Another Vegas tight end? This 3-star athlete likes idea after official visit to Miami
Of course, Anthony Jones knew about Brevin Jordan — he followed the fellow Las Vegas native’s career throughout his time with the Miami Hurricanes — but the two never actually met until Miami extended Jones a scholarship offer in March.
Not long after Stephen Field called Jones to let the three-star athlete know he had an offer, Jordan came with a follow-up.
“I’ve talked to him quite a bunch since I got the offer,” said Jones, who decommitted from the Washington Huskies in February. “Obviously, I knew who he was coming out of Vegas and then I started learning a little bit more about the program.”
It prompted Jones to learn about Miami’s tight end tradition and start to seriously consider the Hurricanes in his recruitment.
Less than two weeks after Miami offered, Jones locked in an official visit with the Hurricanes for the first weekend after the dead period ended.
The 6-4, 242-pound senior spent parts of Friday through Sunday in Coral Gables for his first official visit and it made a strong first impression.
He was pleasantly surprised by the size of the school and loved the parts of South Florida he got to see. He also spent lots of time with Bubba Bolden, another Vegas native, who hosted him for the visit.
They had never met before this weekend, but Jones said they hit it off and he got to ask the star safety about why he originally committed to the USC Trojans — Jones is also considering USC — and why he transferred to Miami.
“Once we started talking, it felt like we’d known each other for a while,” Jones said. “He was just telling me that the whole coaching staff, especially coach [Manny] Diaz, keeps everything real. He’s a real down-to-earth guy. He didn’t change from when he was recruiting Bubba to come, still the same guy that he was when he was recruiting. That’s the big thing that I got, that the coaches don’t change when you come like actually on campus and start playing for them.”
Jones is a unique target for the Hurricanes. He has never played tight end and is making the move for his senior year at Liberty in Henderson, Nevada, after bulking up from 193 as a sophomore at Las Vegas’ Arbor View.
In 2019, Jones was mostly a linebacker and occasional wide receiver, and he logged 37 tackles without a single catch. The Texas Longhorns, whom he’ll officially visit this weekend, are still recruiting him for defense. The Oregon Ducks, whom he’ll officially visit the weekend of June 25, are open to him playing either side of the ball.
Jones said he’s still not sure whether he’d rather play offense or defense in college.
“I’m just going to go on my visits, meet the other coaching staffs and see the other programs, and things like that. And then I’ll sit down with my mom and see what I think is best for me, and then once I figure out what position I really want to play that’s when I’ll be able to narrow down the programs that will fit best for me.”
If Jones decides he wants to play tight end, Miami is in good position.
The Jordan connection helps and Jones sees a potential opening at the position for the 2022 college football season.
Will Mallory will take over as the starter in 2021 and the Hurricanes expect the tight end to enter the 2022 NFL Draft, Jones said. The rest of the tight ends on the roster have combined for three career catches.
Field made it clear to Jones on the visit: If he joins the Hurricanes, he should be ready to play right away.
The tight ends coach even took time during the visit to work with Jones. While he didn’t put the recruit through any sort of formal workout, Field did watch film with Jones and gave him some hands-on pointers.
“He had me stand up and he stood up,” Jones said, “He was just showing me like, OK, this is how you do this. You want to do this if he’s lined up like this — just walking through things and showing me a little bit.”
It all resonated with Jones, who has a chance to be one of the breakout players in the Class of 2022 this fall. While he’s currently only the No. 547 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, Jones didn’t have a junior season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so he spent the time going through a speed program every morning, lifting weights every evening, learning to eat better and spent a lot of time playing 7-on-7.
With Miami open to potentially taking two tight ends in its 2022 class, Jones is a high-upside option and he understands what it means to have the Hurricanes want him.
“They go across the country to see other tight ends,” Jones said. “I’m just blessed to be one of the guys that they’re looking at.”
