By Bill Kurelic, NN Recruiting Analyst

bkurelic@nittanynetwork.com

Jan. 17, 2009

Joe Paterno has landed his second commitment from one of the top 10 juniors in Pennsylvania.  Junior quarterback Paul (P.J.) Jones from McKees Rocks Sto-Rox made an unofficial visit to PSU today and before leaving State College had committed to the Nittany Lions.

“Yes, I committed,” Jones told Nittany Network.  “I always liked Penn State growing up.”

The 6-foot-3 and 225-pound Jones had close to a dozen scholarship offers, including Penn State, Pitt, Iowa, Stanford, West Virginia, North Carolina State and Duke.  He saw the Nittany Lions play in person a couple times this past season including the Penn State-Michigan game.

Jones was back in State College today with his parents and it did not take the star quarterback long to make his decision.

“I hung out with the coaches and talked to Coach (Tom) Bradley,” Jones said.  “Then after talking with my parents, I knew Penn State was the right place for me.  My mom said to follow my heart and I knew Penn State was right for me.”

Jones completed 62-percent of his passes for 2,020 yards during his junior season.  Jones connected for 24 touchdowns with just seven interceptions.

Jones’ performance was hardly a surprise.  He threw for 1,886 yards and 24 touchdowns during his sophomore season.  Jones threw just three interceptions that season and also rushed for over 500 yards.

Jones joins linebacker Mike Hull from Canonsburg (Pa.) Canon-McMillan as the second class of 2010 prospect to give Paterno the good news.  Hull committed to Penn State in late November.