ISU linebacker Jones making the most of second opportunity

AMES - Discipline, a regimented schedule and maturity were what Jay Jones sought when he departed North Carolina State. Georgia Military College, while not his original plan, was exactly what Jones needed to be ready for his next opportunity at Iowa State.

'He was smart enough to understand and recognize (he needed discipline) and put himself in that position,” said ISU coach Paul Rhoads. 'He's benefitted from it, but he was intentional in benefiting from it. Right now we're the recipient of where it took him.”

The 6-foot-3, 209-pound red-shirt junior spent two seasons in Raleigh before departing the team and attending Georgia Military College where he registered 40 tackles and 5 tackles for loss in 2014. But his greatest progress came off the field in other areas.

Jones said he struggled with time management with the Wolfpack. If a meeting were to be held at 3:00, he wouldn't leave his house until 2:50. He took things for granted. Military school changed all of those habits.

'It really has helped me be a better student-athlete, football player (and with) time management,” Jones said. 'Just all the things you need to just be a successful person more so than anything so I think the military school really helped me out with that.”

After his season at GMC, Jones was looking for his next Division-I opportunity and that's when he noticed the Cyclones. His scheduled visit to Ames fell in the middle of January and he signed with Iowa State on his second day. After a quick trip home, he was back in Ames two days later for good and enrolled in spring classes.

What Rhoads saw from the strong-side linebacker in 15 spring practices wasn't easy to miss. Jones uses his size and athleticism to aid in pass coverage, but also has a reputation at the linebacker spot to be a hard hitter.

'We never saw him as a skilled enough player to play in the back end, fast enough and so forth,” Rhoads said. 'But he's more than athletic enough and certainly more than physical enough to be where he's at. He's what we like to recruit because of his length and athleticism.”

Jones fills in just above Reggan Northrup on the depth chart at the strong-side linebacker and nickelback spot. The Lithonia, Ga., native said he came to Iowa State to make the nickelback spot known. He also came for another shot at an opportunity he took for granted at N.C. State.

'I appreciate it much more because I've had it taken away from me,” Jones said. 'I understand it can be here and gone tomorrow. This experience right here, I'm trying to take full advantage of it.”

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