Derrick Jones one of the nations best

One of the most sought players on the west coast this season is Long Beach (Calif.) Poly impact wide receiver Derrick Jones (6-1 ½, 175, 4.3). Not only is Jones an elite football recruit but he’s a standout in track as well. Jones has the track potential to be an Olympic performer one day.

Although Jones was hurt at the Penn Relays with a high ankle sprain he still smoked a 45.7 400-meter in the 4x400 event. He has been timed in the 100-meter in 10.4. Jones won the Southern Section Division I. 200-meter championship as a sophomore with a personal best of 21.2.

If speed kills, Jones is downright deadly. Jones caught 39 passes for 1,476 yards and 16 touchdowns while averaging an astronomical 37.7 yards per catch. He was selected all-state, all-area and all-league as a junior.

In an earlier interview with RealDawg of the Rivals.com network Long Beach Poly head coach Raul Lara had this to say about his brilliant wide receiver, "He forces you to make adjustments defensively because you really can't go out and play him man-to-man. With his speed, he brings a dimension that some NFL teams don't even have."

Two years ago this talented young man was so discouraged after his unfortunate performance against Concord (Calif.) De La Salle that he wanted to hang up his cleats.

Jones in what was the biggest game of his life up to that point dropped three passes that could have gone for touchdowns. If Poly scores on those three passes they may have ended up beating De La Salle and getting into the record books as the team that finally beat the Spartans of De La Salle.

“Derrick hurt so badly after that game he wanted to quit,” Michael Jones, Derrick’s father said. “To Derrick’s credit he bounced back and didn’t drop another pass all year.”

Jones ended up helping Poly win the Southern Section Division I Championship for 2001 season.

“Herschel (Dennis) and Darnell (Bing) were also very good to Derrick after the game,” Michael Jones said. “They told him to hang in there and he did.”

Much to the chagrin of Poly’s opponents, Jones has made the opposition pay ever since De La Salle came to town. He has upped his game sky high.

Jones has over 20 offers to date and will probably participate in football and track on the collegiate level.

Just partial list of the schools that have offered Jones are USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Washington State, Washington, Oregon, Cal, Miami, Florida State, Kansas State, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Alabama and San Diego State.

Michael Jones let Rivals know that his son’s current top eight schools are in no particular order are USC, Oregon, Miami, Florida State, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State and UCLA.