Jeffrey Jones, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound sophomore running back from Minneapolis Washburn, is one of the top players in the state in the Class of 2014. The two-sport standout attended the Minnesota Junior Day and their Friday Night Camp Under The Lights. GopherHole.com recently caught up with Jones to learn the latest on his early recruitment and expectations for his sophomore season.
Jones is receiving recruiting interest from Minnesota, Michigan State, Iowa State and Wsiconsin among other. He attended the Minnesota and Iowa State camps this summer.
Jones helped lead the Millers football team to a 7-4 mark, losing in the Class AAA, Section 2 finals to LeSueur-Henderson 60-32. Jones rushed 128 times for 773 and eight touchdowns as a freshman. Jones had 100 or more rushing yards in four games.
Jones rushed 15 times for 101 and one score against Minneapolis Henry. He had 26 carries for 139 yards and two touchdowns versus Minneapolis South. Jones rushed 20 times for 105 yards against Minneapolis North and had a season-best 17 carries for 200 yards and three touchdowns versus Minneapolis Southwest.
Jones was also a standout on the basketball team. He played on the junior varsity for the Millers and had a strong spring for the Minnesota Heat Select AAU program and played for 43 Hoops in July.
GH: You attended several camps this summer. Were you able to pick up some things that you can utilize in your game this season to make yourself a better player?
JJ: The running back coach is always telling me to stay low and keep my shoulders square. Last year, it was a rookie mistake, because I was a freshman, but now I am starting to get the game and starting to think up one more level from high school
GH: You had a decent number of Washburn players at the Minnesota camp. Did that make it a little bit easier, knowing that there were friends?
JJ: Yes, because if I don’t do good, but the other guys might do good and it would still look good for Washburn.
GH: What are the expectations this season at Washburn? You lost some good seniors, but you have a good group of returning players
JJ: We’ve got everybody back except for big-time wide receiver Cedric Chappell and our lineman who had been a captain since he was a sophomore, Peyton Lauber. Cedric Chappell beign gone, kind of killed our receiving yards, but we’ll replace him with someone else and we’ve got new offensive lineman coming in, so we’ll have a pretty good team this year. We were a young team. We made it to the third round of sections. We lost three or four good seniors. The team expects us to get to state. We lost in the third round and I had a broken finger. I couldn’t do that much, but this year, it is going to be way different.
GH: You were invited to the Minnesota Junior Day, despite being only a freshman. That had to make you feel good?
JJ: Yes. We sat down with the new coaching staff. Coach Jerry Kill seems like a really good coach and the coaching staff looks better than last year. The running back coach talked about what we are going to be working on and pushing us to the limit and not letting us quit. We got to a tour of the buildings and see the locker rooms. We saw the Hall of Fame.
GH: Was that the first time you had seen the campus and what did you think?
JJ: Yes. I had been wanting to go there since I was a little kid. I liked the camps anyways. I think that might be where I am heading to in the future.
GH: What things are you working on to improve yourself as a player?
JJ: I am in the weight room every day from 6:30 to 8:15 except Wednesdays. I have been working out, getting ready for this season, because I was kind of a “lightweight dude: last year and I think that is how we lost in the playoffs because we weren’t in the weight room enough and the other team was bigger than us. I am going to try to step up as a leader this year and get my team in the weight room. I am going to try to get faster in pads, because I know I can run a 4.4 (40-yard dash) now, but in pads, it is a 4.5, almost 4.6. I am going to try to work on being in the weight room and run around with a 30-pound vest on to get used to the pad weight
GH: You run track. Do you think that helps you for football in terms of speed and explosiveness?
JJ: I think that I am getting better form from running track.
GH: You had a good season playing basketball. Do you like basketball or is something to keep you busy?
JJ: I really like basketball as well. I am going to try to get better at it, but that is not my main priority. I mostly likely will be done with basketball my junior year and focus on football.