Auburn’s victory in the 2019 Iron Bowl against Alabama has has a number of direct impacts. The heat is officially off head coach Gus Malzahn. The Tigers are still in play for a 10-win season. And recruiting to the Plains definitely got easier for Malzahn and his staff.
Case in point: the pledge of Class of 2021 5-star defensive tackle Lee Hunter.
A five-star defensive line prospect from Blount High School (Eight Mile, Ala.), Hunter committed to Auburn just two days after watching the Tigers drop the Crimson Tide, picking Auburn ahead of 21 other scholarship offers.
Hunter is considered a top-30 prospect in the current junior class and a top-five overall prospect in the state of Alabama.
“My heart keeps telling me to go to this school and that’s where I’m going to fit in good,” Hunter told 247Sports. “It’s Auburn. My heart just keeps telling me to go to Auburn. If I don’t go there I feel like I’ll make a bad decision.
“I love the defense Coach Kevin Steele runs. I think I would fit perfectly in it. I feel like I can relate myself to number five, Derrick Brown. I feel like I can do the same things on the same side of the ball and hopefully do it even better.”
It’s worth noting that Hunter wasn’t won over by the win over Alabama itself, and even noted the atmosphere in Jordan Hare Stadium the last time he was there on campus, for Auburn’s loss to Georgia. Still, the win provided a perfect capstone on his decision to become a Tiger, and now he’s excited to be done with the recruiting process far ahead of his final high school campaign.
“I’ll still take a few visits, but I’m committed to Auburn,” Hunter told 247Sports. “I love Auburn.”