Marcelys Jones, the 6-foot-4, 315-pound offensive lineman last seen playing for Ohio State’s national championship team in 2014, took in the Marauders’ spring fling as he decided whether to join them for the fall.
“Yeah, I have played at the highest level, but what matters most at this point is getting back on the field and getting my career going again at a place where I feel comfortable,” said Jones, who is being recruited by several Division I and II schools after a roller-coaster 22 months following his departure from OSU in June 2015.
“All I can say is that we are recruiting him,” Pearl deadpanned.
Coming out of Cleveland’s Glenville High School in 2014, Jones was an All-American four-star recruit who was ranked the No. 13 guard in the nation by the recruiting website 247Sports.
He narrowed his college list to OSU, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida State and Georgia Tech and chose the Buckeyes, he said, because he wanted to be close to his ailing grandfather and because OSU great John Hicks was his cousin.
He became the first signee of the Bucks’ 2014 class and entered school a semester early to ready himself. Although he played sparingly as a true freshman on the national title team, he seemed certain to make the two-deep depth chart the next season.
But when Bucks assistant Stan Drayton — who had recruited him — left for the Chicago Bears, Jones said he decided to leave, too.
He immediately signed with Kentucky, but two months later was dismissed from the team.
At the time, UK coach Mark Stoops said he had “violated team rules.”
Jones offered a more detailed explanation Saturday:
“I got in a situation with a scam with the school. … The NCAA was coming in and I wasn’t able to stay. So I sat out my suspension. I pretty much just went to junior college — Cuyahoga Community College — and now I’m coming back.”
Anthony Ross, Jones’ uncle and a former Marauders linebacker in the late 1980s, brought him to CSU on Saturday.
“The Kentucky deal was a whole debacle,” Ross said. “He never should have gone there. He made that decision without talking to anyone. He was a young guy and that was a learning curve for him.”
Away from football, Jones said he worked on his academics. A year ago he and his girlfriend also had a son, Marcelys Jones Jr.
That new responsibility has made it imperative for him to resume his football career and position himself for a shot at a pro career.
“This whole situation humbled him,” Ross said. “It’s made him really hungry and he realizes he needs to be on the field. He’s watching the guys who came in with him at Ohio State — like Marshon Lattimore (also from Glenville and possibly the first cornerback taken in this week’s NFL Draft) — and he knows he could make it, too.”
Jones mentioned teams like Fresno State and Youngstown State who want him now and his uncle said he’s visited Tuskeegee, Clark-Atlanta and North Alabama, too.
“At this point we don’t need to visit any more schools,” Ross said. “When he comes back from Central State this weekend, we’ll sit down and he’ll make his decision.”
Saturday was the first time Jones set foot on the CSU campus. He said he liked the “family feel” and the coaches and could envision himself playing there.
Asked if he had any regrets about walking away from a national title team, he shook his head:
“I can’t be mad at any decision. That’s water under the bridge. My life has been better the last couple of years. I believe God has a plan for everybody. He does things for a reason. Right now I’m putting it in God’s hands.”
Now this isn’t saying there’s a connection, but after Saturday’s game, Pearl gathered his players in the center of the field, they all took a knee and he led them in a prayer.
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