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

Posted on 5/3/17 at 5:32 am to TigerPaw1

Posted by TigerPaw1

Chattanooga, TN

Member since Apr 2011

16979 posts

Posted on 5/3/17 at 5:32 am to TigerPaw1

Auburn WR signee JaTarvious Whitlow could end high school career with 11th state title this week (SECCountry)

quote:
LaFAYETTE, Ala. — JaTarvious “Boobie” Whitlow, a member of Auburn football’s incoming 2017 freshman class, is the definition of an athlete.

That’s the position recruiting services gave him during his football career at LaFayette, a Class 2A high school less than 30 minutes from Auburn. And “athlete” describes him perfectly away from the football field, too.

This weekend, Whitlow will compete in the Alabama 2A state track meet in Cullman in four events — triple jump, long jump, 200 meters and 400 meters. He has a great chance to add to his already impressive haul of state championships.

“I’ve got seven right now,” Whitlow told SEC Country on Monday. “I got the long, long, triple, triple, 400, 200. I’ve got six in track, and one in basketball.”

Whitlow will go for the three-peat in both long and triple jumps this weekend. He set the state’s all-time, all-classification record in long jump as a sophomore in 2015. Whitlow added a pair of sprint titles last season and could win more — he came in first at sectionals last weekend in all four of his events.

Whitlow added a state basketball championship at the end of the 2015-16 season. Later that fall, in his senior year, he led LaFayette to the first undefeated football season in program history.

The next time one of the most decorated athletes in the state of Alabama steps onto a football field, it will be as an Auburn Tiger. He enrolls on the Plains later this month as a receiver and potential return specialist after his surprise signing in February.

“Where he’s really going to help Auburn is at slot receiver,” LaFayette head coach James Lucas told SEC Country. “He’s a guy who can take five yards and turn it into 60. … I’ve never seen anything like him. When a kid is in his face, he never takes his eyes off the end zone. He’s got it in his head. ‘I’ve got you beat.’ He never looks at the guy. It’s amazing.”

Whitlow did that plenty of times at LaFayette, stuffing highlight reels with explosive touchdown runs.

As the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback, Whitlow put up astronomical numbers as a senior. He was responsible for 59 touchdowns — 29 passing and 30 rushing — and nearly 4,500 yards of total offense. LaFayette’s lowest point total in the regular season was a whopping 48.

With that speed and breakaway ability, Whitlow is excited about what he could do in Auburn’s offense. The scheme from new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey — who made a last-minute offer to Whitlow as a receiver just before National Signing Day — made quite an impression on Whitlow this spring.

“When I saw at that A-Day Game, man, they were launching it,” Whitlow said. “I said, ‘I think I made the best decision right here.’ I mean, 387 passing yards — 387. You can’t beat that.”

Whitlow will make the transition from quarterback to receiver at Auburn under the guidance of position coach Kodi Burns, who made a similar move during his playing days. He’s coached several former quarterbacks at wide receiver, including current senior John Franklin III.

“It gives me a whole lot of confidence,” Whitlow said. “If [Burns] can do it, I can do it. He did the same thing I did in high school.”

Man I hope we at least replace KJ on kick returns with this kid. I have a feeling this kid is going to be a hell of a steal if he makes it to campus and it sounds like he will

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Posted by TigerPaw1

Chattanooga, TN

Member since Apr 2011

16979 posts

Posted on 5/3/17 at 5:33 am to TigerPaw1

Auburn coach goes to see safety target from New Orleans who has visit planned (SECCountry)

quote:
Auburn scouts New Orleans safety

Joe Foucha had an interesting visitor at practice on Monday.

The 3-star safety from McDonogh 35 (La.) went through another day of spring practice with Auburn defensive backs coach Greg Brown roaming the sidelines with a video camera. Brown, in the midst of his first recruiting cycle with the Tigers, was filming Foucha’s practice regimen. Known to be a big film guy, Brown likely wants every piece of evaluation material he can get his hands on.

It also indicates something else. Auburn is showing strong interest in the 33rd-ranked safety in the nation, according to 247Sports composite rankings.

As Foucha puts it, his contact with Auburn is near the top — up there with Arkansas, Notre Dame and Florida.

“The communication has been very good,” Foucha told SEC Country. “When am I coming up? When am I coming to camp? It’s always stuff like that. They just always try to get me to come up. I’d just been keeping in contact and never seen the place, so the conversations have always been, ‘When are you coming up to get the feel of it?’ I’ve always told them I want to keep in touch.”

There have been a few times Foucha has planned to make the trip to Auburn, most recently the January junior day when a few of his McDonogh 35 teammates — including receiver target Lawrence Keys III — made the trip. Foucha wasn’t able to, but not because he didn’t want to.

That’s about to change.

Foucha will visit Auburn on Saturday, which will be his first time on campus despite many previous efforts to do so.

“I’m going up for the 6th, and it’ll be my first time going. I’ve been wanting to go. I’m excited to see the place,” Foucha said. “I want to get a feeling of it. I really just want to see the place because the coaches already have a good vibe.”

In the past, Foucha has referred to Auburn as a “dream school,” stemming from his adolescent fandom of Cam Newton.

That’s one of Foucha’s biggest pieces of excitement when he makes it to Auburn over the weekend. Despite being a safety target, Foucha wants to feel the full Newton experience on his visit and see what life was like for one of his favorite players on the Plains.

“I’m very excited to see where he developed at, some of his years there as a quarterback,” he said.

After this visit, Foucha plans to reduce his top list of schools.

He holds offers from 22 programs, including Auburn, Alabama, Baylor, Florida State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and others. Foucha said it’s Arkansas, Oregon and Kansas that are recruiting him the hardest, but he — especially with Brown’s visit to New Orleans — expects his Auburn contact to pick up after the visit.

From there, he hopes to get down to 10 or fewer schools, a decision he will announce in a little more than two weeks.

“I’m releasing my top [schools] on May 17,” Foucha said. “When I narrow it down, I’ll still be open, but those will be the schools I want to keep in contact with. Get May 17 out of the way, drop the top schools and hopefully it leads to getting a little smaller. … There’s a few schools standing out to me right now.”