Tag: Kayin Lee

Jayln Crawford includes in Auburn in top four, will announce commitment this summer

Auburn has been expedited to Crawford’s top four following a successful official visit.

The coaching staff at Auburn put together another successful official visit last weekend. It was so enjoyable, that one prospect has expedited Auburn into his top four choices.

[autotag]Jayln Crawford[/autotag], a 2024 four-star cornerback from Lilburn, Georgia, recently visited Auburn and says that it was an “enjoyable experience.”

Crawford tells Auburn Undercover that he got to spend time with [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag], [autotag]Zac Etheridge[/autotag], and [autotag]Wesley McGriff[/autotag]. He even got the chance to catch up with true freshmen [autotag]Terrance Love[/autotag] and [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag], players that he has gotten to know over the years.

“They just talk to me about the atmosphere and what all goes around and how it really goes down at Auburn,” Crawford said of his conversation with Love and Lee. “They just said it’s a great place and you can’t go wrong. It’s very important because I get to see the inside and how they really do things and what it’s all about.”

Crawford has already visited Florida and will take official visits to LSU and North Carolina this month before announcing his commitment in July. Auburn and LSU each have a crystal ball prediction from 247Sports, with the most recent crystal ball coming from Steve Wiltfong, going to LSU.

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Auburn’s A-Day game ranked among this season’s most intriguing spring games

Most of the college football world will be watching A-Day to see the “new look” Tigers under Hugh Freeze.

A new era is underway for the Auburn Tigers Football Program. The hiring of [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] has sparked a lot of interest and excitement that the program has not been surrounded by for the past two seasons.

A 247Sports article written by Will Backus listed the spring games with the most interest in 2023 and Auburn’s “A-Day” game made the cut. Backus is looking forward to seeing Freeze back in the SEC.

“If nothing else, this marks coach Hugh Freeze’s return to the SEC stage. The former Ole Miss coach who had his tenure with the Rebels end amid an NCAA investigation into numerous recruiting violations rebuilt his career at Liberty. Now he is right back in the SEC West, trying to revive a program that desperately lost its way under former coach Bryan Harsin. Freeze was relatively vocal about his displeasure at the roster he inherited, thanks to Harsin’s lackluster recruiting efforts, which translated into Freeze hitting the portal hard for 12 prospects. Seven of those play along the offensive or defensive line. Auburn’s spring game is key for those pieces gelling together.”

According to 247Sports, the Tigers have the No. 18 recruiting class and the No. 4 transfer class in 2023.

Among these recruits is defensive lineman [autotag]Keldric Faulk[/autotag] and cornerback [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag]. Both players are ranked in the top 20 at their position. Some of the biggest hits Auburn made in the portal include linebacker [autotag]Demario Tolan[/autotag] from LSU and defensive lineman [autotag]Justin Rogers[/autotag] from Kentucky.

Auburn’s spring game is scheduled for April 8th and kick-off is set for 1:00 p.m. CT at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

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Rivals names Zac Etheridge an up-and-coming recruiter in the SEC

He is one of the top recruiters on Auburn’s staff.

[autotag]Zac Etheridge[/autotag] was just one of two coaches that [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] retained from Bryan Harsin’s staff when he took over Auburn football.

One of the reasons why Etheridge was retained is his impressive abilities as a recruiter. He had a hand in recruiting 11 of Auburn’s 21 signees in the 2023 recruiting class.

His efforts are starting to get some national recognition as Rival’s National Director of Recruiting Adam Gorney named him one of 10 up-and-coming recruiters in the SEC.

Numerous prospects have noted Auburn as high on their list because of Etheridge and not only how well he recruits them but how well he connects with them once on campus. The recruiting prowess is unquestioned and it’s one reason why Etheridge is so vital to Auburn’s new coaching staff.

Not only did Etheridge help recruit over half of Auburn’s class, but, according to 247Sports, he was also the primary recruit on Auburn’s four-highest recruits in edge rusher [autotag]Keldric Faulk[/autotag], cornerback [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag], running back [autotag]Jeremiah Cobb[/autotag], and defensive lineman [autotag]Darron Reed[/autotag].

Etheridge, who is now Auburn’s secondary and safeties coach, has already gotten off to a great start in the 2024 class. He has already landed commitments from four-star cornerbacks Jayden Lewis and A’Mon Lane.

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Finally Official: Jeremiah Cobb signs with Auburn

The four-star RB from Montgomery rounds out Auburn’s impressive signing class for the 2023 cycle.

It was never a matter of “if”, but a matter of “when” Auburn would receive [autotag]Jeremiah Cobb[/autotag]’s National Letter of Intent.

Cobb, a four-star rated running back from Montgomery Catholic Preparatory High School, officially signed with Auburn on Wednesday, which rounds out an impressive 2023 signing class for [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag].

