Adams To LSU

Sources say that Ken Adams may have waited too long with Auburn and missed an opportunity to play for the Tigers. Adams has signed with LSU. While sometimes fanbases say a player chose another school because their coaches did not want a player anymore, this appears true for Adams and Auburn.

One More Month

It is just one month until National Signing Day of 2010 and Auburn is sitting pretty with recruiting. New SEC rules cap the total amount of signees for 2010 at 28 but Auburn can technically bring in 33, counting 5 early signees toward the 2009 class (Curry, Newton, Sanders, Gayden and B. Mosley). So, with Auburn currently at 27 total (22 counting toward 2010), how will NSD look for the Tigers? Let's take a look:

Current Commitments Who May Be Wavering:

• **** Shon Coleman - OT - looking around at schools such as Ole Miss, Miami (FL), Tennessee and Arkansas. He also has set an official visit to Auburn. I say Auburn holds onto Coleman but he is a very soft verbal.
• *** D.J. Howard - S - looking at Clemson and Kentucky. Auburn is recruiting him as a safety but he wants to play running back in college, which is more likely at Clemson. I say it is 50-50 between AU and Clemson right now.

Top Uncommitted Targets:

• ***** Marcus Lattimore - RB - Auburn appears to be in great shape for the number 2 running back in the nation according to Rivals. If I had to guess right now, I would say Lattimore picks Auburn over his home state Gamecocks but with three official visits still planned (Oregon, Georgia and USC) anything could happen. EDIT: Lattimore has eliminated UGA since I posted this.
• ***** Lache Seastrunk - RB - Due to Dyer's commitment and Lattimore's interest in AU, Seastrunk appears to not be Auburn bound. Lache has been very quiet lately regarding recruiting but appeared to enjoy his Oregon visit and the Ducks could be the team to beat, as well as the Southern Cal Trojans.
• **** Eric Mack - OG - the current South Carolina commitment was spotted wearing an Auburn hat at the Under Armour All American game (link here, pic courtesy of Auburn Eagle). It has long been speculated Mack would change to the Tigers and I see that happening.
• **** James Stone - OT - considering a January visit to Auburn but it is not likely Auburn lands the Nashville tackle. His top four are Auburn, Stanford, Alabama and Tennessee and I see him either playing for Saban or Kiffin next season.
• **** Jeffrey Whitaker - DT - All American is likely to sign with Auburn. I don't want to use the word "lock" but I would be very surprised if he went elsewhere.
• **** Mike Thornton - DT - many think Auburn is the leader here but I am skeptical. He has Auburn, UGA, Penn State, Florida and Miami at the top of his list. My prediction is UGA or Penn State for Thornton.
• **** Byran Jones - DT - I think Auburn swoops in and steals another top Arkansas player. The second best player in the state seems to be leaning toward Auburn and if the Tigers indeed do not land Thornton then I would not be surprised to see Auburn land this four star.
• **** Corey Lemonier - DE - this Florida d-end appears to be Auburn bound. He will decide on NSD between Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Miami, LSU and Tennessee. The All American seems to enjoy the family atmosphere at Auburn and I see him in orange and navy next season.
• *** Ken Adams - DE - JUCO defensive end originally signed with Tuberville's staff out of high school. He is deciding between Auburn, LSU and UNC. I see Auburn as his leader and would look for him to sign soon.
• *** Vic Beasley - LB - Clemson commitment is open and if there is room I see Auburn in Beasley's future. The Auburn legacy would wrap up an amazing linebacker class for the Tigers.

So there are my predictions for the rest of this class: Ken Adams, Corey Lemonier, Byran Jones, Jeffrey Whitaker, Marcus Lattimore, Eric Mack and Vic Beasley (obviously D.J. Howard would have to decommit to fit all of these seven in). With Auburn's class currently ranked THIRD on Rivals, it is safe to say this class would end up in the top five.

Two Updates

• Cam Newton will now announce January 1st at the earliest.
• Ken Adams has decommitted from Tennessee and now appears to be down to either LSU, Auburn or North Carolina.

Early Signing

• 10:10 AM - Craig Sanders has signed with Auburn.
• Sorry guys, shortly after the previous post my internet went down.
• 11:30 AM - Commitment Jessel Curry signs with Auburn.
• 12:05 PM - Four star tight end/offensive tackle Brandon Mosley commits and signs with Auburn.
• Four star offensive lineman Roszell Gayden has committed to Auburn and will sign.
• As of 4:55 PM, Auburn has jumped ahead of LSU to 7th in recruiting according to Rivals. Auburn trails Texas, Alabama, Florida, Penn State, Tennessee and Oklahoma, in that order.
• Ken Adams will not be making a decision today, according to VolQuest.com. He will make his decision between Auburn, Tennessee and North Carolina sometime this week.
• 5:13 PM - Roszell Gayden signs with Auburn.

