Jones further explains commitment

With his heart set on becoming a Missouri Tiger, Andrew Jones just wanted to make 100-percent sure it was the right move. So he took a trip to Notre Dame last weekend in order to get a feel for whether another school would give him the same at-home feeling he’s enjoyed in Columbia.

The result of his trip to South Bend?

“I hated it,” Jones said.

Within 24 hours of his return, the talented tight end from Smithville High had given the MU staff his verbal commitment.

“I just feel so comfortable down there. I like the school, I like the offense – they have a great offense – and my family and friends came come and watch me play,” said Jones, who was perhaps the state’s most highly recruited junior at the time of his commitment.

“I had been leaning towards it the whole time,” he said, “so I just figured I’d get it done so some other players, maybe, would commit, too … I had pretty much been to all of the other places I was looking at.”

It’s not difficult to figure out who Jones was alluding to. He talks frequently with Parkway West star quarterback Blaine Gabbert, with talking whom he’s been talking for a while about teaming together at Mizzou. Gabbert could make his commitment in the near future and seems to be leaning heavily toward MU. The two players have formed a bond and recently were making plans to spend a weekend hanging out together.

For more details on Gabbert, stay tuned to InsideMizzou.com and the TigerClub message board.

As a junior, the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Jones had 50 catches for 612 yards and six touchdowns. On defense, he racked up 45 tackles, eight sacks, one interception, forced two fumbles and recovered two fumbles. He was verbally offered a scholarship to MU as a sophomore and has been a major target for Oklahoma, Nebraska and others for a while now.

He said he’s glad to have the process over with, and can’t wait to become a Tiger officially.

[Martin] Rucker will be gone by the time I get there, so I’ll just have to learn from Coffman until I can step in and take over,” he said.