According to the Scout.com Texas A&M site, the Colorado Buffaloes have lost their highest ranked commit of the 2010 cycle. Colorado prep and Littleton high school star RB Mister Jones has decommitted from the University of Colorado and switched his pledge to Texas A&M.
Jones, thought to be a lock because he grew up idolizing the University of Colorado and was considered the man of the house taking care of his siblings, had voiced his concern over the program in prior months but still said he was excited to be a Buff late in the season. But a 3 - 9 record for CU in 2009 shouldn't make this a big surprise, even if Jones has every other reason to stay at home and play for his home town team. If you remember, Jones attended the Colorado State game earlier this year and voiced his concern over Hawkins inability to motivate his team at halftime as well as the crushing loss to Toledo on national television (source:Buffzone.com):
Littleton High School running back Mister Jones committed to CU in June, but he said Saturday he has decided to make official visits to other programs because he is concerned about the state of things in Boulder. "I mean, it's obvious," Jones said when asked why he has decided to schedule visits. "They lost to like Toledo and Colorado State the last couple weeks. The CU program isn't doing too good right now." This is the second four star commit to have said "no thanks" to Colorado this month. Other Colorado prep star QB Danny Spond decommitted from Colorado to look at other schools. Spond said the Buffs were still high on his list but the news of Jones decommitting will only provide Spond with more reasons to stay away from Boulder. It really is a kick in the pants that two of the top rated Colorado prep recruits decommitted and who can really blame them? We all knew after Darrell Scott decommitted, the negative publicity towards the University after they gave Hawkins a fifth year after going 16 - 33 and losing to Toledo & Colorado State would have a negative impact on this program and it's recruiting. Again, the worst part of this deal is Mister Jones is about as close as a lock to a program as you can get, other than a guy like TE Kyle Slavin who had family members attend the University. From day one Jones said his commitment was the Buffs to lose and really wanted to play in Boulder. One of the main reasons Mike Bohn hired Dan Hawkins and reiterated his approval of Hawkins late in November was to repair the Buffs' image in the community, especially in the state of Colorado. Four years later, the Buffs currently have one commit from a Colorado high school athlete in TE Kyle Slavin. Slavin is ranked 11th in the state of Colorado according to rivals.com. QB Danny Spond, WR Kenny Bell and DE Nduka Onyeali remain the only uncommitted prospects in the state of Colorado and none look like they will attend CU unless something drastic happens. I think the kids in Colorado have sent a deafening message to the University of Colorado about the image of the program. While Dan Hawkins talks about having to open up another email account because of the criticism he is receiving and his dislike for speaking engagements in the state of Colorado, the program continues to fail in Just yesterday, defensive backs coach Greg Brown left Colorado to coach at the University of Arizona. Brown was considered one of Colorado's best coaches. Up to this point Dan Hawkins has stated that he plans to make no changes to his staff and Mike Bohn has made it well known that Hawkins' return for a fifth year carried no stipulations of having to make changes to his staff. Texas A&M currently has nine running backs on its roster, six of which are underclassmen. They return their two top backs from a year ago in junior Cyrus Gray and sophomore Christine Michael, a former 5 star and top running back recruit a year ago. A&M also has another four star running back commit for the 2010 cycle in 5'9" 201 pound Ben Malena. The Colorado Buffaloes on the other hand have six total running backs on the roster. Demetrius Sumler will be a senior next year which leaves only Rodney Stewart and Brian Lockridge as running backs who have seen any action. The Colorado coaches made it clear last year that they don't have a desire to play Lockridge with any consistency although he is one of the fastest players on the team. Mister Jones was thought to have had a chance to play from day one especially when you consider Rodney Stewart has not stayed healthy for a full season his first two years.
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