Cal Football

Bears Start Off Their '23 Class Strong With Commitment from 4 Star Safety RJ Jones

By Jim McGill

February 4, 2022

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The Bears started off their 2023 recruiting class strong with the commitment of consensus 4 star St. John Bosco safety RJ Jones‍ days after his visit to campus last weekend. Jones was one of three 2023 recruits on campus for the weekend, joining 4 star safety Hunter Clegg‍ and 3 star safety Marcus Ratcliffe.

“When I went up there, it felt like home as soon as I stepped on campus,” said Jones. “Coach Tre (Watson), Coach Brown, Coach Wilcox- they welcomed me with open arms. I just knew that when I got there, I knew it was home and I wanted to be there.

“My mom could tell how comforable i was there walking on campus and she’s big on academics. When you can combine competitive football with the top academic public school in the country, it doesn’t get any better than that. Now that I’m committed to Cal, I’m so happy. I can be proud of myself, for sure.”

Jones announced his commitment today via Twitter, saying:

“I’m committed. I'm committed to being the best version of me, on and off the field. Football has taught me discline. How to tackle life’s obstacles. How to be gracious in my victories and resilient in my losses. It's taught me how to push myself, always to believe in me. It has also taught me how to adapt to change. And I believe in always making my next move my best move, so i’m confident in the choices I make for myself.

“Some people think of your commitment as the end but really it’s just the beginning to a whole new chapter.”

Jones noted that with the young talent program has, Cal’s poised for big things in the future and he's all in with helping build a winner by adding new high-level talent.

“Elijah Hicks should be one of the top safeties drafted this year and I know Cal has a bunch of good young DBs waiting their turn.

“Part of the reason I committed early was to help to start them recruit. We’ve got some great young talent down here and now that I committed, I can help the program even bigger. I've got some guys at St. John Bosco I'm with right now and I’m already talking to them. I’m fired up to bring them with me. I’m fired up about it all.”

Another connection for Jones to Cal is new St. John Bosco receivers coach and former star Cal receiver Geoff McArthur, whose ties to Jones go back far before his move to Bosco.

“He's been a really close friend of mine,” said Jones. “He actually coached with my dad at Saint Monica (Catholic High School). He's lke another part of my family.

“He's fired up. I can’t wait for him to get down here and start coaching at Bosco.”

“I coached RJ when he was in eighth and ninth grade a little bit,” with McArthur. “So when I saw that commitment to Cal today, I was really thrilled and happy for him. I think it’s a great move for him and we just got us a really great player. He’s a great, great kid.”

The 6-1/180 safety had 40 tackles, one interception, four pass breakups and two fumble recoveries in his junior season for the Braves. The big-hitting DB holds 17 offers currently, including USC, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Michigan State and more. Jones is rated the #19 safety nationally in the 247 composite ratings the #209th rated player overall in the country.