And there's very little going on. A recruiting update by AUNerd at College&Magnolia. Interesting that Gus and Bruce have both offered a couple of these kids.
Following a monster close to the month of May,
Auburn started June off with a bang landing 3-star tight end Landen King. There was buzz that more good news could soon be on the way but then...crickets.
But there’s a good chance things heat back up again this month.
Two Auburn targets have set commit dates.
4-star LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson is set to make his decision on July 8th. Despite being late to offer and having never hosted the Maryland native on campus, Auburn made it through the final cut. However, it seems unlikely Dumas-Johnson will pick the Tigers next week. There’s buzz the Gators lead with UGA and Maryland lurking. Given Auburn’s rapid rise in this recruitment in only a short period of time, it wouldn’t shock me to see the Tigers remain a factor in this race up until signing day. Whether they do so will likely be decided by how things shake out with 5-stars
Smael Mondon and
Xavian Sorey.
The other AU target set to commit is
4-star S Kamren Kinchens on July 11th. He has a final 3 of Auburn, Miami and Texas A&M with most believing this is a Tiger/Canes fight. There’s a lot of confidence in Coral Gables the home school will win out but Auburn’s staff reportedly likes where they sit as well. Its likely this recruitment won’t be over anyway so even if Kinchens picks the Canes, I expect the Tigers stay in pursuit.
The most likely next commit, however, is
3-star WR Adonai Mitchell. His commitment to Ole Miss appears to be on shaky ground with both Auburn and Georgia in hot pursuit. Texas also offered last night in an attempt to get in the race as well. But the Tigers are the team trending. Mitchell is close with the staff, communicates often with Auburn QB commit Dematrius Davis and has been a priority for the staff for a few months now.
With the NCAA extending the dead period until the end of August, I would not rule out more recruits trying to shut their recruitments down in the coming weeks. Two names in particular I am keeping an eye on are 5-stars
Ga’Quincy McKinstry and Smael Mondon. McKinstry has not hinted at a decision but he’s the type of kid to pop at a moment’s notice. Auburn, Alabama and LSU are all the top contenders with the Tide likely feeling the most confident.
As for Mondon, he had hinted a decision would come in June but it never happened. So when will an announcement come? There’s major buzz that the Dawgs are trending down in this race with Auburn and Tennessee emerging as the likelier destinations. Travis Williams’s relationship with Mondon is the key for Auburn right now and could be enough to land the nation’s top linebacker ala Owen Pappoe just two cycles ago. Mondon’s kept his recruitment under wraps with no one really having a great feel on what he might decide to do. Don’t be surprised though if he has a decision by the end of this month.
I don’t expect a May like flurry of commits this month but I will be surprised if Auburn’s class doesn’t add at least one more name to its 2021 class. The Tigers sit in a good spot right now with 10 commits but probably want to see that number closer to 15 by September so the staff can head into the season with most of the class on board already. With the extension of the dead period and questions over whether visits will happen at all this year, I fully expect to see more prospects shut down their recruitments in hopes of securing spots and slowing down the barrage of communications coming from coaching staffs.
Important Basketball Offer
Auburn doesn’t need to take another tight end in this 2021 cycle with Landen King already committed. But there are some prospects who you take regardless of depth at that position.
4-star Michael Trigg is one such prospect. But Trigg has been adamant about wanting the ability to play both football and basketball at the next level. Auburn had not yet given him the green light to do both so there was speculation over whether or not the Tigers would continue their pursuit.
Turns out they plan to ramp things up. Last night, Trigg landed the offer he’s been coveting from Bruce Pearl.
Blessed to have the opportunity to play both sports at Auburn @CoachGusMalzahn @AuburnMBB @MarshallMcDuf14 @flyguyhuey5 pic.twitter.com/6rorJZjLzN
— Trigg (@mtrigg_23) June 30, 2020
Memphis and Alabama quickly followed with hardwood offers as well. LSU and Kentucky had already done the same. It’s clear that Trigg will at least be given a shot to be a two sport athlete at the next level. He’s the 2nd Auburn football target to be offered by both Malzahn and Bruce Pearl with Ga’Quincy McKinstry being the other.
I included Trigg in my class projection last week though wasn’t super confident in the pick. One big reason being Auburn not having offered a basketball scholarship just yet. Now that they have, I think this race really heats up between Auburn and LSU. It doesn’t appear Trigg is close to making a decision but he’s absolutely a name to watch over the coming weeks.
War Eagle!
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