Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Signing Day Surprises

National Signing Day is in full swing. As of right now (1:36 p.m. Central), Auburn has received National Letters of Intent from 28 players. AU will probably sign close to 30, knowing that a few won’t qualify. Here’s who’s in so far:

WR Darvin Adams
WR Harry Adams
TE Ken Adams
CB T’Sharvan Bell
LB Deshaun Barnes
DB Drew Cole
DS Dax Dellenbach
QB DeRon Furr
DE Raven Gray
DE Cameron Henderson
CB D’Antoine Hood
RB Reggie Hunt
DB Marcus Jemison
OL Jermaine Johnson
DB Neiko Lipscomb
DE Derrick Lykes
RB Onterrio McCalebb
WR Philip Pierre-Louis
LB Spencer Pybus
DE Jomarcus Savage
RB Eric Smith
TE Vance Smith
DL Freddie Smooth
DB Christian Thompson
QB Chris Todd
QB Barrett Trotter
DE Andre Wadley
WR Derek Winter

Barnes, Furr, Gray and Todd are already enrolled. Gray and Todd signed with AU out of junior colleges in December. Furr graduated early from Columbus, Ga.’s Carver High to enroll at Auburn for the spring. Barnes graduated from high school last year, signed with Tennessee, didn’t qualify, sat out a year and signed with AU, where he enrolled in time for this semester.

Meanwhile, Auburn is currently 0-for-4 on the five uncommitted prospects it was hoping to hear from today: WR Jarmon Fortson, as expected, chose FSU; DE Robert Quinn picked North Carolina over Alabama and Auburn; DB George Baker chose South Florida and prep-school star RB Enrique Davis signed with Ole Miss.

Davis is the biggest blow there; he signed with AU last year before going to Hargrave Military Academy for prep school, and most prep-school guys don’t switch schools the next year. Plus, Davis committed to Auburn during the ‘07 season before de-committing in January because of doubts about Tony Franklin’s offense. He’s a five-star prospect, according to Rivals, and he was Auburn’s top offensive target this year. Make no mistake: This is a big, big loss for AU, even with the tailback depth the Tigers already have. And having to play against him every year doesn’t exactly make it better, I’m guessing.

Auburn is still waiting to hear from Gadsden LB Jerrell Harris (Auburn and Bama). By all accounts, Harris is expected to choose the Tide.

If Auburn misses out on all five—combined with the high-profile de-commitments of the last few weeks and the repeated head-to-head recruiting losses in-state to Alabama—this is a dark, dark day for the Tigers.

Still, the current class has some playmakers, though quite a few of them reportedly have work to do to qualify academically. Auburn fans should definitely be excited about guys like WR Darvin Adams, RBs Eric Smith and Reggie Hunt, QBs Chris Todd, Barrett Trotter and DeRon Furr and DEs Raven Gray and Jomarcus Savage, all of whom are either already in school or likely to qualify academically. I’m especially impressed by Smith and Hunt, who look like big-time players on the game film available on the Rivals and Scout.com networks.

Guys like Ken Adams, Onterrio McCalebb and Brandon Smith, meanwhile, will probably have to start their college careers in junior college, but they’ve got talent too. Keep your eyes peeled for those guys come Signing Day 2012.

WR Damion Allen, who’s already enrolled in junior college, hasn’t been officially announced as a signee. Neither has Mobile ATH Brandon Smith, though he’s been a longtime commitment. There’s a chance Auburn won’t officially announce either player as a signee.

Barring a totally unexpected post-Signing Day surprise, this could be it for Auburn’s ‘08 recruiting class.