. Ever since Braxton Miller [played for Ohio State], that was his favorite player.”

The part about having family in Ohio is important to note. With Jones living in Georgia, Ohio is obviously not around the corner from him and his mother. There have been some rumblings that there are some people in Jones’ inner circle that want him to stay closer to home when he ultimately signs with his college of choice. Emory told SEC Country that his grandma, perhaps jokingly, tells him how she wants him to choose a school closer to Franklin, Ga., so she can see him play in all of his games in person.

Emory’s mother doesn’t have an issue with Ohio State being so far away from home.

“I don’t care [if he’s closer to home],” Trina said. “I just want him to be where he’s going to feel like there’s a connection, where he fits in, where he can be happy. He’s going to go through some challenges. He’s going to have that. The closeness would’ve been so that I could’ve been close enough to support him through things he will endure while he’s in college. Not because I don’t want to travel there. My job requires me to travel every day. It’s nothing for us to jump in the car and drive there.

“I’m already planning around, if that’s what I have to do; I’ve already mentally started prepping for ‘am I going to drive to these games, if I am going to prepare to fly these games.’ The distance is not a problem.”

After talking with Emory’s mother, I came away with the impression that she is 100 percent on board with her son attending Ohio State. She has actively reached out to parents of current and former Buckeyes players. She specifically mentioned speaking to current Denver Broncos safety Bradley Roby’s mother frequently.

All of the parents of the Ohio State players she has talked with have said that the program turned their sons into men by the time they left. That’s the most important thing to her.

It’s clear that both Emory and his mother love everything about Ohio State and what the Buckeyes have to offer, but the Under Armour All-American still hasn’t decided to completely shut down his recruitment.

Why?

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