Y'all gone make me lose my mind, Upton here, Upton here.... Anyone notice anything funny about the heights and weights here? Or am I as senile as they say I am?
copsandpastas al.com
AUBURN, Alabama – Two of the faces that helped turn around Auburn's recruiting momentum in the 2013 class came from the same unexpected place.
Needing some big receivers to fill out a receiving corps that lacks size, new Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn and wide receivers coach Dameyune Craig targeted Tony Stevens and Dominic Walker, a pair of pass-catchers from Orlando Evans High School in Florida who had already committed to other schools.
But Auburn's interest changed their plans. First Stevens, a 6-4, 210-pounder rated as a four-star prospect, flipped his commitment from Texas A&M to the Tigers after his official visit.
Walker followed suit less than a week later, leaving a commitment to Nebraska behind to join his teammate at Auburn.
"He was telling me we both should come here and it'd be like high school days, that we could both take over," Walker said on his official visit.
Stevens is a tall, lanky target, a pure receiver who has surprising speed and an ability to catch the deep ball, according to their high school coach, Chip Gierke. With Auburn's lack of proven targets at wide receiver, Stevens, at 6-foot-3, 175 pounds, may have a chance to play right away.
"It was a factor, but anywhere I go I'm going to have to compete," Stevens said after his decision to flip his commitment.
Walker, a little shorter at 6-2, 195, made his biggest impact at strong safety, but he complemented Stevens nicely in the Evans' passing game.
And in the process, Auburn landed a pair of kids who know a little something about rebuilding projects.
"Both those kids are the heart and soul of the program," Gierke said. "One of the reasons we turned this thing around."
When Gierke took over at Evans, the Trojans had been 0-10, 0-10 and 1-9, part of a school district that had fallen on hard times academically.
Before former principal David Christiansen took over and raised the school's cumulative grade back to a 'B' average, Gierke said, Evans was in danger of being shut down due to academic issues.
"This school would not have been in existence anymore if it had continued down the path it was," Gierke said. "In Florida, it's all about that school grade."
Football fell on hard times at Evans along with the grades.
When Gierke took over, he needed leaders to take over the program. Paired at receiver and safety – Gierke says Walker might actually be a better strong safety than a receiver – Stevens and Walker helped take over that role for a team in need of role models.
Walker has played both ways throughout his career, taking a lot of punishment at a level where most kids play on both sides of the ball. Stevens, a higher-rated recruit and a natural wide receiver, took over extra time at safety as a senior to help shore up a problem of depth next to Walker.
Over their last two season, the perennially downtrodden program at Evans won 19 games behind a group that included Stevens, Walker and linebacker Ro'Derrick Hoskins, a Florida State commit who's expected to officially visit Auburn this weekend.
"Both of them are great kids," Gierke said. "They've done everything we've asked them to as students, as football players, as role models for their communities and school."
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