Exploring a new (but not so new) option for Louisville football.
As I’m sure you all are already aware, St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California is home to some of the best high school football talent in the country. The Louisville football program’s 2023 recruiting class already hold commitments from four Bosco Braves: Pierce Clarkson, DeAndre Moore, Aaron Williams, and Jahlil McClain, and it seems that the Louisville staff is still looking to add talent from the prominent west-coast program. One player the staff has been targeting for some time now is 6-1, 195lb four-star safety prospect, Ronald “RJ” Jones II.
Jones was previously committed to the University of California – Berkely before decommitting on August 18th. He currently has 21 offers, including Michigan, Ohio State, USC, UCLA, and Oregon, among others.
Check out last week’s edition of Target Thursday looking at two Miami athletes
What the film says
Jones plays as a free safety for the Bosco Braves, and in their defensive scheme this primarily places him as the single-high safety responsible for locking down the deep middle of the field. Typically, this type of role requires a player to have great awareness and speed to cover sideline-to-sideline, and Jones does not disappoint with either.
He’s at his best when facing deep shots down the field, where he’s free to track and make a play on the ball but has shown strong coverage ability in the intermediate area of the field as well. He has plus athletic traits, a good frame for the position, and has the potential to develop into a solid starter.
Though Jones has exciting upside, he has some rawness to his game that needs to be worked out. Primarily, he must work on his processing and instincts against the run. There are instances where he is slow to trigger and come downhill, giving the ball carrier more yards before Jones is able to make contact. He has good tackling technique generally but is more of a wrap-and-drag tackler than a hard hitter. All of this can be refined with time and coaching.
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Keys to his recruitment
Jones had been committed to Cal since February of this year, but after summer recruitment ramped up, he decommitted from the Golden Bears earlier this month and decided to explore his options. RJ has been to Louisville’s campus for an unofficial visit along with teammate Pierce Clarkson in 2021, and both Clarkson and Louisville’s staff have been hard at work recruiting him throughout this process.
In an interview with 247’s Greg Biggens, Jones stated that one of the main reasons he backed off his commitment to Cal is the uncertainty surrounding conference realignment. He stated that Cal is still very much in consideration for his final decision, and mentioned UCLA, Washington, Oregon State, and Louisville football as programs that have been most active in his recruitment thus far.
Having multiple Bosco teammates already being members of #FlyVille23 has been paramount in getting Jones to consider the Cards. Louisville is the only non-west coast team that Jones mentioned by name in his interview with 247.
It’s hard to imagine that Louisville made Jones’ short list without having developed a pipeline, but stranger things have happened. The #CaliToTheVille movement is a fascinating example of the domino effect in college football recruiting, and once more illustrates the importance of relationships and connections.
Coach Pete Thomas deserves a lot of credit for his work recruiting the sunshine state. Here’s hoping it’s a pipeline that pays dividends for years to come.
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