Stanford’s Craig Jones enjoying special season
Jones will be among the people trying to keep track of Iowa return whiz Desmond King in the Rose Bowl on Friday.
Jones had 3,189 yards rushing and 40 touchdowns in his high school career, but the main schools that recruited him were Cornell, Yale and Princeton of the Ivy League.
During his first two years, Jones worked strictly on scout teams, imitating the special teams that Stanford was about to face.
“He was a pain in our end for two years as a scout guy, making our special teams better,” special-teams coach Pete Alamar said.
Head coach David Shaw announced to the team that Jones was finally on full scholarship.
Defensive lineman Nate Lohn lifted me up on his shoulders.
In the locker room, he called his parents with the good news.
Iowa’s King, who won the Jim Thorpe Award as the top defensive back in the country, is also one of the top return men in the Big Ten.
Stanford ranked second to USC in kickoff coverage in the Pac-12 and was fifth in net punting, which includes return yardage.
In the Pac-12 championship-game win over the Trojans, Jones tackled the elusive Adoree Jackson on a kickoff return at the USC 21-yard line.
Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.