Pitt FB Recruiting
Central’s Jones Gets Big Offer
Running back Ronnie Jones is a big reason Central Catholic won the WPIAL Quad A title and is just a game away from playing in the state championship game.
“This year’s team is great”, said Jones. “We got through a lot of obstacles together and have done all the things people said we couldn’t do. It’s a blessing being on this team. We just have to stay humble and hungry and we will be all in for the ultimate goal.”
This year’s Central Catholic team came into the season with a ton of expectations. As a 16-17 year old kid, that couldn’t have been easy to deal with.
“I wouldn’t say it was hard. As a team, we couldn’t listen to what the outsiders said”, said Jones. “We just had to tune out the noise and focus on what we could control as a unit.”
Two days ago before the big game, Jones received some big news.
The talented running back received an offer from a Power 5 Conference school. Iowa State and their new head coach Matt Campbell offered Jones a scholarship.
“Getting the offer from Iowa State was big. They’re in the Big 12 and play some pretty good schools. It’s more of a blessing than a surprise”, said Jones. “The coaches said they wanted me a lot at Toledo and feel I can shine on a bigger stage at Iowa State.”
Jones reference to Toledo was that Campbell offered while at Toledo and Jones accepted, giving the Rockets a verbal commitment.
With the offer from Iowa State, will he stick with Toledo?
“You know, the offer had me thinking but at Toledo I feel as though I have a chance to make a real difference.”
“For them (coaches ) to leave it was a shock to me but I still feel safe knowing that they’re still a couple members of the coaching staff still there willing to find the best fits for the team.”
Speaking of best fit, where’s Jones going to fit at Toledo? The answer is running back. Jones tells me that’s one of the reasons he picked Toledo. Some schools recruited him as a safety, while others talked to him about slot receiver. In the end, Jones wanted to stay on offense.
I had to finish the interview by getting Jones thoughts on his popular teammate Damar Hamlin. Where’s he predicting Hamlin goes ?
“He is a great football player with tremendous defensive capabilities”, said Jones. “I don’t really have a thought/guess on where he goes. I do know that he’ll end up doing his thing wherever he goes.”
