Running back Kevin Jones of Cardinal O'Hara High School in Philadelphia, PA, will hold a 1:30 p.m. press conference today to announce which college he will attend.

Jones, who has 4.3 speed in the 40, is the #1-rated high school player in the country by SuperPrep. Jones is expected to pick Virginia Tech as his college of choice, making him by far the highest-rated recruit to ever commit to Tech. He became interested in the Hokies as they made their run to the national championship in 1999, and his recruitment, particularly over the last six months, has been a media circus.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2000, and into the winter of 2001, the mercurial Jones has apparently been all over the map as to which college he will choose, but through it all, Virginia Tech has been one constant on his list of favorites.

Jones currently lists Penn State as his other favorite school, but an in-home visit by legendary PSU coach Joe Paterno last week failed to bring a verbal commitment to the Lions.

Although Jones has had a long-standing interest in Virginia Tech, the sticking point with Penn State appears to be their strength and conditioning program. Jones's father is the strength and conditioning coach at Cardinal O'Hara, and he and Kevin are said to favor Tech's strength and conditioning program over that of PSU.

Jones has not yet qualified academically. He has a 2.7 GPA and is still short on his SAT score, but he has more opportunities to take it again and qualify.

Tech head coach Frank Beamer and assistants Billy Hite and Lorenzo "Whammy" Ward visited Jones in his home on Tuesday night, and it is widely rumored and reported that the purpose was for Jones to give his commitment to them, which he will announce today.

Watch TechSideline.com's home page and message boards for the news as it breaks this afternoon. We will have a News and Notes report up as soon as possible on the results of the press conference.

Click here for Kevin Jones's TSL recruiting profile

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