Here is the way Auburn recruits here in Louisiana.

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But after a practice Thursday for Saturday’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl, a high school all-star game in San Antonio, Robinson denied that he was given money or an iPhone from anyone associated with Auburn.

“Everything that happened with me, my parents took care of me,” Robinson said.

Efforts to reach Robinson's parents through Robinson's grandmother, Lydia Robinson, were unsuccessful as of Saturday morning.

Robinson said that to his knowledge, Nelson never received money from anyone associated with Auburn to take him on unofficial visits there. In a telephone interview Friday, Nelson also denied he was paid by anyone associated with Auburn for bringing Reed and Robinson.

“I don’t care what people think, they can think what they want, but Trovon chose to go Auburn so he went to Auburn,” Nelson said before hanging up.

But Lorio, a former LSU graduate assistant, says Auburn’s sudden recruiting success here is curious.

“How did players from Thibodaux, La., become so interested in Auburn?” Lorio asks. “That’s a really good question. Trooper Taylor and Sean Nelson would know.”

Taylor is Auburn’s controversial assistant head coach, who was the primary recruiter of Reed and Robinson. Taylor also was involved in the Tigers’ successful pursuit of star quarterback Cameron Newton, whose recruitment is the subject of an NCAA enforcement investigation begun after it was revealed that his father shopped him to Mississippi State for $180,000 in an attempted pay-for-play scheme.

During Friday’s BCS title game media day in Scottsdale, Ariz., Taylor said he did not give money or items to Nelson or Robinson.

“It’s illegal to give money,” Taylor said with a laugh. “Greg Robinson got travel money for coming down with him and his family, which is for mileage and they got a check for that. That was it.”

Slated to join Reed at Auburn next season is another Thibodaux High star, offensive tackle Greg Robinson. One of the nation’s top-rated offensive line prospects, Robinson committed to the Tigers last month, much to the displeasure of some family members.

The common denominator between Reed and Robinson is Nelson. Many people here are upset about their beloved LSU losing out on such highly touted players, especially to a rival SEC program, and some wonder whether Nelson steered them to Auburn for personal gain.

Nelson says he has been Reed’s guardian since Reed’s mother died nearly two years ago and insists he is not involved in Robinson’s recruitment, even though he drove both players on unofficial visits to Auburn, a six-hour trip. Robinson also is part of a nonprofit mentoring group that Nelson recently started.

Former Thibodaux High coach Dennis Lorio says several coaches and students saw Robinson show off cash and a new iPhone at school after a visit to Auburn. Robinson wrote in a Facebook message in July that he got the phone when "I came to Alabama.”

But reaction to Robinson’s Auburn pledge wasn’t so positive among his family. His grandmother, Lydia Robinson, is unhappy about his choice for many reasons and hopes he changes his mind before signing day on Feb. 2.

She doesn’t think highly of Auburn’s coaches, who she says “weren’t very intelligent.” She is especially not fond of Taylor, who she says “got a lot of lies in there when he was talking.”

Robinson, who won’t say where she wants her grandson to attend college, says she is also upset that Nelson and Taylor had her grandson take several visits to Auburn without her or his mother’s permission. At times, she says, she didn’t know his whereabouts.

“They were wrong for doing that,” she says.

She also has suspicions about Nelson’s involvement with her grandson.

“I don’t know what he’s in this for,” she says. “Everybody’s got a reason for doing things. Now, whether it’s bad or good, I don’t know.”

But Greg Robinson says Nelson never told him to attend Auburn. Robinson originally planned to go to LSU but says he became interested in Auburn through Reed.

Nelson says he has been criticized unfairly for taking Reed and Robinson on trips to Auburn. He says locals would prefer that players have limited exposure to schools beyond LSU.

“My job is to make sure you have the most options and see all the places you want to see,” Nelson says.

Nelson planned to be at Saturday’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl, as he has the past two years. He was to take a group of seventh- and eighth-grade football players in his mentoring program to watch Robinson play.

The intent of the trip was for them to see that success is possible if they work hard.

Says Nelson, “It’s about more than just football.”

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