Junior to Watch: John Philip Jones

Junior to Watch: John (Philip) Jones

High School: Denton (Texas) Ryan

Position: Wide Receiver

Size and Speed: Jones is 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.42 seconds (hand held) timed on the track at his high school. He has a 36 inch vertical leap.

Statistics: : He had 50 receptions for 1,063 yards, scoring 12 touchdowns. He also returned ten kickoffs for 290 yards and three punts for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Honors: He made first team all-district and all-area as a receiver and 13 Texas Sportswriters Association kick returner and receiver.

Favorite Schools: He is hearing from Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Alabama, Texas A&M and others. At this time Iowa is recruiting him the hardest and is the favorite.

If he could schedule his official visits today, he would go to:

1. Texas - "They throw the ball, and it's close to home."

2. Texas Tech - "My favorite running back, Ricky Williams, plays there, and I have a cousin who plays there."

3. Colorado - "I have an uncle that I visit regularly who lives there, and it's a good school."

4. Oklahoma - "They are a championship school with a lot of great players."

5. Iowa - "They're recruiting me the hardest."

Skinny: Ryan High School won the state championship with a 15-0 record.

"I'm real fast off the line, and I have good hands so I can make the catch," Jones said of his strong points. He described himself as "the go-to game breaker". He compared his style of play to Terrell Owens of the 49'ers or Randy Moss of the Vikings.

"Hopefully the college I choose won't be too, too far from home. So distance will probably play some kind of role in it, though I'm mainly looking for friendly people, because I really haven't thought that much about it."

He plans to attend the Nike camp at Colorado, as well as Colorado's camp.

His dream school would be Miami, while his Uncle's favorite would be Texas Tech. His parents have no real favorite.

He benches 195 pounds and squats 305 pounds.

He will take the ACT in April.

He is undecided on a major and has set his sports goals as 1,500 yards receiving, and doing better than last year.

Asked to name his toughest opposing player, Jones said, "As far as stats, it would be Broderic Jones. He had great stats, and I kept trying to do better than he did. As far as head to head, I can't really remember one from last year, but my sophomore year it was Al Castenota. One for this year, I can't say, because we were moved to a new district and will be playing against schools that we haven't played before."