re: 2018 Football Recruiting Thread -- Final OP Update Edition

Things could get interesting with 3* RB Master Teague. Clemson is apparently going to visit him in back to back weeks and could be close to offering. They have very limited numbers this year so obviously if they offer means they really want him. Teague basically said they are slow playing him because they want to see what 5* Zamir White does. White is probably gonna commit to UGA in June so I expect Clemson then turns heat up on Teague. Says he likes Clemson a lot but they will have to work to get to the top of his list.

No matter what happens with Zamir White someone is turning the heat on Teague. If White commits to UGA as expected then we probably will have to beat Clemson for him. If White shocks everyone and picks Clemson then UGA will be all over Teague. Hopefully fact that AU has clearly made him a top target without waiting on others helps us land him

Georgia D-end has 'great relationship' with Rodney Garner (247)

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A few months ago, Azeez Ojulari of Marietta (Ga.) wasn’t a well-known recruit outside of the metro-Atlanta area.

But then offers started pouring in. One after the other. He now has 31 of them.

As Ojulari shined during the spring camp circuit, programs such as Auburn, Alabama, Clemson, Florida and Georgia all begin to heavily recruit the 6-feet-4, 220-pound weak-side defensive end.

“It’s been really crazy,” Ojulari told Vsporto's SEC Recruiting Buzz. “I just know my hard work is paying off.”

To say the least, Ojulari, the No. 19 weak-side end in the 247Sports Composite, is someone Auburn is closely watching. The Tigers need at least one edge rusher in the 2018 class and offered Ojulari on April 4 during his first visit to the school.

"It was a great first-time visit," Ojulari said. "They really liked me. They watched my film and they liked everything. I went into practice, meetings. It was good."

The Tigers are one of the schools recruiting him hardest, he noted. Of Auburn defensive line coach Rodney Garner, Ojulari said, "Great coach. Produced a lot of NFL players. ... Great relationship with him, too."

According to Ojulari, he'd like to narrow things down either this summer or right after it. He's still in the early stages of his recruitment and probably is several months from having a commitment.

Click play above to hear Ojulari's full interview.

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Kipp Adams is terrible at interviews

LB Ernest Jones commits to S. Carolina (247)

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Over Duke.

A week ago, would have thought it was Duke.

But I didn't follow it that closely since AU hasn't contacted him in awhile.

Very good player Muschamp just got.

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Was the kid that had Duke over us because of medical program. Sounds like Gamecocks swooped in late

KN put up a recruiting insider yesterday. Here's summary

- 3* QB Jarren Williams's coach says that Chip Lindsey was blown away by Williams Friday. HIs coach seems to think we could offer soon. He mentioned this weekend as likely but it didn't happen. If AU wants to get in the race they will have to move soon because Williams would like to announce in June

- KN asked 5* QB Justin Fields his visit plans for this weekend were. Fields said he originally planned to be in Charlotte for The Opening but sprained ankle in baseball game and decided not to go. Instead going to his Cam Newton 7v7 team practice in Atlanta. Tigers want to get him campus in the near future. KN says Penn State, UGA & UF will be the main competition for him

- Travis Williams visited 4* CB Jalyn Armour-Davis this week and he thinks AU will visit him again this upcoming week. KN says it's a very close battle between AU & FSU right now. In my opinion keep an eye on Bama, sounds like they have started pushing harder as well

- 3* WR Shedrick Jackson and 3* S Joseph Foucha were expected this weekend but KN hinted other top targets as well could be on campus. That turned out true. He has separate update on visitors this week...

Sounds like we might now be a player for 4* DB Kyler McMichael. Apparently we have started recruiting him harder recently and this weekend's visit firmly puts us in his top group. This was his 2nd visit ever to AU, with his first being to a game this past fall. Travis Williams reestablished communication with him and got him to visit. He gave a top 5 of Auburn, Alabama, Clemson, Tennessee and Georgia. He wants to commit before senior year but might have to do it later. Plans on being back for BCW

Seems like we have picked things up in DB recruiting lately

Auburn prepares to evaluate underrated, in-state defensive tackle Allen Love (SECCountry)

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Auburn to see underrated DT on Thursday

In the class projection last week, one name stood out as a surprise: Allen Love.