Cobb has been a loyal commit to the Tigers since July 2022 but did not sign during the early signing period that took place in late December because he wanted to sign alongside his high school teammates. A total of six Montgomery Catholic players joined Cobb in signing on Wednesday. One of his teammates, [autotag]Gabe Russo[/autotag], joins Cobb in signing with Auburn. Russo is the No. 10 punter in the country.

Cobb is the nation’s No. 9 overall running back, and the No. 13 player from the state of Alabama for the 2023 cycle. He is Auburn’s third-highest-rated signee for the class, trailing just four-star EDGE [autotag]Keldric Faulk[/autotag] and four-star CB [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag].

Auburn ends the cycle with the nation’s No. 18 ranked recruiting class.

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Auburn signee Keldric Faulk shares reasoning behind switch from Florida State

Faulk was one of many “flips” Hugh Freeze performed before December’s early signing period.

Auburn head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] performed many recruiting wonders in a short time.

In a three-week span, Freeze improved Auburn’s 2023 recruiting class from one of the lowest in the SEC to a top-20 haul. He did so by convincing several talented prospects to flip their decision to Auburn from other programs.

One of the most important “flips” of the period was that of [autotag]Keldric Faulk[/autotag], the state’s No. 12 recruit who committed to Florida State over Auburn in July. Faulk elected to sign with Auburn on Dec. 21, the beginning of the early signing period, and instantly became the top recruit of Auburn’s 2023 class.

On January 12, Faulk was honored by the Alabama Sportswriters Association as the Class 2A Lineman of the Year after recording 89 tackles for Highland Home in 2022. In an interview with Ben Thomas of AL.com, Faulk shared his reasoning for committing to Florida State in July as opposed to the in-state program.

“Auburn was really my No. 1 school for two or three years in a row, but there were certain coaching changes that just didn’t fit me personnel-wise,” Faulk said.

When Freeze was hired on Nov. 28, 2022, one of his first priorities was winning over Faulk. He did so by calling Faulk in for a visit in an effort to get to know him better. Faulk says that the connection he built with Freeze and staff made it seem as if he’s known them “for a couple of years.”

“(Freeze) just told me if I was destined to be an Auburn man, I need to be an Auburn man, but if I’m not just to let him know,” Faulk said. “He’s a real straightforward dude, and he wanted me to be straightforward with him.”

What will Faulk’s role be for Auburn? He says that he could be used in several different ways depending on the situation.

“They are going to try me at end and at the jack position,” Faulk said. “They are going to play me at both. I think I can play either. On third or fourth-down situations, it could go either way. I think I can go in at D tackle or D end or the jack position. I can play anywhere they want me to play.”

Faulk is one of eight four-star signees that has joined Auburn’s roster from the 2023 recruiting cycle, which includes [autotag]Sylvester Smith[/autotag], [autotag]Darron Reed[/autotag], and [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag].

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WATCH: Five-star Georgia safety spotted wearing Ohio State gear

The gear looks good on him #GoBucks

Although it may seem like a small gesture, when a recruit wears a team’s gear, in this case for [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag], you can definitely read into the situation.

This has gone both ways for the Buckeyes recently. We saw former commit [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag] wearing Auburn attire during his state championship game only to see him flip to the Tigers during the early signing period. Not what Ohio State wanted to see.

What the Buckeyes should be happy seeing is Georgia five-star safety [autotag]KJ Bolden[/autotag] and his choice of gloves. It’s not easy to see that he’s wearing the Buckeye version, but we will take On3’s Sam Spiegelman’s word as he was up-close and personal with the star defender.

This is a good sign for [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] and defensive coordinator [autotag]Jim Knowles[/autotag]. The safeties in a Knowles defense are the focal point and if the Buckeyes are able to sign Bolden, it would be a massive win.

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CB Tyler Scott committs to Auburn during All-American Bowl

Zac Etheridge and Wesley McGriff have landed yet another impressive player for Auburn.

Auburn has landed one of its top remaining targets in cornerback [autotag]Tyler Scott[/autotag].

Scott, who signed with Auburn during the early signing period, announced his commitment Saturday during the All-American Bowl.

He may be a three-star prospect but has an offer list that shows just how coveted he was. Auburn beat out Alabama, Tennesee, USC, Texas, Michigan, and other top programs for the Mableton, Georgia product.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Scott originally committed to Arkansas State back on June 15 but blew up during his senior season and backed off his pledge. He is the No. 446 overall player and No. 43 cornerback in the 247Sports Composite ranking.

He is also the No. 46 player from Georgia but after a strong showing at the All-American Bowl, he could be soon getting a bump.

He joins an impressive defensive back class for Auburn that is headlined by four-star cornerback [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag]. Three-star prospects [autotag]Colton Hood[/autotag] and [autotag]JC Hart[/autotag] round out the haul at cornerback.

