Auburn working to flip multiple top targets in 2025 class
After reeling in the nation’s 8th-best class in the 2024 recruiting cycle, Hugh Freeze and his staff are currently working on the No. 9 recruiting class in the 2025 cycle.
Top-150 linebacker Tyler Lockhart joined the class on Monday as the second top-150 recruit to commit to Auburn in this class. But the Tigers are far from done.
Auburn Live’s Jeffrey Lee joined On3’s Inside Scoop football recruiting show to talk about which top prospects committed to other schools Auburn is continuing to pursue.
Auburn targeting 5-star USC QB commit
Carrollton (Ga.) five-star quarterback Julian Lewis pledged to USC on August 22. Despite continuing to take visits to programs around the country, he told On3’s Chad Simmons last month that he’s “still locked in overall with USC.”
Lewis credits his relationship with Trojans head coach and quarterback guru Lincoln Riley.
That being said, Lewis will take an official visit to Auburn the weekend of June 14.
“Things have been kind of slow, kind of quiet with Juju the last couple of weeks and that’s probably a good thing for Auburn,” Lee said. “Because leading up into the last couple of weeks, there’s been a lot of buzz about Auburn with Julian Lewis and it remains that way to this day. He’s set to come in for an official visit in June and I would think a decision — one way or the other — would come soon after.
“I completely agree with you about Georgia being out of the picture. Leaving Auburn, USC, maybe Colorado and maybe Alabama. But it certainly feels like, at least right now, that he either sticks with USC or flips to Auburn.”
When asked where he’d put the Tigers in Lewis’ recruitment, Lee said he’d place Auburn right behind the Trojans and ahead of the rest of the pack.
“I put Auburn squarely at No. 2, confidently at No. 2,” Lee said. “From talking to several people on Julian’s side of things, talking to people on Auburn’s side of things — I’m hearing the same thing from both sides. Which leads me to believe that Auburn is No. 2, and I say that confidently. Sure, Colorado is still in there and Alabama is hanging around — obviously, USC with Lincoln Riley. But I would have Auburn No. 2 and I think everybody else below that. I don’t know that there’s a three or a four.
“But I think USC and Auburn — one and two right now and not a lot of difference.”
Another USC commit on flip watch?
Warner Robins (Ga.) elite pass rusher Isaiah Gibson was part of a commitment spree for USC in late March. He’s one of multiple southeastern prospects to want to leave for the West Coast and join Lincoln Riley’s USC program. Yet, it’s going to be a battle for the Trojans to keep Gibson committed through National Signing Day.
“I think he’s going to be one to watch,” Lee said. “Now I would put him on my commit flip watch list, but Auburn is dealing with a lot of other guys here. You’re dealing with Georgia, you’re dealing with Oklahoma, you’re dealing with some stud elite programs here that are recruiting at a high level. Not to take anything away from Auburn, because they too are recruiting at a high level. They’re going to get Isaiah Gibson back on campus in June, I believe, for an official visit — so they’re a player, for sure. So I would have him on my flip watch list. Probably bottom half, but definitely on there.”
Tigers remain involved with in-state RB
Auburn was heavily involved in the recruitment of Elba (Ala.) four-star running back Alvin Henderson — and still is. Despite the apparent lead for the Tigers in much of Henderson’s recruitment, he committed to Penn State last month.
Lee said that Auburn’s performance at the position on the field this season may be what keeps the Tigers in Henderson’s recruitment until the end.
” Leading up to that announcement, we all heard behind the scenes that he was leaning Penn State and I felt confident that he was going to commit to Penn State, but I kept my RPM prediction on Auburn because in the end I do think he ends up at Auburn,” Lee said. “He’s wanted to be at Auburn for so long. And Derrick Nix and these guys have come in and continued to have him as a top priority.
“The thing about Alvin is, if you go back and listen to his pre-commitment interview I think with Chad Simmons, he said something like, ‘I’m going to be keeping an eye on Auburn this year.’ And I think what Alvin is saying by that is — and I’ve talked to some people behind the scenes about this — he’s saying that when you talk about Hugh Freeze’s history and his offense, everybody can name the quarterbacks, everybody can name the wide receivers that have flourished in his system. How many running backs can you name? And I was like, that’s a good question, because I can’t name any.
“So I think his concern with Auburn and Hugh Freeze is the running backs and how he would be utilized, and I think that’s what he was saying pre-commitment. Now I think what’s he’s saying is — ‘I’m going to watch Auburn and how they use Jarquez Hunter, how they use Damari Alston, Jeremiah Cobb, Brian Battie. And then I’ll make my final decision.’”
Flip-Flip-Flip?
Saraland (Ala.) four-star defensive lineman Antonio Coleman has had a wild recruitment. He pledged to Alabama in September before flipping his commitment to Auburn on December 22. Fast forward to March, and Coleman flips his pledge back to the Crimson Tide.
And yet, Lee said that the Tigers still have a chance to bring Coleman back into the fold.
“It really is, believe it or not,” Lee said on whether it’s possible for Auburn to flip Coleman back from Alabama. “He has come back since his recommitment to Alabama, he’s been back at Auburn. He’s given Auburn all the right vibes to at least give them hope and optimism that there is potential there for yet another flip. I think we’ll see him back in Auburn several times as an OV, during the season on unofficial visits.
“The big thing there was Jeremy Garrett, the former defensive line coach at Auburn, leaving after the season and going to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Vontrell King-Williams took over, who was Jeremy Garrett’s assistant, but Vontrell King-Williams had been recruiting these kids just as much as Jeremy Garrett had so that relationship was there. I believe that relationship there, as well as the need for Auburn on that defensive line is going to keep Auburn in this. If I were coming out with a commit watch list for long term, I think Antonio Coleman would be fairly high, I think top half of my list.”
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