Booker ATH has seven offers

Junior to Watch: Terrence Jones

School: Sarasota (Fla.) Booker

Position: Athlete

Size and speed: Jones is 5-foot-10, 180 pounds and has been timed by his coach at 4.36 seconds in the 40-yard dash and but is a consistent 4.4. Jones has a 36-inch vertical leap, 265-pound bench-press, can put up 12 reps of 185 pounds and has a 505-pound squat. He has a 2.3 grade-point average and has not take either the ACT or the SAT yet.

Honors: Jones was named his team’s offensive most valuable player and was named the all-area player of the week three times as a junior.

Statistics: Playing on both sides of the football, Jones had 729 yards rushing on 84 carries and 11 touchdowns. He also caught 20 passes for 363 yards and six touchdowns. On defense as a junior, he had 21 solo tackles, 16 assists, six pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and three interceptions.

Favorite Schools: Jones already has numerous offers from teams like Clemson, Vanderbilt, Indiana, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Auburn and West Virginia. However, he lists his top six in order as Florida, Auburn, Clemson, Miami, Florida State and Ohio State.

Skinny: Sarasota (Fla.) Booker has become one of the must-stop places for college recruiters every season. It just seems like year after year, the school in Southeast Florida produces one blue-chip prospect after another. And next in line for 2004 is 5-foot-10, 180-pound athlete Terrence Jones.

Jones, who already has offers from Clemson, Vanderbilt, Indiana, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Auburn and West Virginia, lists Florida, Auburn, Clemson, Miami, Florida State and Ohio State as his early leaders. And he’s the type of player that should have offers from almost all of those teams when the smoke clears.

“I guess the best way to describe me is that I’m electrifying, exciting and explosive,” Jones said. “I caused a lot of damage last season and I missed three games because of an injury.”

Yes, indeed, Jones did tear it up on both sides of the football. And that’s why some schools are looking at him as a running back and some as a defensive back. He prefers to be called an athlete – because that’s what he truly is.

Along with the football accolades, Jones is also a star in basketball and track.

So what will Jones look for when it comes time to make a decision?

“I think I’m going to look hard at the depth chart and who’s coming back and what year that guy is,” Jones said. “I guess you can say that I’d like to get a shot at playing early.”

But Jones isn’t the only player on his team that’s going to get serious attention from colleges.

Dumaka Atkins, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound two-way lineman was named his team’s line most valuable player the past two seasons and is going to get plenty of attention. Cornerback Detrick Belvin (5-11 and 185) is also a hot target, along with tight end Chris Zellner (6-2, 230) and linebacker Greg Weeks (6-1, 210).