4-star S R.J. Jones commits to UCLA

Mission Hills (Calif.) St. John Bosco four-star safety R.J. Jones committed to UCLA on Friday night. The 6-foot-0, 186 pound safety chose the Bruins after backing off his pledge to California over the summer.

Jones is the No. 376 overall prospect and No. 34 safety in the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 24 player in California.

Prior to Jones’ commitment, UCLA’s 2023 recruiting class ranked No. 92 in the 2023 On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings and No. 10 in the Pac-12. But following his decision, the Bruins’ group jumped 22 spots to No. 70 in the Team Recruiting Rankings.

The Golden State native is now the highest-ranked prospect in UCLA’s class. It was previously San Diego (Calif.) Lincoln four-star running back Roderick Robinson II, the No. 201 overall prospect in the On3 Consensus. However, he flipped to Georgia on Oct. 10.

Even though Jones is the only four-star committed to head coach Chip Kelly and his staff, the Bruins currently have pledges from two other top-500 prospects. They are Chula Vista (Calif.) three-star linebacker Tre Edwards and Norco (Calif.) three-star wide receiver Grant Gray.

Jones, who received 16 offers, committed to the Golden Bears on Feb. 4. However, he decommitted from California on Aug. 18 and eventually selected UCLA nearly two months later.

The four-star defensive back has an On3 NIL Valuation of $17.1K. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.