Five-Star Plus+ S KJ Bolden visits Auburn alongside a pair of 5-star Tigers commits
Buford (Ga.) Five-Star Plus+ safety KJ Bolden is back on the road this weekend. He is visiting Auburn for ‘Big Cat Weekend’ alongside a pair of five-star Tigers commits.
Clanton (Ala.) Chilton County five-star linebacker Demarcus Riddick and Foley (Ala.) five-star wide receiver Perry Thompson are in Auburn today with Bolden.
Riddick and Thompson are already committed to the Tigers, having flipped their commitments this week. Riddick flipped from Georgia on Wednesday, while Thompson flipped from Alabama at Big Cat Weekend today.
Auburn is among Bolden’s final five schools. He will commit live on the On3 YouTube Channel at 7:30 p.m. ET on August 5. He will choose between Auburn, Alabama, Florida State, Georgia and Ohio State. If Auburn can land Bolden’s commitment, it would be the third major recruiting victory over some of the sport’s elite programs in the span of two weeks. Bolden currently has an official visit scheduled to Auburn for October.
Bolden breaks down Auburn
Bolden had this to say about Auburn to On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons.
“I’m definitely very interested in Auburn. Coach Freeze, I told him when I went up there, ‘Coach I’ve got to see if you can get an OV, I’m not sure yet.’ And he said if you give me and OV, just make sure it’s the last one. That’s how he makes things shake for sure, and I made sure he got that last OV.
“…Freeze and his staff have made me one of their top priorities since they took over, even as other national programs are in pursuit and have been for some time They just really stay communicated, and I knew Auburn was really interested when coaches at my school were talking about Auburn and how bad they want me. When I got down there, the family environment was like no other.”
Bolden is the nation’s No. 8 prospect and No. 1 safety in the 2024 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking — a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
He currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $368K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.