Northside’s Ricardo Jones II takes his talents to Clemson

WARNER ROBINS Ga. — One of Northside’s Eagles has decided to stay in orange after high school.

Four-star defensive back Ricardo Jones II announced his commitment last Tuesday night, and it came down to four finalists: Clemson, Tennessee, Florida State, and Auburn.

“It’s a special occasion as a coach any time a young man gets the opportunity to better himself and his career,” Head football coach Ben Bailey said in his introduction. “[To fulfill] lifelong dreams to play college football and further his education is exciting for us. Ricardo, I just want you to know, on behalf of Northside, we’re proud of you. I’ve been on the other side as an offensive coordinator and had to deal with Northside’s defense and trying to stay away from him. Now it’s just another reason why it’s great to be a Northside Eagle, they’re all on my team.”

Once Jones took over the microphone, he told everyone just how thankful he was, as well as recognized a friend who passed away a year ago.

“First things first, there’s not gonna be a long speech. I picked this day not to celebrate, but recognize a friend that passed away last year,” Jones said. “To start with I just want to thank all of the Northside coaches…principals, trainers, advisors, everybody that helped me throughout my injury. I want to thank my mom, step-dad, grandma, aunt, uncle, everybody who helped me through the journey. My teammates, y’all have been there since day one, before all the offers and all that. Y’all have really been locked in with me and I appreciate y’all boys for that.”

“All the schools that offered me, I had 30-plus offers, top ranked in the nation,” Jones added. “None of that really means anything to me, I just want to go to college and go to work. That being said, I can only pick one school, so for the next three to four years I’ll be taking my talents to…”

It was at that moment that Jones picked up the Tennessee hat and unzipped his hoodie to show a Tennessee shirt.

The auditorium was silent as he stood up and took off the Tennessee shirt to reveal Clemson as his choice and the crowd erupted with laughter, cheers and applause.

He put the Clemson hat on, sat down and laughed before taking pictures with friends and family.

Jones still has his senior season left at Northside, which will start in August.

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