Nacogdoches’ Brandon Jones Receives Offer From Miami

Count Miami in on the hunt for East Texas' most sought after 2016 recruit.

Nacogdoches junior safety Brandon Jones reported a full-ride scholarship from the Hurricanes on Tuesday, his 32nd college football opportunity to date and third offer from an ACC school after Florida State and Louisville.

Jones and the Dragons wrapped up their 2014 campaign with a loss to Marshall in the Class 5A Division II playoffs last week. The junior was largely limited this season with an early season knee injury, but he did participate in six of 11 games.

He finished his personal five-game regular season with 30 tackles and two forced fumbles, including 18 tackles and one caused fumble after the injury.

Miami is on the cusp of cracking the Associated Press' Top 25 poll with a 6-4 record after a four-point loss against No. 1 and defending national champion Florida State on Saturday. The program has already achieved bowl eligibility and wraps up the regular season with game against ACC opponents Virginia and Pittsburgh.

The Hurricanes have been a power player in college football and recruiting since the 1980s with periods of on-field dominance in the mid 1980s to early 1990s and again in the early 2000s. It claims five national championships and houses two Heisman Trophies won by quarterbacks Vinny Testaverde and Gino Torretta.

Al Golden is in his fourth season with Miami and has a 28-16 overall record.

Jones currently leads East Texas 2016 recruiting class by a huge margin and has at least three offers from schools in each of the power five conferences. Gilmer linebacker DeMarco Boyd, John Tyler's Braylon Jones and Frankston's Kendrick Rogers are tied with two offers each, but only Boyd holds two scholarships from exclusively power five conference schools.

Athens junior athlete Travon Fuller holds a Texas A&M offer and is committed to the Aggies.

If Jones was in the 31-man senior class of East Texans with at least one FBS offer, he would rank second behind Nacogdoches cornerback and Oklahoma State commit Jaylon Lane's 38 offers.

The 2014 Nacogdoches defensive backfield holds 71 offers. Corey Lane, who holds one offer from Louisiana Tech, rounds out Dragons with major college football offers.

Jones and Corey Lane are expected to be head coach Bobby Reyes' starting safeties next season. Neither player has verbally committed to a school.

2016 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers