Notre Dame secured a top-50 recruit and legacy pledge Monday with a commitment from four-star wide receiver Julius Jones Jr., No. 50 in the SC Next 300.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound pass catcher from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is the son of former Fighting Irish running back Julius Jones Sr., who led the program in rushing three times from 1999 to 2003. The younger Jones announced his commitment to Notre Dame over finalists Miami and Oregon during a live appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Monday.
Jones' younger brother, Andre, a four-star safety in the 2028 class, also announced his pledge to the Irish live on-air with McAfee. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound defensive back is the No. 285 overall prospect in the SC Next Junior 300 and Notre Dame's second commit in the 2028 cycle.
"It's just the mystique of Notre Dame -- there's only one in the world," Julius Jones Jr., ESPN's No. 9 wide receiver in the 2027 class, told McAfee. "When I was up there, I felt it, and it felt different from what they can do for me now to when I'm done with football."
A three-time state champion at Florida's St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Jones caught 58 passes for 876 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior last fall. He now stands as the second-ranked prospect pledged to Notre Dame in the 2027 cycle, trailing only four-star offensive tackle Oluwasemilore Olubobola (No. 42 overall), who committed May 12.
Irish coach Marcus Freeman entered Monday with the No. 6 overall recruiting class in ESPN's class rankings for the cycle. Freeman and his staff have assembled the majority of the program's latest class this spring, adding 14 of the program's 19 pledges in the cycle since March 30. With his pledge, Jones arrives as the headliner of a skill position class forming around quarterback commit Wonderful Monds IV (No. 208 overall) that includes top-15 running backs Isaiah Rogers (No. 153) and Lathan Whisenton (No. 187) and three-star wide receiver Jackson Coleman.
Florida has become an increasingly fertile recruiting pipeline for Notre Dame under Freeman, and Jones lands as the program's fourth pledge from the state in 2027. He took official visits to Miami (June 5-7) and traveled to Notre Dame this past weekend before committing to his father's alma mater.
The elder Jones ran for 3,018 yards across four seasons with the Irish, including a 1,268-yard campaign in 2003, and remains the sixth-leading career rusher in school history. The brother of former Virginia All-American and 2008 Pro Bowler Thomas Jones, Jones Sr. went on to play seven seasons in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints.