For the second time in a month, an All-Sun Belt Conference player on the defensive side of the has decided to ply his football wares elsewhere.
In mid-February, Coastal Carolina defensive end Jeffrey Gunter officially joined the Syracuse football team, although the lineman left that ACC school for NC State two weeks later. Tuesday, al.com reported that Troy’s Marcus Jones has taken the first step toward leaving the Trojans as his name is now listed in the NCAA transfer database.
As Jones would be leaving Troy as a non-graduate transfer, he would very likely be forced to sit out the 2019 season if he ends up at another FBS program. That would then leave the Alabama native with two years of eligibility he could use beginning with the 2020 season.
After being named as the SBC’s Freshman of the Year in 2017, Jones earned first-team all-conference honors as a return specialist and a second-team nod as a defensive back this past season. Jones earned those accolades despite missing a pair of games due to injury.
The 5-9, 170-pound Jones has scored five touchdowns in two years -- four on kick returns and one off of an interception. Three of the kick returns for scores came during his true freshman season, with two of those coming in the same game against Coastal Carolina. Those two kick returns for touchdowns tied an NCAA single-game record, with Jones becoming just the 21st player in college football history to accomplish that feat.