Auburn Recruiting had a Tough Week, but Poised for a Big Month

The Auburn Tigers lost two commitments last week, but Hugh Freeze is preparing for a big month of July.

The Auburn Tigers had a tough week of recruiting, but are preparing for a big month of July / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY

It hasn’t been a great week or two for Auburn Tigers recruiting on the commitment board. Auburn surged into the top 5 in the recruiting rankings with the commitment of running back Alvin Henderson on June 21, but the commitment list has gone in the wrong direction since then.  

Four-star offensive tackle Carde Smith from Williamson (Mobile) High School de-committed from Auburn on June 26. That was followed by 4-star linebacker commit Tyler Lockhart doing the same on June 28. It remains to be seen if there is mutual interest moving forward between the two prospects and Auburn at this point. 

Not only that, but a number of prospects Auburn was recruiting committed elsewhere in late June, most notably edge Herbert “Third” Scroggins committed to the Miami Hurricanes on June 28.  

What does all of this mean for Auburn’s future rosters and Hugh Freeze and Co.’s pursuit of restoring talent to the football program? It’s certainly not good news, but there’s a long way until the dust settles.

It used to be that the dust would settle on future implications once the National Letter of Intent is signed in February (now December as the early signing period in addition to February). Nowadays with the transfer portal, it’s becoming more rare for a high school commitment to eventually contribute to the football team they initially sign with.

Coaches and fans will get excited to get a commitment from a top prospect, or to sign a top prospect, but after that will he even stick around long enough to be developed, earn playing time, and contribute to his team winning football games? 

Commitments are going to come and go before Signing Day. It worked in Auburn’s favor just recently when Henderson changed his pledge from Penn State to Auburn. With Smith and Lockett it worked against Auburn. Auburn is recruiting plenty of the best prospects at each position, and is still in good shape to have a great signing class. 

Even with the two-high profile defections, Auburn is still ranked in the top 15 by 247 Sports.

It’s just as important to keep the talent you sign on campus. So far in the Freeze Era, most of the players lost to the transfer portal have been non or limited contributors. 

Auburn has other offensive tackles on its board like 5-star Andrew Babalola from Blue Valley Northwest (Overland Park, Kan.) High School and 4-star Malachi Goodman from Paramus Catholic (Paramus, NJ). There are other linebacker prospects on its board like Elijah Melendez of Osceola (Kissimmee, Fla.) High School. 

Freeze’s MO with the roster rebuild has been to use the transfer portal to add experienced players to the roster, and to get the top-end talent from the high school ranks. Auburn had a top 10 recruiting class last year and is still in good shape for a top 10 class come December 2024/February 2025. 

There aren’t any official visitors on college campuses for another several weeks, but in late July Auburn is likely to get more of its share of great news. Many of the top prospects from around the country will be in Auburn for Big Cat Weekend on July 27. Last year during Big Cat Weekend Auburn gained an incredible amount of momentum with a number of prospects it eventually signed. 

There’s a possibility to gain other commitments over the first week of July. 

Former Auburn commit Hollis Davidson, a tight end from McIntosh (Peachtree City), Ga., decommitted from Auburn on May 6, 2024, though Auburn is still in the running for his commitment again. He posted on X, “Commitment coming July 4.” Florida State and Auburn are the likely candidates. 

Blake Woodby from St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Md. is a 4-star prospect and Industry Composite top 10 cornerback and top 100 overall. He posted on X that “Big announcement coming soon.” Auburn, Oregon and Maryland are the three schools he’s choosing from. 

Kaleb Edwards, a tight end prospect from Oak Ridge High in El Dorado Hills, Calif., will be announcing his decision on July 2. He’ll be choosing from Auburn, Alabama, Oregon, Texas, UCLA and Washington. 

It may have been a rough week for the Tigers, but Auburn is still in good shape for a big month of July.