Football lands three-star recruit after flip-flop


At a time when high school seniors across the nation are starting to hear back from some of their dream schools, one particular senior just ended a rather peculiar college search. Velus Jones Jr., a wide receiver recruit out of Saraland High School in Alabama, announced Saturday that he has committed to USC in the fall.

Saturday’s announcement wasn’t the first time Jones committed to USC — the 5-foot-11, 180-pound recruit said back in April that he had chosen the Trojans over a host of suitors that included schools like Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and Michigan. Still, there was one alternative that remained appealing to Jones.

On Friday, Jones swapped the cardinal and gold for the crimson and cream, as Jones announced that he was committing to Oklahoma.

No sooner had Jones committed to being a Sooner, than the three-star recruit changed his mind once again to return to Troy, stating in a tweet on Saturday: “I have made my final decision to attend the University of Southern California and I’m ending my recruitment FIGHT ON!”

The Trojans hope Jones can continue his success from his last two years at Saraland. In his junior and senior seasons, Jones gained more than 2,000 yards over 99 receptions, racking up 19 touchdowns in the process. After leading Saraland to Alabama’s Class 6A championship game and making an appearance in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic, his former head coach Jeff Kelly has good reason to give him a glowing review.

“I think Velus is a guy who can do a lot of things,” Kelly said to AL.com. “He can play both the inside and outside receiver. He can create different matchups, and he also is a guy who is very dangerous returning kicks and punts.”

Jones will likely join four other USC wide receiver recruits in the 2016 class, including Josh Imatorbhebhe from North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia and Michael Pittman from Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California, both of whom have already enrolled for the spring semester. The other two — who have not yet signed letters of intent — are Tyler Vaughns and Trevon Sidney, both hailing from Bishop Amat in La Puente, California.

The incoming class of receivers will hope to follow in the footsteps of recent Trojan greats like Robert Woods and Marqise Lee, and they will have at least one season with current star JuJu Smith-Schuster to show them the ropes.

All recruits have until National Signing Day — Feb. 3 — to finalize their commitments.