Auburn optimistic about chances to flip elite QB Deuce Knight away from Notre Dame

Auburn recruiting has been on a heater lately, and the Tigers continue to soar up the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings as they land blue-chip recruit after blue-chip recruit.

Since Auburn’s ‘Big Cat Weekend’ July recruiting event on July 27, the Tigers have landed commitments from top-100 safety Anquon Fegans, four-star cornerback Blake Woodby and elite edge rusher Jared Smith. Auburn also managed to flip top-100 athlete Derick Smith and four-star defensive lineman Antonio Coleman away from rival Alabama in the last week.

Now, the Tigers are pushing to flip another top recruit — Lucedale (Miss.) George County elite four-star quarterback Deuce Knight. Knight ranks No. 28 overall and No. 4 among passers in the 2025 On300, and has been committed to Notre Dame since last September.

Knight recruitment ‘trending well’ for Tigers

After he unofficially visited Auburn last weekend, Auburn insider Jeffrey Lee said that the Tigers appear to be in a solid position to try to flip Knight away from Notre Dame.

“Certainly trending well for Auburn. And this is coming after last weekend — Big Cat Weekend — and by now, everybody knows that he was not at the Big Cat event but he did make it into town that evening,” Lee said Sunday on The Inside Scoop. “(Knight) spent the night and spent a lot of time with some of the Auburn commitments that were at Big Cat earlier in the day.

“I think the thing that says more to Auburn’s chances with Deuce was that his parents were able to come to Big Cat,” Lee continued. “So they were there Saturday morning, went through all the festivities with the coaches, got to spent the day in Auburn, got to familiarize themselves with Auburn more with the coaching staff — something they hadn’t been able to do. And then Deuce came in Saturday evening. And Alvin Henderson, Eric Winters — these guys who are committed were there who are already friends with Deuce. They were able to spend time with him, help recruit him. There certainly seems to be a lot of optimism a week later.”

Potential flip is ‘imminent’

Whether Knight decides to flip to Auburn or stick with the Irish, Lee believes a decision is likely to come soon.

“I think it’s imminent. I really do,” Lee said. “I expect to know something — one way or the other — sooner than later. I think within the next week, to be honest with you. . . I know from Auburn’s side, they want to get their quarterback recruiting done. They want to get a quarterback in this class so they can move forward with their season. They want to be done with this before heading into the fall. So, I expect something to happen sooner than later.

“All signs point to Deuce heavily considering a flip to Auburn,” Lee continued. “I know Ole Miss is in this as well, but I really like Auburn here. I think if anybody has the best chance to flip him from Notre Dame, it’s Auburn for several reasons. Deuce Knight was one of the first 2025 quarterback names that I heard a year ago. Philip Montgomery, when he was here at offensive coordinator, was very high on Deuce Knight. Hugh Freeze has always been high on Deuce Knight. And talking to Alvin Henderson, he was talking about (Knight) — I actually went back and read a story from last summer and it was Alvin talking about his friendship with Deuce, and how they wanted to commit to the same school and how they wanted to go to the same college. Alvin came back and reminded us of all of that last weekend in an interview.

“I think there’s a lot of things working in Auburn’s favor. I think the timeline is going to be sooner than later, we’ll know one way or the other with Deuce Knight.”

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