The defensive tackle from Huffman, Ala., is ranked outside the top-40 defensive tackles in the nation. He cracks the top 600 overall, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

But when Alabama recruiting reporter Chris Kirschner and I made our round trip through the state, I asked every prospect and a few coaches a variation of the question, “Who are the five best players in the state, and who is the most underrated player in the state?”

Love’s name surfaced more regularly than many of the state’s 4-star and 5-star talents.

One top target who has strong interest in Auburn and Alabama actually said he and Love would end up playing their college ball together despite Love’s lack of offers now. It might be a sign of things to come for the 6-foot-3, 285-pound tackle from Birmingham.

Love has 17 offers from mostly smaller schools, but Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina State have offered.

That number figures to increase. Alabama, Auburn and South Carolina are big-time programs that have stayed in contact. All three have given promising expectations for what Love should expect this spring.

Auburn’s next move will be Thursday.

Love’s high school team has started film room, but the on-field work gets underway Thursday, and the Tigers won’t hesitate to go see him, he said. Auburn will attend Huffman’s practice on Thursday — Love thinks it will be Rodney Garner — to further evaluate the prospect.

Love isn’t a stranger to Auburn.

He’s been a regular on the Plains since the start of the 2016 season, when Love attended a few home games. Despite no offer, coaches have shown Love attention on the sideline during games, and he hasn’t let the wait affect his view of Auburn or other programs that have been patient with an offer.

It’s not a guarantee offers will start to flow in, but once Love’s practices start Thursday and coaches stop by, it’ll be nearly impossible for staffs to ignore his talent compared with some of the other defensive tackles in the Southeast.

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Still have not offered

Auburn evaluates versatile Cam Taylor, childhood friend of Kamryn Pettway, after ACL injury (SECCountry)

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For versatile athlete Cam Taylor, the SEC waiting game has been a long one.

A 3-star prospect from Park Crossing High in Montgomery, Taylor holds 15 offers from FBS school. It wasn’t until Missouri on April 22 that an SEC extended an offer. SEC programs, however, have been in Taylor’s ear since last football season.

Most of those staffs, including Auburn, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, send a common message: Be patient.

“They just want to see how I move around coming off the knee injury, which of course, everyone wants to see. That’s a reason a lot of them haven’t offered yet. This spring, hopefully they’ll offer and see what I can do,” Taylor said. “The big thing is be patient. They tell me a lot.”

As Taylor hinted, the big question mark about him is his recovery from a torn ACL.

He injured his right knee at Prattville (Ala.) High last season, which stunted his recruitment as many of his counterparts began watching their recruitment take off. Taylor said he finally reached 100 percent after a grueling rehab process, and he’s ready to prove it. At a recent Rivals.com camp, Taylor was named a top-five defensive back.

Knowing his own ability, Taylor found the wait for SEC offers a humbling test of character.

“It’s been kind of hard, especially at the beginning. I understand now” Taylor said. “It’s a big deal. You’re throwing money into me, but you don’t know if I’d be able to play. I understand that. Then, I didn’t. I was like, ‘Why aren’t you offering me?’ I used to be kind of big-headed. I’ve had to humble myself, and I understand where they’re coming from.”

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Longstanding ties to other Tigers

While Taylor’s relationship with Steele runs deep as coaching relationships go, he has several deeper connections to Auburn.

For starters, Taylor joined Park Crossing this offseason so he could play his senior season with Tank Jenkins, a childhood teammate and friend. Jenkins, a 4-star offensive lineman in the 247Sports composite rankings, is also Auburn target in the 2018 recruiting class.

It was Jenkins who first convinced Taylor that Auburn was a place he needed to show strong consideration, even without an offer.

“My boy Tank. He told me he loved the place before. He told me to visit with him, and I said I would. I see why he said he really likes the place,” Taylor said at junior day.

He’s already returned once for the A-Day spring game, which resulted in a bigger impression.

“It was live, I can say that. The fans are crazy about Auburn football. But the offense, they got very explosive,” Taylor said. “They’re moving the ball around to the wide receivers more, which I liked a lot.”

Taylor’s biggest takeaways from his Auburn visits, however, are the conversations he has with Tigers players.

He has a close relationship with defensive back Daniel Thomas, who he said “shoots it straight” with him and tells him exactly why Steele is a great defensive coordinator to play for. He also developed bonds with Marlon Davidson and Malik Willis.

