Jones makes the call for Pitt

Patrick Jones' commitment went down to the wire.

Over the wire, really.

The Chesapeake (Va.) Grassfield defensive end planned to announce his commitment at 4 p.m. Wednesday. But his commitment press conference didn't start until almost 4:30. The reason for the delay: Jones still wasn't sure.

"I was still deciding this morning," Jones told Panther-Lair.com Wednesday evening. "I just kind of prayed about it and thought about it really hard, and it kind of came to me at the end of the day."

And the decision Jones came to was for him to go to Pitt.

"I talked it over with my parents and I felt like that was the best place for me to be," he said. "They have great academics and a great football program, and my mom and my dad just felt really comfortable around the coaches and when we went up for the visit."

Jones chose Pitt over offers from Cal, Duke, Illinois, Marshall, N.C. State, Old Dominion, Virginia and Wake Forest, but his final decision came down to Pitt and Virginia Tech. Despite a visit from new Hokies head coach Justin Fuente and defensive coordinator Bud Foster on Tuesday, Jones opted for the Panthers.

"It was neck and neck. I just talked it over with my parents and we came to the conclusion that it was the best place for me."

Fuente and Foster had the last visit, but Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi and defensive line coach Tom Sims had the first one, visiting Jones on Monday.

"That helped a lot," Jones said of the visit. "That showed me they really wanted me to be there. They told me I was the first person that they visited, and that really meant a lot.

"Me and Coach Sims are cool; we have a good relationship. And Coach Narduzzi is a really great person. He really knows what he's doing and he's honest. He's definitely building things, and they're really improving."

At 6'5" 239, Jones thinks he should work well in Pitt's style of defense under Narduzzi and Sims.

"I fit in because they want their defensive ends to be fast and quick off the ball and make a lot of plays."

Jones is the 13th recruit to commit to Pitt in the 2016 recruiting class and the second defensive end prospect, joining Charlotte (NC) South Mecklenburg's Zack Gilbert, who committed to Pitt last week. Both Jones and Gilbert are enrolling in January and both took official visits to Virginia Tech and Pitt on the same weekends.

"I didn't know him before we took the Virginia Tech visit, but I've gotten to know him and he's a cool guy to be around," Jones said of Gilbert. "He was really happy for me to commit."

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