Here's a little sumpn' sumpn' from SB Nation/College & Magnolia to wet your whistle on Traitor Cohen and other recruiting tidbits/predictions.
Just one more weekend until the start of the Early Signing Period. Auburn will likely host the majority of their 2020 commits who have yet to take an official visit this weekend along with a handful of uncommitted targets. For the most part though Auburn’s top remaining targets have already been to campus and the staff has visited them in person.
There is one person though Auburn didn’t go see this week...
Javion Cohen Finally Flips
Ah the wonderful world of recruiting... Long time Auburn commit, but not really,
4* OT Javion Cohen finally announced what everyone already knew Wednesday evening, he’s flipping to the Crimson Tide.
God led me home after everything I’ve been thru ...committed to The University of Alabama . #RTR pic.twitter.com/hE8iv2xrZd
— Javo The Great. (@javiocohen) December 11, 2019
However, it was not Cohen’s intentions to make that announcement Wednesday evening. The original plan was to have a ceremony on Early Signing Day where he would announce his final decision between Auburn and Alabama. But Auburn’s coaching staff had different plans...
4-star OT Javion Cohen no longer considered a commit by Auburn https://t.co/HxyNVRxLHX pic.twitter.com/DiAmxfxmxG
— Nathan King (@byNathanKing) December 11, 2019
Unsurprisingly, Cohen did not take the news well putting out some tweets with screenshots of supposed conversations with Gus Malzahn aka Gus Bus. He later scrubbed his account, deleting those tweets but he offered some not so pleasant comments to the OANews.
Central-Phenix City OT Javion Cohen shares his account of what happened with Auburn: “They were upset (after I decommitted) and sent reports saying my offer was pulled. I have no respect for that university at all, and I’m sure the feeling is mutual.†https://t.co/jy7xTGSIwz
— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) December 11, 2019
Not a very amicable split huh?
I have never seen Auburn, specifically Gus Malzahn’s staff, make such a public move on a recruit. Cohen is far from the first commit to flip to a rival. Heck, there are two other former Auburn commits currently in Alabama’s 2020 class and I am pretty sure the Tigers would take them back in a heartbeat. So I think the fact that Auburn forced Cohen’s hand says a lot about how the staff feels he handled his recruitment.
For both sides, I suspect things will work out just fine. Auburn is trending up for the #1 JUCO offensive tackle Jeremy Flax who plans to sign next week. The Tigers are also making a strong move for UGA commit
5* OT Broderick Jones. Cohen will join one of the nation’s best collegiate football programs and will have a shot to prove he’s an NFL talent for the Tide. So now that this circus has finally come to end, everyone can move on and focus on the future.
New QB Name to Watch
I mentioned Wednesday that the one spot that would not be filled next week was the 2nd QB. About that...
Dual-threat QB talks new Auburn offer, potential visit and first meeting with Auburn OC Chad Morris ...https://t.co/6k4XSpoqbn
— Jeffrey Lee (@JLeeAURivals) December 11, 2019
Chad Morris wasted no time making moves on the recruiting trail visiting and supposedly offering
3* QB Gregory Spann. I say supposedly because
AuburnUndercover’s Keith Niebuhr believes that AU has not officially offered the south Florida native but regardless there is legit interest in Spann. If he makes it to campus this weekend things could get interesting.
Updated Predictions
If you missed it, Wednesday I made some predictions on how I think things will go down next week. Here’s a quick refresher:
Javion Cohen flips to Alabama (DONE)
Every AU commit sans Jonathan Buskey signs early with the Tigers
Jeremy Flax commits to Auburn over UK, Texas Tech
Broderick Jones does not sign early
Brian George commits later this week to AU over A&M (STILL WAITING)
Eric Reed commits to UGA
Auburn flips Dallas Walker from the Aggies
Josaih Hayes picks UK over AU & Ole Miss
Jeremiah Pegues commits to AU over Bama, Ole Miss
Desmond Tisdol chooses Tennessee over Auburn
Eric Shaw signs with South Carolina
Romello Height sticks with Miami (APPERS TO BE DONE)
Phillip Webb signs with LSU
As mentioned earlier, Cohen finally flipped to the Tide. Yesterday though one of Auburn’s top remaining Buck targets,
3* Romello Height, announced he was shutting his recruitment down. I am not necessarily surprised by that news but was hoping he might make it to campus this weekend for an official visit.
However, there is one update I did want to make. I thought things were trending in the Vols direction for
4* LB Desmond Tisdol. It appears the opposite is the case.
On Wednesday, Crystal Ball picks start rolling in for Auburn on Tisdol.
Yesterday, folks at Rivals caught whiff of the same news with Forecasts for AU as well. It appears that Auburn has put on the full court press for the Georgia native and he’s been receptive. Things can always change in recruiting but as of today, it now looks very likely that Tisdol will end up in Auburn’s class next week.
War Eagle!