Secondary coaches [autotag]Zac Etheridge[/autotag] and [autotag]Wesley McGriff[/autotag] also landed four-star safeties [autotag]Sylvester Smith[/autotag] and [autotag]Terrance Love[/autotag] to round out the defensive back room.

With the addition of Scott, Auburn now has the No. 19 recruiting class in the 247Sports team recruiting ranking.

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Zac Etheridge among top recruiters for 2023 cycle

Auburn signed 18 high school prospects during its’ early signing period window on Wednesday. Etheridge had a hand in at least half of those.

Outside of his amazing recruiting efforts in a short amount of time, Hugh Freeze has made two great decisions since being named Auburn’s head football coach on Nov. 28… retaining both [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Zac Etheridge[/autotag] from the previous staff.

Both Williams and Etheridge have developed key relationships with high school recruits, which was instrumental in keeping the 2023 class together for the most part, and even helped in flipping talent who had previously committed elsewhere. Because of this, the latter is deemed one of the best recruiters in the country.

Auburn managed to sway several players away from other programs such as four-star EDGE [autotag]Keldric Faulk[/autotag] (Florida State), four-star safety [autotag]Sylvester Smith[/autotag] (Tennessee), and four-star cornerback [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag] (Ohio State) thanks to the efforts of Etheridge. Once the dust settled from the opening day of the early signing period on Wednesday, Etheridge found himself ranked No. 12 among the top recruiters for the 2023 cycle according to 247Sports.

Out of Auburn’s 18 high school signees, Etheridge had a hand in eight of them. He also was the primary recruiter of four-star running back [autotag]Jeremiah Cobb[/autotag], who will sign with Auburn in February. His efforts played a part in Auburn signing the No. 20 recruiting class according to 247Sports.

Etheridge joins the likes of Alabama assistants Freddie Roach and Robert Gillespie, Ohio State’s Brian Hartline, and Clemson‘s Nick Eason as assistant coaches who rank in the top 15 of college football’s best recruiters.

Here’s a look at the 2023 signees that were recruited by Zac Etheridge.

Auburn Football reels in top 20 class during early signing period

A program scraping the bottom of the SEC barrel just one month ago now sports a top-20 class.

One of the biggest surprises of the early signing period’s first day was the Auburn Tigers.

A program scraping the bottom of the SEC barrel just one month ago now sports a top-20 class thanks to the efforts of [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag], [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Zac Etheridge[/autotag], and the new-look staff that has been constructed over the last three weeks.

Auburn nailed down several of their most loyal commits on Wednesday, including OL [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag] and CB [autotag]J.C. Hart[/autotag]. The Tigers also received a couple of surprises in the form of CB [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag] and EDGE [autotag]Keldric Faulk[/autotag], who flipped from Ohio State and Florida State on signing day respectively.

After the dust settled, Freeze said that he felt recruiting was “considerably behind” Auburn’s standard, and called the last two weeks of recruiting “wild.”

“It’s been a remarkable job by our on-the-field coaches who were actively out getting after it, but also the people who serve this program here in the building and made the families that came on the visits feel like there’s something special occurring here.I thought we really did well with the DB room and made some dents in our needs in the offensive line room. Edge guys I thought we did really well with on defense; we still have some work to do on the interior and on O-line. We’re really not through anywhere. We still have some big targets out there that hopefully we can close on now or in January.”

Out of the 18 signees that Auburn secured on Wednesday, seven of those are rated as four stars according to 247Sports, ranking them 20th overall according to the outlet’s recruiting rankings. Auburn’s signing class impressed the experts at On3, as they have the Tigers ranked No. 16 overall.

The early signing period continues through Friday, with national signing day taking place on Feb. 1, 2023.

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Thoughts on Ohio State’s disappointing early signing period results

It might have seemed like this was a bad day, but it wasn’t all bad #GoBucks

We all know how yesterday went, in the short term the Buckeyes looked very much like one of the losers of the day. Not only did they not get a verbal from either of the two 5-star prospects they were finalists for, [autotag]Matayo Uiagalelei [/autotag] or [autotag]Damon Wilson[/autotag], they lost [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag] as he flipped to [autotag]Auburn[/autotag].

To make matters worse, defensive back commit [autotag]Jayden Bonsu[/autotag] is still in the air, having tweeted he signed but no indication with who, [autotag]Miami (FL)[/autotag] being the other potential choice. Oh and transfer tackle [autotag]Ajani Cornelius[/autotag] chose Oregon over the Buckeyes as well.

It might have seemed like the sky was falling, but that’s not all that we can take away from the start to the early signing period. Find out what I thought about this disappointment and direction of [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] Football.

(Edit: as of 8:32 a.m. it has been reported by multiple outlets that Bonsu has officially signed with Ohio State)

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