Wiltfong Whiparound: Auburn and Tennessee pushing for Top-five classes, commitments and flips on the horizon

Flip watch. Upcoming decisions. A new On3 RPM.

We dive into it all in the latest edition of Wiltfong Whiparound.

Auburn pushing for a Top Five Class

Hugh Freeze and company quickly restored the Tigers as a powerhouse on the recruiting trail, finishing No. 8 in the On3 Industry Rankings a year ago. That was this staff’s first full cycle since arriving on The Plains.

Sights are set higher in 2025.

Currently sitting at No. 6, Auburn is on a hot streak , beating South Carolina and Florida State for the nation’s No. 4 edge Jared Smith , flipping the No. 3 recruit in the state in receiver/defensive back Derick Smith from Alabama and securing a pledge from the country’s No. 5 safety Anquon Fegans over LSU, Clemson and others.

You’ve seen the Freeze Warning graphics all over social media. This staff isn’t planning on slowing down.

The Tigers are trending for Deuce Knight

Lucedale (Miss.) George County On300 quarterback Deuce Knight has been a verbal to Notre Dame since Sept. 2023.

The intel continues to say it’s much more likely Knight ends up playing his college football in the SEC. Recent visits have been logged to Auburn and Ole Miss.

The Tigers are the one with the most momentum.

The nearly 6-foot-5, 208-pound Knight has become the signal-caller Freeze has locked in on after also courting USC commit Julian Lewis and Texas verbal KJ Lacey . All the time and energy has been poured into Knight.

Sources indicate Knight loves Auburn’s quarterback tradition, proximity to home, trajectory of the program and loves the recent receivers that have signed with the Tigers. Auburn brought in one of the nation’s best group of pass catchers in the 2024 cycle headlined by five-star Cam Coleman. He’s gotten to know those guys as well.

Could Knight be in the Auburn class soon? Sounds like he very much could.

The On3 Industry ranks Knight as the nation’s No. 7 quarterback and No. 38 prospect overall. After earning On3’s top overall performer honors at both the Elite 11 Finals and Overtime OT7 Finals, we slot him at No. 4 and No. 28 respectively.

Knight not the only big flip Auburn is in the mix for

For much of the summer I’ve thought it would be uphill for any program trying to flip five-star plus cornerback Na’eem Offord from Ohio State.

Well Auburn is navigating that terrain. I’m not sleeping on the Tigers after talking to a source late last week.

The 6-foot-1 1/4, 181-pound Offord took his official to campus in June and returned for Big Cat Weekend in July. Auburn is way in this one.

Committed to Ohio State since February, Offord ranks as the country’s No. 3 cornerback and No. 9 player overall.

Commit watch

We still have Auburn on commit watch for Winona (Miss.) Secondary School On300 linebacker Tyler Lockhart . The On3 Industry tabs him as the nation’s No. 15 linebacker and No. 142 prospect overall.

Tennessee also pushing for a top five class

I’m feeling a lot of confidence around Tennessee regarding Charlotte (NC) Providence Day School five-star plus offensive tackle David Sanders Jr.

Sanders was back in Knoxville the last weekend of July. The Vols got his last visit heading into an Aug. 17 decision date. That is set for 12:30 pm at his school.

The nearly 6-foot-7, 275-pound Sanders and his family love being around the Tennessee staff, players and recruits. In fact he’s been to every big recruiting weekend of the year for the Vols.

I like the way this one is lining up for Tennessee. But the competition is stiff. Nebraska also got a visit the last weekend he was on the trail, and Ohio State has shown Sanders everything he is looking for on and off the field. Georgia rounds out the four finalists.

Sanders and his family continue to work through their process. Tennessee has done everything they can to land Sanders’ pledge.

More on Sanders here.

Five-star headlines week of upcoming commitments

Sachse (Texas) High five-star receiver Kaliq Lockett will announce his college decision on Wednesday during a ceremony at his school. The finalists are Alabama, Florida State, LSU, Texas and Texas A&M . I still like the On3 RPM I logged for the Longhorns back in May. Texas has On3’s No. 15 ranked recruiting class but a lot of their top targets are coming off the board in August. Lockett is the first and could start a big run.

Nashville (Tenn.) Lipscomb Academy four-star safety CJ Jimcoily will declare his college plans on Thursday. It’s a decision coming down to LSU and Stanford. I joined On3 colleague Chad Simmons in predicting the Tigers. LSU has On3’s No. 3 ranked recruiting class. Jimcoily is the On3 Industry’s No. 36 ranked safety.

Atlanta (Ga.) Douglass On300 cornerback Jontae Gilbert will commit on Saturday. Georgia has the momentum following a late July visit. The Bulldogs have On3’s No. 4 ranked class. Gilbert ranks as the No. 16 cornerback and No. 135 player overall in the class.

Kilgore (Texas) High On300 cornerback Jayden Sanders will commit on Saturday as well. Michigan is the On3 RPM favorite but don’t sleep on Baylor. The Bears have been hot in-state this summer. Oklahoma State was the first offer and they round out the finalists. Michigan got the last visit for the BBQ at the Big House at the end of July.

Another on flip watch

Lee’s Summit (Mo.) North receiver Isaiah Mozee has been a verbal to Oregon since April but has been to the Huskers campus twice since then including the last weekend in July.

I like Nebraska here and think he could be in the class soon as Matt Rhule and his staff aim to sign a second-straight Top25 haul.

The On3 Industry ranks Mozee as the nation’s No. 29 receiver. His father Jamar recently took a position on the Nebraska staff coming over from UCF.

Five-star quick hitters

Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley Northwest five-star offensive tackle Andrew Babalola could come off the board this week. The intel still favors Stanford or Michigan but dialogue continues with Oklahoma, Auburn and Missouri as well. Babalola wants to decide no later than Aug. 12.

Speaking of Aug. 12, that’s the date set for Roswell (Ga.) Fellowship Christian On3 Industry offensive lineman Josh Petty . Ohio State has had some late momentum but Georgia Tech is battling to keep him home. Florida State was considered the favorite coming into summer but the Buckeyes and Yellow Jackets look more likely at this point. The Seminoles did get the last visit of the summer so we’ll see if FSU was able to bring it back.

It will be interesting to see how the recruitment of Carrollton (Ga.) High five-star quarterback Julian Lewis continues to play out. He’s a long-time verbal to USC. He visited Auburn a few times but the Tigers are all in on Knight right now. The Trojans had him top of the board but now are kicking tires on local Texas A&M commit Husan Longstreet as Lewis hasn’t been 100 percent loyal to them. Longstreet told On3 at the Elite 11 Finals during the summer he’s been talking with Luke Huard. His father confirmed a few weeks ago that dialogue continued to go on. Colorado is all in on Lewis. Indiana is too. Speaking of Longstreet he’s still been strong with the Aggies. We’ll see if that pulse ever changes.

Another LSU RPM Pick

Destrehan (La.) High speedy receiver Phillip Wright III backed off his commitment to Michigan over the weekend. He was recently in Baton Rouge for LSU’s Bayou Splash and the Tigers are trending on the On3 RPM including my prediction.

“Had a good time with the guys around campus and a lot of people that I know in my class from around the state,” Wright said.

The electric Wright sees LSU as a place he can really develop.

“That’s an awesome program for a receiver,” Wright said. “We had a good time overall. It’s a family thing with all the guys.”

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