NOTEBOOK: Auburn's first big Junior Day under Hugh Freeze checks all the boxes
Auburn on Saturday held its first big Junior Day under new coach Hugh Freeze and the event checked all the boxes.
Quality recruits? Absolutely. Quantity? Oh, heck yeah.
More than 200 recruits made their way to Auburn to see the new facilities, meet with the coaches and get an overall vibe of the program under Freeze. The large group consisted mainly of Class of 2024 recruits, but there were several from the 2025 and 2026 classes, and even a top quarterback from the 2027 class.
There were top targets at nearly every position, including kicker/punter. There were recruits committed to other schools, top rival schools. There were top recruits at huge positions of need.
Overall, the day was a huge success.
Some highlights from the day:
Recruits committed to rival schools visit Auburn
Several top recruits are already committed to other schools, but it didn’t stop them from visiting Auburn on Saturday.
At least five recruits who are committed to other SEC schools attended Junior Day:
*Florida four-star linebacker commitment Myles Graham, the No. 3 linebacker in the country and No. 7 overall recruit in Georgia. STORY
*Georgia four-star linebacker commitment Demarcus Riddick, the No. 5 linebacker in the 2024 class and No. 2 overall recruit in Alabama. STORY
*Georgia four-star wide receiver commitment Ny Carr, the No. 7 wide receiver in the country and No. 49 overall recruit in the country.
*Alabama four-star linebacker Sterling Dixon, a top-25 linebacker and No. 13 overall recruit in Alabama.
*LSU four-star cornerback Zion Ferguson, a top-20 player at his position. STORY
Loaded group of 2024 linebackers
Auburn linebackers coach Josh Aldridge had his hands full on Saturday. Aldridge arguably had the best 2024 group, at least on paper.
The Tigers’ first-year linebackers coach had Graham, Riddick and Dixon, yes, but those weren’t the only ones. He also had Joseph Phillips, who has offers from nearly every SEC school, including Alabama and Georgia. He had four-star Zavier Hamilton from Navarre, Fla. He had D’Angelo Barber, another in-state linebacker with offers from Auburn and Alabama (Barber received his Auburn offer shortly after Junior Day). And Aldridge also had four-star Jordan Burns from Atlanta.
It was an absolutely loaded group. That’s a good thing considering linebacker is the biggest position of need in the 2024 class.
Pair of 2025 class elites at Auburn’s Junior Day
Some of the top recruits in the 2025 class were in Auburn, including two of the top 11. It’s also worth noting that four of the top 11 and five of the top 20 have visited Auburn in the past 10 days.
No. 7 overall: DE Zion Grady, Troy, Ala. (Charles Henderson) – visited Jan. 28
No. 11 overall: DB Anquon Fegans, Alabaster, Ala. (Thompson) – visited Jan. 28
Also:
No. 3 overall: DE Zayden Walker, Ellaville, Ga. (Schley County) – visited Jan. 29
No. 9 overall: RB Alvin Henderson, Elba, Ala. – visited Jan. 21
No. 19 overall: WR Ryan Williams, Saraland, Ala. – visited Jan. 21.
Auburn also had four-star quarterback Antwann Hill on campus Saturday. He’s the No. 7 quarterback in the 2025 class. Also among the 2025 group was four-star running back Anthony Rogers, who is the No. 10 running back in the country.
[ Class of 2025 On3 Consensus Ranking ]
2 in-state 4-star recruits on commit watch
Auburn didn’t add any commitments on Saturday, at least not publicly, but I expect that to change later this week.
Auburn made huge moves for 2024 four-star cornerback Jayden Lewis of Anniston, as well as 2025 four-star defensive lineman Malik Autry of Opelika.
Both Lewis and Autry are very high on Auburn and could announce commitments soon. Auburn is the outright leader for both.
