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Auburn visit goes well for Jones

Two weeks ago, Auburn led for Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson defensive end Jarontay Jones. Last week, Florida surged in front.
Now?
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"I'd say it's about even," Jones told Rivals.com Sunday night.
What allowed the Tigers to gain ground was a Saturday visit to the Auburn campus.
"I ended up making it to Auburn," said the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Jones, a member of the Rivals.com Rivals250 watch list for 2012. "It went great. It was a great trip. Right now, after meeting with all the coaches, I feel like I'm back open now."
One of the most coveted juniors in Georgia, Jones not only has offers from Auburn and Florida, but Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. He visited Florida last weekend.
That trip helped give Florida a temporary lead. Additionally, the fact Auburn defensive line coach Tracy Rocker recently left for the NFL initially helped the Gators and hurt the Tigers. But now, even though Rocker's replacement hasn't been picked, Jones once again is high on Auburn.
"I had been to Auburn twice before Saturday," he said. "It was a mini-junior day. I got to meet with all the coaches -- Coach [Ted] Roof, Coach [Gus] Malzahn and Coach [Gene] Chizik. I talked to everybody."
Chizik, the Tigers' head coach, met with Jones for awhile, the player said.
"It was a long time, really," Jones said. "We had a great conversation. The selling point for me was that it's a great program. He told me it's a big season for him. Even though they won the [national] championship, they only had two great players. They were players that boosted everybody else to be on the same level. I definitely want to be a part of something great like that."
Jones likely will visit both Florida and Auburn this spring to watch each practice. Next up, however, could be a trip to another Southeastern Conference school.
"I might go to Alabama on Saturday," Jones said. "It's not for sure yet."
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