Great story on UTEP's Aaron Jones
MINERS GET DIAMOND RB IN OWN BACKYARD
Burges grad may have been overlooked by major conference schools to Miners’ benefit
By Bret Bloomquist
The most striking aspect of sophomore Aaron Jones’ charge to the top of the national rushing list is how little it has surprised UTEP and how much it must be shocking everyone else.
“He’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever been around, in the top five I’ve ever played with,” said quarterback Jameill Showers, who transferred to UTEP after three years at Texas A&M. “He’s got something you can’t teach. Sometimes you look at somebody and say, ‘That’s a football player.’ That’s him.
“I’ve told my dad this (Showers’ father is a head high school football coach), if he had gone to my high school (Killeen Shoemaker), he’d be at A&M or Texas or OU. He’s a different type of athlete.”
But he didn’t go to Shoemaker, he went to a school a few miles east of UTEP at Burges High.
“We loved his high school film, that’s exactly what we were looking for, guys who are productive,” said secondyear coach Sean Kugler, who can count Aaron and his twin Alvin among his very first recruits. “But we got to camp and he started breaking runs, doing natural things you can’t teach, we knew we had a special back.”
Jones is as humble as a star can be, he says his greatest asset as a runner is the UTEP offensive line, but even he sensed his potential.
“Before I left last summer, in the exit meeting (with Kugler), I wrote down some goals, one was to lead the nation in rushing,” Jones said. “He said, ‘I really believe you can do this.’ ” “I’m not surprised,” his father Alvin Sr. said. “I know what type of kid he is, his work ethic is off the charts.”
So that leads to the next question: Why did he end up at UTEP? Considered small at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, he picked it over his other two FBS offers, UTSA and New Mexico State (Division II Adams State also recruited him), after schools like New Mexico and Texas State didn’t offer. From there, UTEP was a logical choice because they were the only school also offering a scholarship to Alvin Jr., who is now starting at linebacker as a redshirt freshman.
“He wears a bracelet with all the schools who recruited him, told our high school coach, ‘He’s too small,’ ” Alvin Jr. said. “He wears it all the time. It says, ‘Doubting me.’ ” “I want to play my best, show other schools what they missed on,” Aaron said.
They’ve missed on quite a bit. Jones set UTEP’s freshman rushing record last year and finished second nationally
in freshman rushing, a statistic he was leading before a broken rib against Texas A&M ended his season in Week 8. In two games this year he has a nation’s best 384 yards and five touchdowns (that is tied for the FBS lead).
The motivation Jones draws on has been with him all his life, starting with the friendly rivalry with his biggest fan, Alvin, Jr.
“We compete at everything, we always have,” Alvin said. “Even games on the phone, the smallest things, since we were little. I’m stronger than him, he’s faster than me. I’m smarter, but he’s always worked harder so he could beat me. Now I’m having to work harder.”
“I have had to work harder, especially in the classroom,” Aaron said. “He’s smarter than me, I’d have to study for a test, he didn’t. I’d study and still get a B, he’d get an A. He’s always been stronger than me and bigger than me.”
By all accounts, though, the only race Alvin won against his brother was the one to be born; Alvin is 30 minutes older.
That work ethic and combativeness is only part of what defines Aaron’s character, though. From the first day at camp last fall both Aaron and Alvin impressed with their attitude, demeanor, how well they fit in and the respect with which they treated everyone.
When asked if there was any worry that all of Aaron’s success would go to his head, Kugler said simply: “Aaron Jones is raised right. That kid is pretty grounded. All you’ve got to do is tell him what’s expected and what he needs to do. ... I don’t think you ever have to worry about that kid getting a big head. I think if he got one look from his mom or dad that would be the end of it right there.”
Aaron Jones insists that his success isn’t about him. “It’s about the offensive line,” Aaron insisted. “We’re the underdog, we never get too much attention. The whole team has worked so hard all season, we’re starting to open up eyes.”
That certainly comes as validation for the way Alvin, Sr. and Vurgess Jones brought up their children. Alvin, Sr. retired after 29 years in the military, Vurgess is still enlisted and both have master’s degrees. Alvin and Aaron’s older sister is a college graduate.
“I’ve always told them put God first and family, then everything else comes after,” Alvin, Sr. said. “Always work hard and stay humble. Make it about someone else.”
Obviously, any parent swells up with pride when their children accomplish something special, and when Aaron was named El Paso’s high school football offensive MVP in 2011, then the overall MVP in 2012, that was a big moment.
What Alvin, Sr., remembers, though, what makes him the most proud, is how his son reacted.
“After his junior year, when he was offensive MVP, he got all of the offensive linemen trophies,” Alvin, Sr. said. “After his senior year, he had T-shirts made up for the entire team. When my wife and I see something like that, we know we’ve done something right.”
El Paso has known that for a while. Now the rest of America is starting to wake up to that as well.
Bret Bloomquist may be reached at 546-6359.
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