It is when he's cordially approached on college campuses bystrangers that Evangelical Christian School senior offensive tackleBarrett Jones marvels how much the recruiting game has changed.
Used to be, a prospective college athlete wasn't recognizedaround campus until after he or she was enrolled. But for Jones,whose name, face and football statistics have been strewn acrossInternet recruiting services nationwide for the last several months,everyone is an authority on his future.
"Recruiting has changed a lot over the years," said Jones, whowith 28 scholarship offers, including ones from his final five ofAlabama, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, iseasily the most wanted senior football prospect in town.
"I've had tons of people, especially when I'm on a visit, that'lljust come up and introduce themselves and be like, 'I'm Tom Brown.You don't know me, but make the right decision and become a(Tennessee) Vol or part of the (Alabama Crimson) Tide.'
"It is pretty crazy that a 55-year-old man would know a 17-year-old boy's name and what he looks like. It's kind of a weirdconcept."
Yet there's nothing strange about college coaches' desire to landJones, an athletic 6-5, 265-pound space-eater whom longtime ECScoach Jim Heinz calls the most sought-after prospect he's coached inmore than 20 years.
Opposing coaches, meanwhile, call him a game-changer, one theyusually find themselves formulating their game plans around.
"Barrett Jones deserves every accolade that he's getting rightnow. He's a kid that is really big and has great athletic skills,"Christian Brothers coach Kevin Locastro said. "He's big. He's fast.He's got good hips. He can do some things that 99 percent of kidshis size in the state of Tennessee can't do.
"He's a guy that when we play them, we're going to read him.We're not going to try to block him. He's that good."
Jones, son of former Alabama basketball player Rex Jones, admitshis newfound fame has become a bit tiring after months of pryingquestions from peers, reporters and coaches.
"It's pretty common. Everyone's a fan of somewhere, and they'relike, 'When are you gonna commit to Ole Miss? When are you gonnacommit to Tennessee?'
"You definitely get used to it, and it kind of loses its lusterafter a while. But it's definitely still cool once you step back andlook and it's like, 'Wow. I'm really blessed with a greatopportunity.'"
Jones' father, Rex, is apparently leaving the decision up to hisson, despite his ties to Alabama.
"He says to make the decision that's best for me. He goeseverywhere with me, and he loves it, too. He's loved getting to knowthe coaches," Jones said.
"Obviously, (Alabama) is his alma mater, but it's not where he'spushing me toward."
Jones said he plans to decide before January.
While he has visited each of his final five schools unofficially,he said he plans to visit each again this fall.
"I've really been wrestling with that. I want to take at leastone more visit to all these schools, and then after that I'llprobably make my decision," Jones said. "However long it takes, butI wouldn't expect it to go past December."
Added Rex of his son's recruitment: "At first, it's reallyflattering that people would pay your son that much attention. ...
"But then I think it reaches a point where the text-messaging andall the contact really becomes frustrating because there's so manygood choices."
- Jason Smith: 529-5804
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