Colorado University Athletics
ZACH JONES BIOGRAPHY
ZACH JONES, DL
6-3, 245, Aurora, Colo. (Grandview)
HIGH SCHOOL?As a senior, he earned SuperPrep All-Midlands honors (ranked No. 59 overall in the region), while Rivals.com ranked him as the No. 50 strong-side defensive end in the nation as well as the No. 10 player on its postseason Colorado Top 15 list. A second-team all-state selection by the Rocky Mountain News his senior year (honorable mention by the Denver Post), he also earned first-team Aurora Sentinel all-city and all-Centennial League accolades. A three-year letterman in football, he missed most of his junior season with a torn MCL (only played in five games), but was a second-team all-city performer his sophomore year. As a senior, he racked up 152 total tackles (82 solo), including a state-best 21 stops for losses. He also had 12 quarterback sacks, five forced fumbles with three recoveries, six passes broken up and an interception. On the other side of the ball seeing limited time at tight end, he reeled in 12 catches for 50 yards. He had no significant stats in 2003 due to his knee injury, but did have 20 receptions for 100 yards during his sophomore campaign. One of his top games came against Cherry Creek in Grandview’s first year of 5A competition when he was a sophomore: in a 24-14 win, he had three receptions for 20 yards and had seven tackles and one sack. It was none other than current CU offensive tackle Tyler Polumbus that Jones beat off the edge to earn that sack, but Jones admits that Polumbus “got him pretty good a few times” in that game. Grandview was 5-5 his senior year, 8-3 when he was a junior and 7-4 during his sophomore season as he had two head coaches in his prep career, Rocky Whitworth and John Shultz. He lettered once in track and field, as he placed ninth at the state meet in the shot put with a personal best of 53-0. He also played baseball and basketball.
ACADEMICS?He is interested in business management as a major at Colorado, and possibly kinesiology as well. Following college he may want to pursue a career in business, sports performance and coaching.
VITALS?Has 4.8 speed in the 40, bench presses 300-pounds and owns a 26-inch vertical leap.
RECRUITING?He selected Colorado over Kansas State, Kansas, Missouri, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.
PERSONAL?Born March 30, 1987 in Aurora, Colo. Hobbies include water sports, playing basketball, working out and photography, and he’s also worked as an umpire during little league summer baseball. An uncle, Terry Jones, signed with the Buffaloes in the mid-1980’s and was on the team for about a year. He was one of the early commitments in CU’s 2005 class, doing so in August, just prior to the start of his senior year.