Family Ties And Irish Excellence Striking A Chord With Demello Jones
It has been a wild few weeks for 2024 Swainsboro (Ga.) High School star Demello Jones. Despite not being ranked at the time by any of the major recruiting platforms, Notre Dame joined the party on January 10 when the staff extended an offer to the Georgia star.
They have joined the likes of SEC powers Alabama and Georgia to pull the trigger, offering one of the more dynamic athletes in the 2024 recruiting class. The offer list continues to grow for Jones, whose ranking should take a dramatic boost soon as more media members get eyes on him.
With the dead period lifted, it has been extremely busy for Jones. Already playing basketball for Swainsboro and getting his football work on the side, he is also left to manage the recruiting chaos. From dropping 15 per night on the hardwood to the countless phone calls and texts, the Georgia standout is making it work.
"Right now I’m in basketball season; I’ve been hooping and keeping up with my football training as well,” Jones said. "There’s a bunch of coaches who have been hitting me up, texting me and coming down to see me. It’s been pretty crazy.
"I’m not stressing about it,” he continued. "I’m playing it cool and know that I can fit things into my schedule.”
The major recruiting attention may be starting from the outside but truthfully Jones has been on the radar for some time. It was only a matter of time before the full attention followed.
"I would say that I blew up my tenth grade year,” Jones explained. "I had a great year, had a bunch of coaches coming in during the spring seeing me but I really took it to another level as a junior. I played excellently and a lot of coaches were seeing me. I’m not sure why I have been underrated and overlooked.”
The impressive offers have begun to roll in for Jones, who is criminally underrated from a recruiting ranking perspective. Some of his notable offers so far include the Irish, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee, Florida State, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Colorado among others.
The 6-1, 175-pound athlete is a two-way star for Swainsboro. On offense, he led the team with 1,279 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns on just 122 carries. That is a 10.5 yard per carry average on top of another 384 yards and seven touchdowns through the air on 14 receptions (27.4 yards per reception).
Jones also recorded 44 total tackles and six pass breakups on defense. He also chipped in with tackles for loss and forced fumble.
When you pop on the highlight tape, you can find Jones making plays all over the field in a variety of roles. Notre Dame likes him at safety but the projection is a little all over the board. It’s remarkable all that Jones can do to impact a football game.
"Some schools are offering me for both sides of the football,” he explained. "They’re kind of letting me have a say and options. Most of the schools are recruiting me for defense. Like Notre Dame was at safety, a few have been at safety but recently it has been at cornerback too. Coaches like how I’m built for cornerback and have seen me play on film as a cornerback. I’m a lockdown guy.”
The options are on the table but truthfully, Jones just wants to play football. He’s the type of athlete who excels in pretty much everything he does and can be an asset in so many ways.
"I’m comfortable everywhere,” said Jones. "Wherever a team needs me, I can do it. I do think I have a better shot at the NFL on the defensive side of the ball.”
Being in SEC country, there might be a quick assumption that Notre Dame won’t have much of a chance. Little do some know, Jones has a deep family tie to the program.
"My uncle on my mother's side played at Notre Dame,” Jones explained. "I don’t know the exact years but he played and graduated from there. Of course it is a good school if he chose it and got to the NFL. If he could excel at Notre Dame then I know I could too.”
That aforementioned uncle is former Notre Dame defensive back Deke Cooper.
Cooper was a three year letter winner for the Irish from 1996-99. During that span, he intercepted six passes, recorded 203 total tackles, seven forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries.
He would then parlay that success into a six-year NFL career after coming out of Notre Dame as an undrafted free agent, spending time with the Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers before ending his career following the 2007 season. In total, Cooper recorded 218 total tackles and intercepted six passes in his career.
This is also not just some random relative that you never speak to. Cooper now lives in Atalanta and the two have become especially close. For Jones, his uncle is a very valuable resource.
"We do have a close relationship still, like a close uncle so I go up and visit a lot,” said Jones. "He comes down and visits, we talk football and basketball. It’s a close relationship.”
As for being offered by Notre Dame, it was a surreal moment. It was one that Jones and his uncle shared.
"It was really crazy,” he began to explain. "I was kind of surprised. It was crazy to see that I had the same offer as him, for the same position, for the same school and I got it early. He was really happy.”
Notre Dame will ultimately have a strong presence in this recruitment but they will have to win a dog fight. The fast rising safety is being courted by some of the top programs in college football, including a ton coming through the school over the next couple of weeks. Getting Jones to check out the school is the main push right now.
"There have been a lot of schools who are trying to get me down to their campus,” he said. "They’re trying to get me to come see the campus, build relationships and all of that.”
South Bend is a place where Jones intends to visit in the very near future. That highly anticipated visit could potentially move the needle in a big way for Notre Dame. Whether the program fits the criteria that Jones has set will be determined a lot during that visit.
"First and foremost, I’m going to ask myself if I really like the school?” Jones stated. "Do I fit best with the school? I need to know if I can see myself playing here, if I can see myself going here, connecting with the people. I want to connect with more than just the coaches. It has to be with the players, the people in the facility, people who will be around.”
Only time will tell just how legit of a shot that Notre Dame has. They hope to ride the family ties and full vision to Jones.
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