An Auburn football recruit asked to come to Tiger Talk. Why Hugh Freeze had to say no
AUBURN — Early Signing Day is rapidly approaching, which means Auburn football recruiting has kicked into high gear.
The Tigers currently have the No. 16 haul in the Class of 2024, according to the 247Sports Composite. It's a group of players that includes 18 commitments, with the highlights being a couple of five-star prospects in wide receiver Perry Thompson and linebacker Demarcus Riddick.
Auburn recently picked up a big recruiting win by flipping four-star edge defender Jamonta Waller, who is rated as a top-75 recruit, away from Florida. Coach Hugh Freeze hopes to get a few more victories on the recruiting trail before its all said and done.
But the Auburn coach said he had to turn down a prospect's request Monday.
"There was one big recruit on campus when I left today, and he wanted to come here," Freeze said Monday on Tiger Talk, which is recorded weekly out of Baumhower's Victory Grille. "I said, 'You can't. It's not within the mile.'"
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Freeze's house, however, is within a mile from campus. That means recruits taking official visits to Auburn can make their way to Freeze's home as part of their visit, according to Freeze.
"I've entertained quite a few there," Freeze said.
Auburn (6-5, 3-4 SEC) will host Alabama (10-1, 7-0) in Jordan-Hare Stadium for the 88th edition of the Iron Bowl on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT, CBS). It'll be the last opportunity for the Tigers to host 2024 visitors on a game day.
"We're going to have so many there," Freeze said. "I think every one of our commits are going to be there, plus our other top targets that we're on. Most of them will be there, also. We've got, I think, six official visits, so it's going to be a huge weekend for that. ...
"I was talking to Keionte Scott today and he said one the reasons he chose Auburn was because his official visit was on the Iron Bowl and he saw the atmosphere of the Auburn family and the Auburn people, and he knew that's where he wanted to go. We hope that same feeling that he got, we're hoping that for a few others that will be here."
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Why Auburn football's Hugh Freeze couldn't fulfill a recruit's request
