On Wednesday one of Florida’s assistant coaches went to Mississippi, where the Gators haven’t had a lot of recruiting luck lately, to visit one of the top 2015 receivers, Dontea Jones (6-5, 205, Louisville, MS).
“Coach Joker (Phillips) came by to see me on Wednesday and he had the chance to watch me play basketball,” Jones said. “I had to dunk for him a few times. After that he was talking to my coach and he was telling him that he was glad he got a chance to see me and that he wanted me to call him later.”
Jones wants to visit Gainesville soon and had a date picked out to visit Florida but plans changed and he will now visit the Gators later this year.
“I was supposed to visit for junior day but because basketball I can’t make it,” Jones said. “I will definitely make it down either in the spring or down in the summer for a camp.”
Although it’s still early in the recruiting process and the home state schools have a certain amount of traction going for them, Jones has Florida very high on his list.
“Florida is my leader right now but Ole Miss and Mississippi State are recruiting me hard,” Jones said. “It’s always been my dream to go out of state to play college ball. Florida is a place I could go because I grew up rooting for Florida and Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin.”
Jones actually grew up rooting for Florida over his hometown teams and his favorite player was an Alabama native.
“Florida is a great school overall and they have great coaches,” Jones said. “They have great players and I really like their receivers especially Solomon Patton; he’s my favorite receiver from Florida. He’s a great dude and a great player.”
It’s very tough to pull a prospect out of Mississippi but Jones says his family knows that he has always wanted to leave the Magnolia state for college.
“My family knows that I’ve always been talking about going out of state to play ball,” Jones said. “They know that’s best if I go out of state to play college ball because it will get me closer to my dream of playing in the NFL.”
Don’t expect a decision from the 2015 receiver until after he steps foot on the Gainesville campus this spring or summer.
“I’m going to wait it out a while and I’m probably going to decide in the summer time,” Jones said. “I want to visit Florida before I make that decision.”