Wow, I was excited for this kid. He was full of potential and was very underrated coming out. On top of that, he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.
I was completely wrong with this one.
He really did seem like a stand up kid with a great attitude. Surprising what has happened over the last year.
Actually, he did hit a bit of bad “wrong place, wrong time” luck at both places. He originally committed with RichRod here, and then at OU there was a drastic D change-up.
I too heard he was sat in classes and a strong 2nd teamer on the field. Best of luck to him wherever goes.
Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up back with RichRod at Arizona.
to his career, that's for sure.
another program. Brandon Wehger from Iowa didn't stick either. Stoops takes them, but doesn't seem to keep them.
Nice sample size. It also makes no sense.
Well, someone has to ask. Do we have a shot?
Why would we want one? First, there were issues that forced him to OU in the first place. Number two, between the '12 and '13 recruiting classes, we've got a shit ton of LBs (either committed or heavily interested) that are better prospects than Jones anyways.
He has no chance...
I didn't think sarcasm had to be labeled, I was wrong.
So you meant?:
I didn't think sarcasm had to be labeled, I was wrong. /s
Word on the street seems be that he didn't leave Michigan of his own will. He apparently had some, uh, issues that caused the coaching staff to gently nudge him out the door.
The Internet reports that he is leaving in good standing
Kellen leaves the program in good standing, and we wish him the best
link which is reassuring to hear. Good (better?) luck to him.
That link says he transferred from Michigan to OU. As far as I know, he never enrolled and played without sitting out a year.....is that really a transfer?
While talented guys may help in the short term its really starting look like character plays an important role and should be valued accordingly for building a longterm program.
But the wierd thing is that I think we all got the impression that he was a character guy. Just goes to show either how little we really know or how some people can change or just can't handle the freedom of college.
I think character in these contexts is used to describe a lot of things. A guy can have character but be indecisive or impulsive. Doesn't make him a bad guy. Does make him a bad guy to put your faith in to build a program though.
Wow. I thought this kid was the most game ready in that class too. He was the one I was most excited about and the one I thought could play right away. I guess UM dodged a bullet when he left?
Good luck to him wherever he ends up, if anywhere. Wonder why he can't find a place that works
There was some turnover on the D staff that recruited him. Apparently he had great grades and was one of their best backup LB's last year.
I guess he's looking for a D scheme that he likes.
That would be interesting, he knows the Head Coach pretty well I'd say.
I live in Oklahoma, so I had to sit through a lot of Sooner games. He got to see the field quite a bit, especially for such a young player on a team loaded at LB (Wort, Nelson, and Travis Lewis are all studs). When he did play, he played pretty well too. With Lewis gone he had a shot at starting so definitely surpising to see him leave.
that seemed to dog RR, even after he was gone. Jones committed in July of 2010, and appeared to be one of his better recruits. He loved Michigan so much that he sang The Victors in RR's office when he received word of his scholarship offer. How a kid could throw that all away—regardless of what he actually did—is a real head-scratcher.
I don't really see how this was bad luck for Rich Rodriguez. Jones was a part of the 2011 class. The only team his transfer has affected is Hoke's Michigan squad(s).
I don't know what kind of situation Jones might be looking for. This seems like a strange one to me unless he got into some trouble or wasn't getting along with his teammates/coaches. Oklahoma is a high profile school with a decent history of spitting out defensive players. He probably wouldn't have started this coming fall, but he seemed to be on the way to starting in the next couple seasons. I always thought he would be a solid player, and I still think he'll be good if his head stays on straight.
have concussion issues in HS? I wonder if that is playing into it in anyway. Maybe he got a couple and the OK doctors won't clear him. Just speculation of course.
I think we should consider the possibility that it is something like Cincy is suggesting with concussions. That is, maybe it's a medical issue about which there is dispute in opinion.
Say, for example, AND PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL, I am not a doctor; I am just coming up with a FICTIONAL example here--now where was I, say for example a player had radiation treatment for a tumor in his leg when he was a tyke. He has since had no problems, played successfully on it for years with zero problems, and his former oncologist, his current family doctor, his family, and he ALL believe that it is 100% fine to play on now, it will never be a problem. And in fact, because it is fine to play on (in their opinion) they did not raise it in recruitment.
But the staff ends up finding out about it after an x-ray or something else, and the team orthopedist has a different opinion; he or she is nervous that the leg is vulnerable to permanent damage and the team doesn't want to be on the hook for it. They want him to sit. The player does not. The player has to find another school if he wants to play.
In this kind of scenario, it's not a character issue, it's not a personality issue, it's not behavioral or not being a team player or anything like that. But it could mean the player has to leave more than one school.
If his head was on straight, he'd still be at Michigan.
With his changing teams twice already, I really don't expect a team with the stature of a Michigan or Oklahoma to take a shot at him. Right or wrong, his decisions have hurt his opportunities in the future. Here is an article from The Tulsa World about his arrival at OU:
He seems to have raised a few eyebrows with his smack talk from the moment he arrived. I don't know what to make of it, but I do find it curious to see a freshman who hasn't even put pads on yet acting that way.
He's transfering to San Jose State.
Too soon?
In all honesty, I hope he finds where he wants to be.