When Ryan Jones saw interest on the other side, that strengthened the interest on his end. The New Castle kicker recently made a visit to the University of Cincinnati. As he worked on his kickoffs, he said he routinely drove the ball into the end zone while kicking from the 35-yard line as college rules dictate.
A member of the Bearcats’ coaching staff told him he was the kicker they wanted, and Jones was struck by the interest in his services. He recently verbally committed to Cincinnati and plans to sign with the Bearcats on National Signing Day in February.
Cincinnati split its kickoff and field goal/PAT duties last season, with a senior handling the kickoffs and an underclassman handing the field goals and extra points. Jones said he was told the coaching staff envisions him having a chance to take over kickoff duties while also competing for the field goal/PAT job with the incumbent.
Once he realized how much he factored into the Cincinnati coaches’ plans, Jones said he decided he wanted to be part of that vision.
“I did field goals about a month earlier there,” Jones said. “And (a member of the coaching staff) told me to come back for kickoffs. And after he saw that, he said I was the guy he wanted. And after he said I would be the starter and everything, that won me over.”
Jones, whose career-long is a 52-yard field goal, said he also considered Purdue, Indiana and Rutgers. He said he plans to study sports administration at Cincinnati.
Jones isn’t the only New Castle athlete who recently made a commitment to play sports at a Division I school. Classmate Kiley Lingenfelter signed to play volleyball at Fairfield, a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference school in Connecticut.
Lingenfelter, a setter, said she originally envisioned herself going to a southern school with warm weather and easy access to a beach.
When she visited Fairfield, she found it to be a perfect fit, with close proximity to New York City and a beach. It just lacked the warm weather she originally imagined herself enjoying.
Lingenfelter visited in November, then signed soon after to take advantage of an early signing period.
“It’s beautiful. It’s the prettiest place I’ve ever seen,” Lingenfelter said. “It’s just cold.”
Lingenfelter said the decision also made sense from a volleyball perspective. She found coach Todd Kress’ style to fit what she was looking for in a college coach, and his vision for her also jelled with what she wanted.
Fairfield plans for her to be a six-rotation setter in a 5-1 system. She puts her own height at 5-foot-4 (Fairfield’s news release is more generous at 5-7), and she said some other schools pictured her as a back-row setter in a 6-2 system.
“(Kress) has an incredible amount of confidence in me, which is something to be happy with,” Lingenfelter said. “That’s hard to find.”
Contact prep sports reporter Sam Wilson at (765) 213-5807. Follow him on Twitter @SamWilsonTSP.
Kiley Lingenfelter