Chad Morris lost Pulaski Academy offensive lineman Luke Jones less than three weeks after getting the job at Arkansas … but now Jones is coming back home.
Apparently it didn’t work out in South Bend and the 6-foot-5, 303-pounder announced he was coming back to the state Thursday afternoon on Twitter:
I’m coming home.. #WPS???? pic.twitter.com/rptnPwoAqi
— Luke Jones (@Luke__jones26) April 18, 2019
Considering the NCAA is making a lot of these transfers eligible immediately, it could be a boost for an offensive line situation struggling with numbers.
Jones had been competing for the backup center spot at Notre Dame in the spring and it’s a spot the Razorbacks have been filling by committee the last few years.
Ty Clary, the projected No. 1 coming out of spring, has struggled with snaps at times. His backups are redshirt-sophomore Shane Clenin (seven career games played), redshirt-freshman Silas Robinson and true freshman walk-on Austin Nix.
Jones was the fourth-rated player overall in the state his senior year, but flipped his commitment from the Hogs to the Irish 20 days after Morris was named as the coach, replacing Bret Bielema.
He is the fifth transfer addition along with quarterbacks Ben Hicks and Nick Starkel, running back Trelon Smith and kicker Jared Sackett.
Hicks and Starkel are graduate transfers and eligible immediately. Smith and Sackett are expected to sit out this season.
With the NCAA granting waivers right and left, though, nothing is for certain.
He will be the fourth player from Pulaski Academy on the roster along with junior linebacker Hayden Henry. Incoming freshman tight end Hudson Henry and freshman wide receiver John David White are the others.
Jones was a heavily-recruited three-star with offers from Arkansas, Notre Dame, Missouri, Oregon, Virginia and over a dozen others.
