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

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Ross came on his official visit with his grandmother, mother and aunt. They spent some time with the Malzahn family at their house on Saturday night. Impressing mom and grandma will be critical in lifting Auburn over Clemson and Alabama in this recruitment. It won’t be easy.

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Quay Walker spent a lot of his time with high school teammate, Markaviest “Big Kat” Bryant, as you’d probably imagine. The two are quite close and have had similar end-of-cycle recruitments with multiple SEC programs battling for their talents. Many see Tennessee and Georgia as more-likely flip candidates than Auburn. Let’s see if this weekend changes that.

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One of the 2019 prospects Christian Williams, a cornerback from Daphne, Ala., is still hanging our Auburn’s campus Sunday. His whole family is with him. There are quite a lot of them. Williams is unranked for now, but don’t expect it to stay that way. He has already picked up SEC offers from Auburn, South Carolina and Ole Miss. Williams has a nice frame to him, so I can see why teams are high on him.

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I’m hearing Justyn Ross’ visit won’t end when his family leaves. Since he arrived Saturday (because of a Friday night basketball game), Ross is going to hang around a little longer when his grandmother and mother leave. He’ll spend some extra time with Kodi Burns before being taken back to Phenix City, Ala.

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CD Daniels has left his official visit. He didn’t reveal much. Daniels said Auburn hasn’t offered yet, but he gave a smirk and a shrug when asked what’s going to happen with that. He said to stayed tuned for Feb. 7. I’m told the Tigers are trying to work out numbers, but it isn’t out of the question. He has a prior relationship with new defensive backs coach Marcus Woodson since he was committed to Memphis. Daniels said he’s looking forward to the opportunity to play for Woodson at a different spot. Daniels spent a lot of time this morning with early enrollees Asa Martin and Joey Gatewood.

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Quay Walker departed his official visit. As expected, he didn’t do interviews. But he has a big sending-off group of Kevin Steele, Rodney Garner and Travis Williams. Walker received as much attention this weekend as any recruit I can think of in recent memory. There’s no question he’s at the top of the high-priority list.

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Caleb Tannor was the last official visitor to leave. He was in the same jolly mood he’s always in. Tannor is down to three schools of Auburn, Florida and Nebraska, but he kept using the word “both” about his decision as if it’s down to Auburn and Florida. He plans to take an official visit next weekend to Florida State or Miami and one of those schools could get in the mix. Tannor will make his final decision on National Signing Day during a ceremony at his school. This will likely come down to Auburn and Florida. He’s much more familiar with Auburn than Florida, but he liked his official visit with the Gators last weekend.

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AUBURN, Ala. — The No. 1 prospect in Alabama wrapped up his official visit to Auburn this weekend. His official visit slate is complete.

Ross took an official visit to Clemson last semester. He was at Alabama last weekend and Auburn this weekend. The 4-star wide receiver from Phenix City, Ala., only has a few steps left in his recruitment — a couple in-home visits with those three programs and his commitment.

That commitment will be made at his high school on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET on National Signing Day.

Despite national perception dictating an Alabama-Clemson battle, Ross said Auburn is still fully in this race.

“Oh yeah, it is,” Ross said after his visit.

He spent most of his time on the visit with Auburn wide receivers coach Kodi Burns, as well as early enrollees Asa Martin and Shedrick Jackson, who he’s familiar with from the 7-0n-7 circuit and the Alabama-Mississippi all-star game.

Those relationships made this visit stick out more than previous visits to the Plains — and, boy, there have been many visits.

“Just the people. Just having people that I’ve been knew around here like Asa and Shed and those guys — I’ve been knowing them because I’ve been playing 7-on-7 against them and all that,” Ross said. “They ain’t in my ear that bad. They’re going to let me make my own decision. It’s cool just knowing they’re here.

“[What stands out is] just how close it is to home. Just how it’s a great city, how the people are around here.”

The next week and a half will be about finding the right school.

Ross will lean heavily on his grandmother and mother to help make this decision, though ultimately he’ll make the decision for himself. As of right now, Ross claims he isn’t leaning one way or another. That will be determined over the course of the next week since he’s done with official visits.

“That’s something I really need to figure out right now,” Ross said. “I really have to talk with my family about how comfortable they feel with me at each school. So that’s really the main thing. Because I feel comfortable at each school right now. It’s just about where they feel like I can live for the next three to four years.”

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