Monday, January 26, 2009

Recruiting news update

*crickets*


Not a ton of news just yet out of Auburn's recruiting weekend, which passed by without any new commitments or arguably even any major developments. Useful recap here, comments from recruits here and here. Your highlights:

--DT Jamar Travis got an offer, his first to an SEC school. He's a Southern Miss commit and seems to have some genuine attachment to the Golden Eagles, but general consensus seems to be that he'll commit to Auburn eventually. I mean, it's Auburn vs. Southern Miss for an Alabama product. If Auburn loses that particular recruiting battle, it's going to be a little on the discouraging side. UPDATE: Not surprisingly, we won that one.

--Not everybody who was expected made it to campus, but Tyrik Rollison did, albeit a day late. He leaves today, so we'll probably hear something from him then. Izauea Lanier told Jay Tate Rollison had committed, but of course just last weekend Dee Ford told us the as-of-right-now still-uncommitted Nose Eguae had, in fact, committed. So take with as many grains of salt as needed. UPDATE: Tate expects Rollison to commit.

--Tampa lineman Hunter Stout did not get an offer from Auburn and looks to be off to Louisville. Listening to his comments to Bitter, it sounds like Auburn only expects to place one more lineman in the class. This gives me a little bit of pause for two reasons: 1. With zero commits in 2008 and only two commits in the current class, both of which come with relatively low guru approval, Auburn doesn't exactly seem to be building a strong foundation for the offensive line's future; having another bullet in the developmental chamber like Stout might have been nice. 2. Uh, who's this guy who Auburn's so sure about they're willing to let Stout just walk? I've gone through their offer lists at the recruiting sites and no OL seems particularly likely to be an Auburn commit, though maybe I've missed someone. The point remains the same: if Andre Harris and John Sullens wind up the only linemen in the class, that's not good.

--Lanier said he'd be fine playing safety, which is awesome, since I think--particularly if Travante Stallworth remains committed, as it seems likely he will according to Woodberry--we could use safety depth a little more right now than another slot-type guy.

--Five-star prep school wideout Deangelo Benton showed up and left without saying a word. Good sign, bad sign, who knows.

--Jonathan Atchison had two different uncles say two very different things about his visit. The guess here is, unfortunately, that the "He's going to Alabama" uncle is probably the more accurate uncle, since "Auburn is under consideration" uncle was sort of hamstrung by commenting on Auburn's campus to a bunch of Auburn reporters.

--LB Greg King didn't visit this weekend as expected, but he nonetheless seems pretty intent on showing up eventually.

--Wheeeeee.

p.s.: While searching for cricket images, I found this article on the swarming, cannibalistic Mormon crickets of the West. Because I am a great big giant nerd, I found it fascinating. So, enjoy, all you great big giant nerds out there.

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