Q&A: Washburn Sophomore RB Jeffrey Jones Reacts to Gophers Scholarship Offer

Jeffrey Jones: It is a very good place. Every time I go up there to visit or just see the campus, it always feels like home. This is my hometown.

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Alright, I'm sold on this kid. That's the type of players we need here at the U of M.

I know a lot of people like to say how we need to bring in players from small schools outstate. I think it's just as crucial that we bring in kids from inside Saint Paul and Minneapolis if they got the talent. Yea private schools suck out a lot of players. But with the size of the two cities, there is no reason the city schools shouldn't have competitive teams that can compete with the big suburban schools and produce a couple studs each year. There is a ton of raw talent that is wasted here that would be found and harvested in other cities.

There are many potential D1 prospects in Minneapolis. From my own personal experience of being involved with youth football I can tell you its true. Problem is, a lot of those kids just don't stick with organized sports and drop out of them after 8th or 9th grade. You can come up with your own list of reasons as to why that may be. I think that the program would benefit if he can start to look to these younger age groups for potential talent to be developed. I'm not talking scholarships, of course, but if he can simply connect with some 14 and 15 year olds, encourage them and show interest in their potential that it might keep some of these youth in the game. Imagine how it would make a kid feel to have Coach Kill call him by his first name. Maybe Kill and Co. already do this? Do they know anything about the youth leagues around town?

Hill_Murray said:

Alright, I'm sold on this kid. That's the type of players we need here at the U of M.

I know a lot of people like to say how we need to bring in players from small schools outstate. I think it's just as crucial that we bring in kids from inside Saint Paul and Minneapolis if they got the talent. Yea private schools suck out a lot of players. But with the size of the two cities, there is no reason the city schools shouldn't have competitive teams that can compete with the big suburban schools and produce a couple studs each year. There is a ton of raw talent that is wasted here that would be found and harvested in other cities.

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I'm not sold on any freshman video. How would he do against some of the top high school D's in MN?