Cleveland's Keegan Jones shakes the tackle attempt of Ooltewah's Elijah Wigfall during a game last season.Former Cleveland High School running back Keegan Jones put the brakes on a roller coaster recruiting process Wednesday evening by pledging to sign with UCLA.
Jones, who graduated from Cleveland last spring, originally signed with the Naval Academy, but after several weeks there he decided military life wasn't the future he wanted.
With help from the Navy coaching staff, he was allowed to reopen his recruitment recently but originally had offers from only Georgia Southern and Kennesaw State. As coaches at bigger Football Bowl Subdivision programs learned he was available and saw his highlights from his senior season, though, offers began to pour in from schools including Baylor, Michigan and UCLA.
Jones decided the fast-paced spread offense first-year UCLA coach Chip Kelly has employed elsewhere suited him best, and the 5-foot-11, 182-pounder announced on social media Wednesday that he was committed to the Bruins, tweeting: "I would like to thank God for blessing me with another opportunity to pursue my dream of playing college football. I'd like to thank my coaches from Navy and Cleveland High on getting me to this point."
Jones, who won the state championship in the 200-meter dash this past spring and turned in time of 10.57 seconds in the 100, will be considered an early enrollee for the Bruins' 2019 signing class, which means he will not play this season.
"UCLA's coaches love that speed," Cleveland coach Scott Cummings said. "I've never seen anything like this recruiting process. Keegan is a great young man, and I believe he'll have a great career there."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com.