Wednesday Is Early Signing Day!

And Auburn could have as many as five players sign and enroll in January. Here is the lastest on each of them:

• Commitment Jessel Curry graduated high school a semester early and will enroll at Auburn in the spring. He will sign at 11 AM tomorrow.
• Former Alabama commit Craig Sanders will sign with Auburn on Wednesday at 9 AM. The four star defensive end had offers from just about every major southeastern school.
• Tennessee commitment Ken Adams may decide between Auburn and Tennessee tomorrow. He first said he would have a decision yesterday but has been quiet since. No time frame set for an announcement. Adams originally signed with Auburn out of high school.
• Brandon Mosley will decide between Auburn, FSU and Ole Miss tomorrow at noon. Right now he appears to have Auburn ranked 3rd.
• Roszell Gayden will sign at 6 PM CT with either Auburn, California or Oklahoma. California was one of only two schools to offer Gayden out of high school.

Recruiting Catch Up

I wanted to clarify for anyone what exactly is going on with the early signing period for JUCO and early graduates. Wednesday is signing day for January enrollees. Auburn is looking to sign five on Wednesday. They will all roll back to the 2009 signing class.

Jessel Curry and Craig Sanders are likely to sign on Wednesday along with current Tennessee commitment and former Auburn signee Ken Adams. Adams will make an announcement tomorrow as to whether he will stay with the Vols or switch to Auburn, which is very likely. Also, Roszell Gayden could also make a decision soon and could possibly sign with Auburn on Wednesday. Gayden is likely down to just Auburn and Cal.

Here is the latest on other top targets:

• OL - Eric Mack - Feel good about this South Carolina commitment. Auburn is in very good shape to steal him.
• OL - John Cullen - This JUCO lineman will probably not make a decision until close to signing day. Tennessee currently leads for Cullen but he plans to visit Auburn in January and teammate Joel Bonomolo could help pull Cullen to the Plains.
• OL - Brandon Mosley - Appears to be down to Auburn, Ole Miss and FSU. Ole Miss is leading but Mosley visited FSU this weekend and an announcement is expected this week. He will sign in December in enroll in January.
• OL - Laurence Gibson - Gibson committed to Clemson last night.
• RB - Marcus Lattimore - Five star running back still has Auburn and South Carolina on top. I feel great right now about signing Lattimore in February.
• RB - Lache Seastrunk - I am no longer expecting Auburn to have a serious chance with Seastrunk.
• DT - Byran Jones - Arkansas is the public leader for Jones right now but I have heard whispers that Jones could be an Auburn lean. He will take an official visit to Auburn in January and could wrap him up then.
• DT - Mike Thornton - Still an Auburn lean the last I heard but the Tigers have a lot of competition.
• DT - Jeffrey Whitaker - Auburn in awesome shape for this stud defensive tackle. I expect him to sign with the Tigers.
• DE - Corey Lemonier - Auburn has put themselves in good position with Corey. Right now it is a toss up between Florida, Florida State, Auburn, Tennessee, LSU and Miami.
• LB - Vic Beasley - Toss up between Auburn and his current commitment of Clemson. Says he will talk to his parents about visiting Auburn and if he makes it down, we could steal him.
• LB - C.J. Mosley - I would say there is a 85% chance Mosley ends up wearing crimson next season.
• DB - Ryan White - White will take an unofficial visit to Auburn next weekend and could commit then. He is probably Auburn's top uncommitted defensive back target. White also plans an official visit for the last weekend in January.
• DB - Rashad Knight - Visited Auburn this weekend but Auburn wants White over Knight. With Davis committing this weekend and Auburn in good shape with White, there may be no room for Knight.
• DB - Ahmad Dixon - It is questionable right now if Auburn would take Dixon right now. Dixon also has grade issues.
• DB - Bradley Roby - Auburn could make a move for this Vanderbilt commitment if he visits. He currently plans to take an official to the Plains on January 8th.

Quick Recruiting Notes

• Auburn appears set to pick up a new commitment, according to Auburn Undercover. Roszell Gayden says he will make his decision on Monday or Tuesday. Ken Adams could also be close.
• Auburn has many official visitors this weekend including Ken Adams, Chris Davis, Rashad Knight, Demetruce McNeal, Shaun Kitchens, Jessel Curry, Chad Slade and Antonio Goodwin.
• Curry will be coming in on Saturday following his state championship game on Friday.
• The coaches have been on the road, actively recruiting. The staff has made stops to see James Stone, Antonio Goodwin, Steven Clark, Roszell Gayden, Jonathan Mincy, Byran Jones, Michael Dyer/Dakota Mosley and Rashad Knight.
• Look for a name to re-appear from last season. Four star offensive lineman Johnnie Farms chose UNC over Auburn last season but failed to qualify and ended up at Hargrave Military. Farms has since parted ways with the Tar Heels and recently mentioned he is looking toward the SEC. Auburn should be a major player for this star lineman.

