Notre Dame Not Releasing Jones from Scholarship
The AP reported today that Notre Dame will not be releasing Demetrius Jones from his scholarship after the sophomore quarterback left the University last week prior to the Michigan game.
Notre Dame will not release quarterback Demetrius Jones from his scholarship this season.
The move doesn’t mean that Jones can’t play for the Huskies next season, but it does mean he will need to pay his own way at Northern Illinois this year.
“We don’t believe his departure was handled appropriately,” Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White said in a statement.
AdvertisementJohn Heisler, Notre Dame’s senior associate athletic director, said the school would have no further comment.
The move by Notre Dame may look foolish on the surface because with all of the other problems the Irish have after an 0-3 start, you would think they would just want this situation to go away quickly. At the same time, making this move sets a precedence that they won’t just allow players to pack up and leave if/when things don’t go exactly as they expected without having the proper dialogs.
Jones himself admitted to the South Bend Tribune that he did not handle the situation properly.
“I’m not sorry I went to Notre Dame in the first place,” Jones told The Tribune via cell phone Sunday. “I learned a lot of lessons about life there. It made me a better person in a lot of ways. But the way I left was pretty immature. I’ve heard people say that, and they’re right. I should have handled it better.
Had Jones handled the situation a little better, I don’t think the University would have taken this approach, since most transfers in the past have not been met with much resistance. So, before anyone freaks out that this was a dumb move by Notre Dame, all Kevin White is trying to do is prevent situations like this from happening more than once.
Of course, this is almost a moot point since Northern Illinois is at their scholarship limit for this year anyway, so Jones would have had to pay his own way there this year anyway.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
What would be pertinent to know:
What day did Demetrius Jones actually enroll at No Illinois??
Have heard Sept 12
Have heartd Sept 4
When was the last practice that Demetrius Jones attended for the Notre Dame football team??
Did Charlie Weis tell Demetrius Jones during the summer??or during Fall practicves leading up to his start against Georgia Tech that Jones had actually won the Spring QB contest??