5-star DB KJ Bolden on Hugh Freeze: ‘He’s the last person I’m talking to’ before decision

Auburn had one last shot to impress 5-star safety KJ Bolden from Buford (Ga.) for his Big Cat Weekend visit. It was also Bolden’s last look at one of his finalists.
In fact, Hugh Freeze is the last coach he will talk to before he makes a decision next Saturday.
“Yes sir, next Saturday, I’m excited,” Bolden said. “Actually he (Freeze) is the last person I am talking to. Sunday, he is the last person I am calling and then I am done talking to everybody until Saturday.”
Bolden holds a 5-star plus+ ranking with the On3 consensus. He is the No. 8 overall player in the country, the No. 1 safety, and the No. 2 player in the state of Georgia in the On3 Industry Ranking.
Visit went great
Bolden thoroughly enjoyed his Auburn Big Cat experience.
“The visit was great, just got done meeting with Coach (Hugh) Freeze),” Bolden said. “He was just telling me how I can be a program changer and why not be different? Other schools are getting all of these big DB recruits right now and Auburn hasn’t gotten that one huge DB recruit that would take them over the board. He was like, why not come in and make history and be different than everybody else.”
He loves the pitch from Freeze and the Tigers’ coaching staff.
“That pitch is crazy,” Bolden said. “Who wouldn’t want to go to a school and not want to be the man of a school. He was just telling me about how Auburn and all the fans and everyone in the building will buy into me. They would help me step by step if I came here on this journey. It would be great for sure.”
What did it mean to see two 5-stars choose Auburn in the last week, especially with him being close with both of those players.
“Oh it does a lot,” Bolden said. “You know, Coach Freeze he had a class in like Ole Miss with Treadwell and Tunsil and all of them. He told me he is trying to do the same thing right now and bring in all these big guys. Being a part of a class like that would probably set it all off for sure.”
The visit raised Auburn for Bolden
What are the most important factors for Bolden’s commitment?
“Playing scheme, how I fit in the scheme, playing time, NIL a little bit, how I fit into the program, the environment, who are my teammates I will be around everyday, and just to be coached by Coach E (Etheridge), one of my favorite coaches for sure. He will always keep it real with you. And who wouldn’t want to play for Coach Freeze? He is like a best friend sometimes. I won’t lie he is one of my favorite coaches I’ve ever talked to for sure.”
Things with Auburn are ramping up big time. The newest Auburn commits are working to get him in the class.
“It’s going crazy right now,” Bolden said. “They are trying to recruit me everyday, Demarcus (Riddick) and Perry (Thompson) are trying to recruit me everyday. Perry told me a while back he was going to flip, you know I couldn’t say anything. Just having all of those guys telling me how special this place is and how we can change everything in the SEC, it sounds like a great plan. Next week I just hope I make the right decision, I might be a Tiger.. War Eagle, I don’t know.”
The Big Cat visit helped Auburn’s chances according to Bolden.
“I won’t lie, this visit definitely raised Auburn a lot,” Bolden said. “I had an interview probably like 4 days ago and I had a school in my head, but now that I came down here, it kind of changed a little bit. Now I have to go home and think about it a little bit. The way Coach Freeze just gave me that great talk in the office, he definitely almost had me commit today. I have to weigh out my options for sure.”
He will have a commitment live on On3.
“I’m going live on On3 at 7:30 ET, it will be like a little party,” Bolden said.
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