Local DL holding two in-state offers

One area high school prospect is taking the summer to make sure he will be ready for the fall.

Desoto Central defensive lineman Devin Jones suffered a knee injury this past spring and is working hard to rehabilitate his knee in time for the fall season.

"That's all that is on my mind right now," Jones said. "Working hard to stay in good physical shape and doing my rehab every day so I will be ready when the season gets here. They are saying right now that I shouldn't miss any of the season."

While he injured his knee in the spring, according to Jones the doctors felt that the injury was about three months old when they did the surgery.

Despite being laid up with a knee injury, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound athlete has earned a couple of scholarship offers.

"Ole Miss and Mississippi State have offered me so far," Jones said. "Both schools are recruiting me hard."

Jones hasn't been to the Ole Miss campus lately and is looking forward to taking a trip to see all the things he keeps hearing about.

"I hear that they have a great campus and great facilities," Jones said. "I have been to State, I know what they have."

Jones has been impressed so far with Ole Miss recruiting coordinator Hugh Freeze, who is recruiting the Desoto Central school.

"Coach Freeze is really nice," Jones said. "He is easy to talk to, I like the coaches at State also."

When asked if Jones had a leader for his services, the answer might surprise some people despite previous reports.

"I like both schools a lot," Jones said. "I grew up liking Ole Miss and then started rooting for State when I got a little older when they were doing well. I like LSU a lot, but I'm probably a guy that will stay in the state of Mississippi to play ball."

So what is it about Jones that is drawing all the early attention?

"Devin is 6-2 and 242 and he ran 4.63 the last time we ran him," Desoto Central coach Chris Purnell explained. "He's just won the north half this last week (power lifting) and his squat was 575. I don't think he'll have any problem getting 600 before the year is out. He's a freak of nature. His bench is 300 and the last time we measured his vertical it was a 32."