ESPN.com reported Notre Dame quarterback Demetrius Jones did not take the team bus to Michigan this weekend.

Instead, reports have indicated Jones was at Huskie Field, watching Saturday morning’s game against Eastern Michigan. These reports were verified by Northern Star reporters.

It appears the sophomore will transfer to NIU.

An individual who matched Jones’ appearance was sitting in the student section on the east side of the stadium Saturday. He was with a group about 10 rows up and around the 40 yard line on the north side of the stadium.

When approached after the game by a reporter, the individual, who was wearing a white Morgan Park winter cap, claimed he was not Jones. When he was approached later by two other reporters, he did not confirm nor deny that he was Jones.

Instead, when the reporters told him who they were and that they wanted to ask questions, the individual replied, “I understand, that’s your job.”

The individual said he could not make any comments regarding a transfer to NIU. He did say, however, he was NIU linebacker Phil Brown’s cousin.

“I’m Phil’s cousin. I’m here just to check them out,” the individual said. “These are my boys from Morgan Park — (NIU cornerback) Melvin Rice and Phil Brown.”

The individual then joked he was having an airplane come to pick him up in a few minutes to bring him to Michigan. When the Northern Star asked to speak to Brown after Saturday’s game, it was told he felt uncomfortable and did not wish to speak.

NIU head coach Joe Novak made a statement regarding the situation during his press conference.

“I can tell you this. I’ve heard a lot of rumors. I’ve heard a lot of stuff,” the coach said. “All I can tell you is that I’ve had absolutely no contact with him, his family, or anyone representing of, nor have our coaches. So I’m listing to the same rumors everybody else is.”

There is one student at NIU with the name Demetrius Armond Jones, according to the phone book on the school’s Web site.

This same individual’s full legal name and home phone number matches that of a sophomore at Notre Dame in that school’s online directory.

The NIU phone book also lists a home address for Jones. This address, however, does not exist, according to MapQuest.com or Google Maps.

But the street name, Inglewood, according to the phone book, is phonetically the same as Englewood. Englewood is a street on the South Side of Chicago, which has a matching house number and zip code to the address given by NIU’s phone book entry for Jones.

There also is evidence via facebook.com the quarterback is transferring to NIU.

At 3:53 p.m. on Sept. 10, 2007, a Demetrius Jones from Notre Dame left a message on Brown’s wall.

The message read, “i see you reppin hard and its mighty strange i look like i play for NIU in dat pict.fofolk…………………who knows what gonna happen.”

Jones’ Facebook profile picture is that of the Fighting Irish quarterback on the field.

If Jones did in fact transfer to NIU, the date he was accepted into the university will be crucial.

According to NCAA bylaw 14.5.1.1b, “Any student-athlete (e.g., qualifier, nonqualifier, transfer student) admitted after the 12th class day may not use that semester or quarter for the purpose of establishing residency.”

Residency is important, because as a transfer, Jones will have to wait a year before he could play on game day.

If Jones was admitted before the 12th day of class, then he could use the 2007 season as his transfer year, and play in 2008. This would require Jones to have been admitted to NIU before Wednesday, Sept. 12.

If Jones was admitted to the university Wednesday or later, he will not be able to participate on game days in the 2007 and 2008 season.

The Notre Dame quarterback has ties to NIU. Both Brown and Rice went to Morgan Park and played football with Jones. Brown and Rice graduated from the high school a year earlier than the quarterback.

According to Rivals.com, 2005 Jones was the No. 1 recruit from the state of Illinois. He was rated four out of five stars, and ranked as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the nation.

The No. 1 ranked dual-threat quarterback that recruiting year was Tim Tebow, who now starts at quarterback for Florida.

When Jones was being recruited, NIU was his fifth choice, according to Rivals.com. The Huskies beat out such schools as Illinois, Louisville and North Carolina.

Jones did see action this season in Notre Dame’s opener against Georgia Tech. The quarterback completed 1 of 3 passes, rushed 12 times for 28 yards and fumbled twice.