But his strongest Auburn bond goes back to his childhood days.

Taylor and Kamryn Pettway grew up together through Montgomery city league football. Taylor joked that Pettway and some of the older guys in town used to bully him when he was a 7-year-old playing in termite and cricket league football.

But that connection to Pettway has been invaluable for Taylor as he embarked on his recruiting process.

“Kamryn Pettway is kind of my big brother. He takes care of me whenever I go to Auburn. We met through city league, playing for the Montgomery Saints. They were my big brothers, used to run me over and everything. I’m very close with him. He tells me how great the place is and why he went there. He says how it took him a while to get where he is now, but everything was worth it.”

As those relationships are invaluable for Taylor, they will also become useful for Auburn if the Tigers choose to offer.

“It will have a big effect honestly. Those are people I can trust. I know I can trust them with anything. They won’t steer me the wrong way.”

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A lot of solid talent in Montgomery this year

FYI Tank Jenkins won OL MVP at the Opening regional in Charlotte

Newly offered cornerback JaKorey Hawkins leans on Auburn defensive back for advice (SECCountry)

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Speedy in-state CB dishes on Auburn offer, relationship

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — As of two weeks ago, communication between Auburn and JaKorey Hawkins was virtually non-existent.

Hawkins said then, when Chris Kirschner and I traveled through the state, that he hadn’t heard from the Tigers in a while. He visited Auburn during his sophomore year, but the 2018 cornerback’s contact with the program had shut off significantly, especially through a defensive back coaching change.

“I talked to the old coach some before he went to Ole Miss,” Hawkins said at the time.

Talk about quick work.

Auburn didn’t hesitate to make a recruiting move on Hawkins. On Wednesday night, the Tigers joined a growing list of programs starting to wise up and offer the Lee-Montgomery (Ala.) target. Until a few weeks ago, Hawkins’ offer sheet was a relatively tame group: West Virginia, Missouri, Troy, Toledo, Tulane, UAB and others of that group.

In the past two weeks, Hawkins has added offers from Ole Miss, Florida Atlantic and now Auburn.

His approach hasn’t changed as he anticipates more to flow in this spring.

“I’m waiting to see what all comes in,” Hawkins said. “But I think Auburn’s a good school.”

Pre-Auburn offer, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound cornerback named a few schools he really wanted to receive offers from.

That included Auburn, along with Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Mississippi State, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Most of those coaching staffs, if not all of them, have initiated contact in one way or another. Many have talked about making it to Montgomery for a spring practice or game during the evaluation period.

Despite that elite-level wish list, Hawkins’ top priority could steer him in another direction.

“I’m looking to start right away, but everyone is always going to say you can, but you have to work for it. You know how that goes,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins grew up an Alabama fan. He’s been in regular communication with Alabama defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley who recruited him since he was at Kentucky. Alabama’s old defensive grad assistant Doug Bell is the secondary coach at West Virginia, and he was the first Power 5 coach to visit Lee-Montgomery during the evaluation period, which left an impression on Hawkins.

But that Alabama connection is clear.

So I offered him the hypothetical: If Alabama were to offer, but early playing time seemed more likely elsewhere, would the playing time priority take precedent?

Hawkins’ simple answer?

“Yes,” he said.

When he looks at Auburn, Hawkins sees depth chart opportunity.

He sees a few of the cornerbacks on campus like Carlton Davis and Javaris Davis who are supremely talented, but there wouldn’t be much overlap with the 2018 prospect. He’s also close friends with Auburn defensive back Daniel Thomas, a former Lee teammate, who has been proof that an underrated cornerback can get on the Plains and make a difference right away.

Just look at the Iron Bowl tape.

“I was too excited,” Hawkins said. “I just turned to the game and one of the first plays I’m like, ‘Dang, Daniel got a pick.’ Then, I was hoping he would take it back. I was too excited.”

That relationship with Thomas will help Auburn as the Tigers pick up the chase for one of the state’s most underrated, under-recruited talents.

“Daniel’s said he’s always talking about me to the coaches and stuff. We have a great relationship. I’ve known him ever since I’ve been at Lee. He helped me through everything at Lee. He tells me it’s a great school and everything,” Hawkins said. “Of course, it’s going to be hard to start. Plus he was underrated in high school, so it was especially hard for him. He just keeps telling me to keep working and stay focused.”

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