Allegan's Gary Jones signs late with CMU; position still undecided
Head football coach Dan Enos said at Wednesday’s national signing day news conference that the majority of his recruits were early commitments.
All but one, that is.
Gary Jones, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound athlete from Allegan, was still looking for somewhere to play college football less than a month ago.
“We always knew about Gary," Enos said. “We offered him a scholarship in the last few weeks. We had everyone else on our radar in the spring and through the summer.”
During his three seasons playing for the Tigers, Jones starred at running back, wide receiver and safety.
During his junior year, Jones played mostly running back.
“When he was a junior, he was a solid tail back,” Enos said. “We turned his film on, and we were very impressed.”
Last season, while playing primarily as a wide receiver, he caught 36 passes for 873 yards and eight touchdowns. He also carried the ball 25 times for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
“He played receiver this year because they felt they could get the ball to him out in space,” Enos said.
Jones was also a standout safety at AHS, recording 49 tackles, forcing three fumbles and intercepting three passes, including one for 103 yards, which he returned for a touchdown.
As of now, Enos isn't sure where his most-recent recruit will play.
“Gary said he doesn't care,” Enos said. “I think he has the body type for any position, and he reminds me a little bit of (CMU senior running back) Zurlon Tipton. We will get him here and find out, but, like I always say, the position usually ends up finding you."
He was ranked No. 41 in the Detroit Free Press Fab 50 and was on the Kalamazoo Gazette/MLive.com Dream Team as an all-purpose player.
He was named three-time All-Wolverine Conference, All-County by the Allegan County news and was team MVP three-times leading his team to the MHSAA State Playoffs in 2010.
While at AHS, Jones was also a track & field star. He was a four-year team Most Valuable Player and was the state champion in the 200-meter dash as a sophomore.
He holds the school records in the 100-meter dash at 10.5 seconds, 200-meter dash (21.5 seconds) and was an honor roll student.