Former Signee To Tennessee

Former Auburn signee Ken Adams has committed to Tennessee according to VolQuest.com. Adams, a defensive end and tight end at Copiah-Lincoln Community College signed with Auburn out of high school in 2008 but failed to qualify. He was not a top priority for the new staff.

Visiting Today

The following are for sure visiting:

• Dakota Mosley
• Alex Hill
• Armand Williams
• Ken Adams

The following are possibilities:

• Vic Beasley
• Catlin Alford
• Dan Koenig

More Reaction To The Weekend

• Damien Jacobs says that after the visit, if he picked up an offer from Auburn, he would put the Tigers second on his list behind Florida State.
• Jawara White was quoted as saying, when asked about a timeframe of making a decision, "I may have already made (my decision).  You never know."
• Commitment Shaun Kitchens says he has become friends with Marcus Lattimore and says that he is trying to recruit Lattimore to join the recruiting class.
• Jamie Newberg, one of the top writers for the Auburn staff, was interviewed on 680 The Fan in Atlanta and said he believes that Marcus Lattimore will be an Auburn Tiger and called Big Cat Weekend an overall success.
• JUCO defensive end Ken Adams said that Auburn is still at the top of his list. He originally signed with the Tigers out of high school.
• Jeremy Richardson apparently had a great trip this weekend.  At the beginning of recruiting, he was named as one of, if not THE number one target for the coaches this year.
• Also, a lot is being made about this if you have not seen it yet.  Basically it is Lache Seastrunk saying into a camera that Nick Saban is "sh*t out of luck" with recruiting LaDarius Owens, followed by "What's up Nick Saban? Wait 'til we get here".
• More to come later today most likely regarding Big Cat Reactions.

A Few Notes

• Lache Seastrunk stayed in Auburn through this morning with his mother before catching a flight back to Texas.
• Jawara White visited this weekend. He says he is still wide open in recruiting but stays in contact with Zac Etheridge throughout the process. White and Etheridge attended the same high school.
• 2008 signee Ken Adams was in Auburn this weekend. He says he still plans on signing with Auburn.
• Early weather reports for A-Day are projecting partly cloudy, high of 71, low of 55 with a 20% chance of precipitation. Scattered thunderstorms are expected to roll into Auburn on Sunday.
• Former Auburn baseball coach Paul Nix has passed away at the age of 76. Nix coached Auburn for 22 (1963-1984) seasons to 515 wins. He was named SEC Coach of the Year five times. Visitation will be Wednesday between 6 and 8 pm at Jeffcoat Trant Funeral Home in Opelika. Service will be held Thursday at 2 pm at Auburn United Methodist Church. Instead of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Bethany House.

Thursday Notes

• I know for a fact two signees out of the 2008 recruiting class will visit this week/weekend. Ken Adams and Reggie Hunt are both in attendance. I believe they arrived for Thursday's practice. Hunt is at Copiah-Lincoln Community College and I'm not sure where Adams currently is.
• The biggest news out of practice is that Harry Adams has moved back from cornerback to wide receiver, hoping to exploit his speed.
• Montez Billings is not likely to return to playing this spring due to injury.
• Eric Smith is day to day after injurying his leg Tuesday. Possibly a bruised bone?
• Onterio McCalebb is also day to day with a hamstring injury.
• Practice was 90 minutes on Thursday with a scrimmage coming again Saturday at Jordan Hare Stadium at 10:30 am which is closed.
• Kodi and Neil Caudle still were splitting reps with the ones. Sorry you had to read that possibly expecting something different.
• Second string safety Mike Slade reportedly had "nearly" 10 tackles in Saturday's scrimmage. Zac Etheridge and Mike McNeil remain starters at the safeties.
• The only running backs not banged up right now that are considered to receive playing time are Ben Tate, walk-on Justin Albert and Mario Fannin, although Fannin is taking a lot of reps running and catching the ball.
• Jay Boulware says he no longer considers Chandler Brooks the number one kicker but I am about to stop writing about this because it changes every day.
• Boulware did say we will run a "spread punt" with six or seven gunners and a small group of blockers to protect the punter.
• 2010 linebacker prospect Tyrone Cornileus made his first visit to the Plains on Thursday. He was "very impressed". He currently holds offers from Auburn, Boston College, Ole Miss, Miami, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky. Miami is believed to lead right now.
• More to come if I find more.