Irish Breakdown

Notre Dame Top-Commitment Deuce Knight to Visit Auburn

Not a good sign as Notre Dame tries to hold onto star quarterback commitment

Nick Shepkowski

George County quarterback Deuce Knight, photographed in Ridgeland, Miss., Aug. 10, 2024, is a member of the 2024 Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen.
George County quarterback Deuce Knight, photographed in Ridgeland, Miss., Aug. 10, 2024, is a member of the 2024 Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen. / Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The world of recruiting never sleeps and the moment you thought the dust was starting to perhaps settle a bit on Deuce Knight's recruitment, it kicks back up.

Notre Dame's top ranked 2025 commitment is reportedly set to take another visit to Auburn.

Tom Loy of 247Sports shared the news on Monday night.

Deuce Knight's Recent Auburn Interest

Deuce Knight has been a Notre Dame commitment for over 10 months, making his pledge back during Ohio State week last season.

During the majority of that time Knight has easily been the most vocal in Notre Dame's recruiting class in trying to land other top prospects in the cycle.

Recently he has gone quiet on that front however and that silence has coincided with a surprise visit he took to Auburn at the end of July.

Story Behind Knight's Last Visit to Auburn

Brian Smith, the recruiting insider for Locked On, detailed Knight's visit to Auburn, and why Auburn is suddenly so interested in the Mississippi quarterback a couple of weeks ago when he joined the Locked on Irish podcast.

"They (Auburn) were after Julian Lewis for a long and that fell through," said Smith, "and then they went on to try and get an offer to an in-state kid, KJ Lacey. KJ got an (NIL) offer match from Texas and I got a phone call saying he' sticking with that."

Smith made it known that from there it was pretty much Auburn going down it's quarterback list for 2025 and then coming to Knight's name to whom Auburn offered a deal similar to that of Julian Lewis' according to Smith.

"I've heard Notre Dame would match that and I don't know if that's true, but we'll see," added Smith, "It's all business, this is not recruiting with elite quarterbacks, this is about business now".

This Visit Can't Be Good for Notre Dame

Those in the know have been much more quiet to me recently regarding the recruitment of Deuce Knight by Notre Dame. The belief a little over a week ago was that the fight to keep Knight in Notre Dame's class certainly wasn't over, but that the feel around Notre Dame was better than it had been the week or so previous.

Although I've heard nothing back yet in regards to Knight's upcoming visit to Auburn, common sense tells you it can't be a good thing for Notre Dame.

Timing of Knight Potential De-Commitment from Notre Dame

Honestly, if Knight is going to flip from Notre Dame to Auburn then it is far better for Notre Dame that he does that now.

Notre Dame certainly doesn't want to be left at the alter on national signing day, thinking one of the nation's top quarterbacks is coming, only to have him flip to Auburn right as all the other potential targets for the 2025 class are signing their letters of intent with other programs.

It will sting if it does happen, but its far better for Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame that it comes now than if it came in late December.

Who Might be Next for Notre Dame if Deuce Knight Bounces?

Our very own Nathan Erbach tried to get ahead of things last week when he looked at potential quarterbacks to step in if Knight leaves the class. Erbach came up with two that especially stuck out:

Dash Beierly, a current Washington commitment and three-star prospect, and Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele, a current California commitment and Hawaii native are the two names he came up with.

You can read Nathan's entire piece on why those two especially make sense for Notre Dame here.

Stay Tuned, Notre Dame Fans

We've been covering the Deuce Knight saga from the second the winds started to blow. Whether Knight stays at Notre Dame, flips to Auburn, or does something nobody currently sees coming you can bet we'll have covered for you here at Notre Dame on SI.

Below are a few of the pieces we've done involving Knight in recent weeks that are still relevant this evening:

Deuce Knight to Auburn Reportedly 'Imminent'


The significance of Deuce Knight's top-five quarterback recruit ranking


Has the storm passed for Notre Dame regarding Deuce Knight and Auburn? (Clearly not, ha)

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Nick Shepkowski

NICK SHEPKOWSKI

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