University of Connecticut Athletics
Travis Jones Has Bright Future Ahead
3/28/2022 9:58:00 AM | Football
STORRS – Travis Jones worked out for the last time as a Husky this Wednesday, March 23rd at the UConn hosted Pro Day.
His draft stock has gotten better and better as his final season and offseason have progressed. Jones started with an impressive showing down in Clemson, S.C. this past November and followed it up with an eye-catching performance at the NFL Combine.
While he was the draw, he addressed the media in his typical humble tone following his brief individual workout.
"It's a great experience, you know growing up watching the NFL Combine on TV and YouTube and now to finally be here it's important to me."
Jones, unlike many high draft prospects, comes from Connecticut and from an even smaller sample size, New Haven. He has the chance to be the first prospect drafted to the NFL born in New Haven since Rob Jackson in 2013.
Jones' path, however, is much different from many of the New Haven born players that have come before him. He decided to stay at his home high school, Wilbur Cross High School, instead of attending a private school or taking a postgrad year elsewhere.
He was ranked tenth in the Connecticut recruiting class in 2018 (247 Sports). The only CT player that attended and stayed all four years at the University of Connecticut. He also was only one of three in the top ten that attended a public high school.
"That would be big for me to make it to the league and have New Haven on my back, and have little kids look up to me."
Jones showed what staying home and competing for his state means to him, and it has rubbed off onto others. The Huskies have locked down the most Connecticut signees for a single class in FBS history in their upcoming 2022 class. This includes the state's Gatorade Player of the Year, Victor Rosa of Bristol Central, and the New Haven Register Player of the Year, Cam Edwards of Norwalk. As with Jones, both Rosa and Edwards are public school prospects.
"Seeing guys come back from Connecticut brings a lot of joy to me because I know people think about Connecticut and they don't think about sports and things like that, they think about down South. CT got ballers too."
