TJ Jones had his eyes on Miami.
Then he visited Penn State, and his world was about to change.
“When I went there it was over,” he said.
Jones remembers walking into Penn State, gazing up at Beaver Stadium with eyes wide open. The big Nittany Lion logo caught his attention right away, and it didn’t take long for Jones to realize Happy Valley was the place to call home for the next four years of his life.
Columbia’s four-star receiver inked his letter of intent Wednesday morning to join Penn State’s football program, ending a wild — and sometimes stressful — recruiting process for Jones, who had 39 offers. It wasn’t easy at times for Jones, who eventually narrowed that number down to eight before finally choosing Penn State over Miami following his visit on Jan. 27.
“It’s just the best opportunity for me to get on the field early,” Jones said. “They’re hurting at receiver and have a need at receiver, so it’s just the best opportunity for me.”
Penn State was the final official visit for Jones, who also took officials to Indiana and Texas A&M as well as unofficial visits to schools such as Miami and Florida. His visit to Penn State went so well that he canceled his final visit to Georgia Tech.
Jones went to both Miami and Florida on multiple occasions, but Penn State never gave up hope of securing Jones, despite his continued interest in Miami.
Even when receivers coach David Corely was fired on Jan. 2, Penn State stayed on Jones. Running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider continued to recruit him and head coach James Franklin even stopped by Columbia last month, eager to make Jones a Nittany Lion.
“He’s a down-to-earth person and energetic. He’s a really energetic head coach,” Jones said.
“They’ve been on me. They started expressing to me how much they really wanted me. They fell off of me when they thought I was staying in state. But they really got back onto me when I told them I was coming out of state.”
FAMILY MATTERS
Life hasn’t been easy for Jones.
When he was only 4 years old, his mother, Tyronica Powell, died in a car crash. Jones doesn’t have many memories of the two of them together, but he’s never forgotten her. His Twitter handle is even @LongLiveT and he had a picture of her up on stage with him.
That’s why it was no surprise he began to get emotional as he spoke into the microphone on Wednesday in Columbia’s auditorium. He spoke from his heart to his father, Terrence Jones, and his two aunts, Sharone Fulton and Crisie Jones.
They all helped raise him to be the man he is today.
“I always had trials and tribulations, but I always got through it,” Jones said into the mic. “And I’m telling you, we’re going to be great. I’m going to retire. That’s my goal.”
There were plenty of other family members there for Jones as well, including four brothers Tiger Powell, Ladarius Powell, Jerome Fulton and George Fulton. His sisters, Laterrion Jones and Laporchea Powell, along with his grandmother, Barbara Jernigan, and his cousin Delacia Griffin were also on site to watch Jones make his choice.
“I’ve been through a lot coming up so this is just a good moment for me,” Jones said. “It made me almost get into my feelings a little bit to see my family here. They brought me through a lot. Everybody pulled together for me.”
HIS ESCAPE
Jones did his best to stay out of trouble as a kid.
His solution? Football.
Jones has played for most of his life, whether it was in organized leagues or just with the neighbors. It didn’t take him long to realize he wanted to pursue the game seriously.
“It was an escape,” Jones said. “To stay out of trouble growing up, football was a big key…I could have easily been somebody on a different route because of the childhood I had. But I stayed positive.”
Jones got to watch Tiger Powell play growing up. Powell was a running back for Columbia who graduated in 2010, signing with USF before transferring to New Mexico State.
It was a cool sight for Jones, who wanted to do the same some day. When he got his shot at Columbia, he didn’t disappoint.
“Watching my brother Tiger do it, I always had a dream of doing it, but I just didn’t know how I was going to get there,” Jones said. “I always knew I had talent, but I just didn’t know it was going to be like this.”
THE DECISION
Jones put out his Top 8 schools on Nov. 23, which included Ole Miss, Louisville, Tennessee and North Carolina in addition to Penn State, Miami, Indiana and Florida after Texas A&M backed off of him. He decided to take an official visit to Indiana on Jan. 20 as the Hoosiers coaching staff constantly contacted Jones, even showing up to Columbia several times over the past couple of months.
But Jones ultimately wanted to be a Nittany Lion. Despite being a bigger campus than Miami, the size of University Park also helped sway Jones to Penn State.
“It’s impossible to get in trouble up there,” Jones said. “There isn’t all that stuff going on. I was going to Miami. Everybody knew that, but when I think about the business side of it I can get in trouble in Miami. I can get in trouble anywhere, but you go to Penn State and somewhere that’s more calm, you’ll be more focused.”
Staying focused this past season at Columbia wasn’t always easy for Jones. He was constantly being contacted by so many coaches at so many different schools, enough to make a young man’s head spin.
Jones decided to put his recruitment aside until after football season was over and he excelled as a senior, catching 32 passes for 833 yards and eight touchdowns. But he says if he could go back in time, he would’ve started narrowing down schools much earlier so he could commit before National Signing Day.
“I should have cut it down way earlier than I did, but I was trying to focus on Columbia,” Jones said. “But if I could take it back, I would cut it down way faster and commit way earlier. It would’ve been a lot easier.”
The dream now continues for Jones at Penn State, but he’ll quickly tell you it doesn’t end there. He’s got bigger plans in mind — he hopes to one day lace up his cleats for an NFL team.
“I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t for the League,” Jones said.
“I want to be great.”