Khalid Jones’ commitment to Northwestern on Wednesday may have come as a bit of a surprise to many fans.

The Wildcats had already landed two linebackers for their 2018 class, so adding another one didn’t seem a likely proposition with so few spots remaining in what will be a small class, even by Northwestern standards. Plus, the three-star linebacker from Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes visited Northwestern just once, more than six months ago, and had visited several other high-profile programs since. Add the fact that he is a South Carolina kid with offers from SEC schools like Tennessee, Ole Miss and Kentucky, and Jones’ verbal commitment seemed like a bit of a longshot.

But from the inside, Jones’ commitment wasn’t a surprise at all. Northwestern continued to recruit him aggressively, even after linebackers Grayson Mann and Jaylen Rivers committed to the Wildcats. And Jones’ interest in NU never waned, even if he looked at several other schools.