Jones Expands on First Offer

Perkiomen Valley running back Derrick Jones picked up his first offer by way of Morgantown this week and while he is not talking to many schools, he does have a solid group that is interested in his services. We caught up with Jones to talk about his current situation and feelings on the Mountaineers.

After transferring to Perkiomen Valley High School last season running back Derrick Jones had to sit out a few games, but when he hit the field he hit it with vigor, rushing for 980 yards and nine touchdowns on 130 carries. Jones showed some versatility catching nine passes for 124 yards and another score and when you add that to his athleticism you can see why schools like West Virginia, Syracuse, Temple, Iowa and Rutgers are all in pursuit. One place Jones will need to work harder this year is the classroom, as that could open doors to many different opportunities.

“West Virginia offered last week and I am actually thinking strongly about committing there right now, but I don’t want to rush into anything,” Jones stated. “They have a pretty good program from what I have heard, but I don’t watch much college football at all or even follow it, so I need to start researching their program and school and then get down there to check out the campus. A coach from there was up during the school year and met with me.”

The last time the Mountaineers got a commitment from the Vikings they ended up with an All-American linebacker in Grant Wiley, who also played running back for the Collegeville, Pa., high school. If Jones turned out to be near as helpful to the West Virginia program as Wiley was, many Mountaineer fans would be very happy. Jones is looking at other programs however and spoke to us about that a bit.

“Syracuse, Temple, Iowa and Rutgers have all expressed that they will need to see my fall transcripts before making any offers,” Jones explained. “I did go to camp at Temple, but I had a sprained ankle, so I couldn’t work out. I just wanted to make sure I went down there and showed my face because I feel like even though I couldn’t run I should still be down there with the coaches. I was also at one of the Temple junior days and was surprised how nice the school was being as familiar with North Philly as I am. It really seems like the program is on the upswing and I like a lot about what Temple has to offer as a program and a school.”

The 5-foot-7, 187-pound tailback will be traveling to San Diego this summer for a camp his father signed him up for, but other then that he will not be participating in any other camp or combine related activities for the rest of the summer to his knowledge.