Hugh Freeze ‘excited about the class’ after first day of Early Signing Day ends

Head coach Hugh Freeze was excited about his upcoming class on Wednesday,

the first day of the 2024 Early Signing Day.

 

Twenty-four players—nine from high school, three from the transfer site, and

two from JUCO—have formally committed to the Tigers by signing a contract.

 

“Obviously excited about this class,” Freeze remarked. “I’m excited about the effort, and I genuinely think that the

young men we’ve signed and the families they come from are wonderful kids. I

love them.” I adore each of them separately. I believe they are sincere.

They seem to enjoy what they do, and I believe that they want to support a

program in its efforts to become nationally recognized as one of the best

eager to start working with many of them once they arrive.

Auburn’s recruiting class of Wednesday included a sizable number of high school

graduates, an intentional strategy put in place by Freeze and his staff. Auburn

signed 20 players via the transfer portal during the previous offseason.

The Tigers currently only have three commitments from the portal, but they will undoubtedly add more following

Wednesday. Freeze appears to be taking a new approach this season by not

appearing to be unduly dependent on the gateway.

 

“We concentrated on the senior class,” Freeze stated. I wanted them to feel like they were the top priority, but I’m not

sure if that was the best course of action. Since we were just focused on ensuring

that our high school class felt like they were the emphasis of us building the

actual rebuild here at Auburn, we did not chase after and concentrate on

everyone who could play, and there were many who could.

The two stars of Auburn’s 2024 class, Cam Coleman from Central High School

and Perry Thompson from Foley High School, led that group of high school

pledges. According to 247Sports, Coleman, a former Texas A&M commit,

and Thompson, a former Alabama commit, are both considered 5-star wide

receivers and the two best prospects in the Tigers’ 2024 class.

This week, Freeze made it known that he was still committed to 2023 starting

quarterback Payton Thorne, saying, “I think our quarterback room is going to

be fine next year if we get the right pieces around him and Holden

(Geriner).” Thorne’s work might get much easier in 2024 with two of the best-

rated recruits in Auburn history lining up routes for him the next season.

 

All four of Auburn’s committed wide receivers are remaining in-state as the

university also signed Bryce Cain from Baker High School and Malcolm

Simmons from Benjamin Russell High School on Wednesday. These two players

are ranked among the top 200 wide receivers in the country.

“And then you go to where we needed to get some difference makers at the receiver position, it was no secret,” Freeze remarked. And to place Perry and Cam in the top 10 nationally, followed by two more that I believe are sleepers… They’ll need to learn how to swim quickly now that they’re at the deep end of the pool, but I believe they can do it.

 

Freeze likened this class of incoming receivers to the class he recruited in 2013 when still at Ole Miss, when he signed

five-star receiver Laquon Treadwell, who graduated as the program’s career catch

leader and ranked seventh in receiving yards.

Although Auburn’s primary need was clearly wide receivers, Freeze was

equally positive about the linebacker class he and linebacker coach Josh Aldridge signed.

 

Three linebackers, including Demarcus Riddick, who is ranked #150 in the

247Sports rankings, lead the class. He is ranked just ahead of Jamonta Waller and Joseph Phillips.

 

At the time of their commitments, all three of those signings were big

triumphs for Freeze in terms of recruitment. In July, Riddick, who is

ranked No. 55 in the nation, switched his commitment from Georgia to Auburn. In

November, Waller switched from SEC rival Florida to Auburn, and Freeze

defeated Georgia thanks to Phillips’ summertime dedication to Auburn.

Another Auburn linebacker commitment is D’Angelo Barber, who recently won an Alabama state title with Clay-Chalkville and tallied 152 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles in his senior season.

 

“I don’t know how they rank that or anything but if you take Waller and

Phillips and Riddick and Barber, I would venture to guess that we rival most any

linebacker class that was signed from the high school ranks,” Freeze said.

 

With Auburn flipping players who were previously committed to Georgia, Alabama, Texas A&M and Florida, it’s fair

to wonder how the Tigers, who are 17-20 over the past three seasons, have had so

much success this cycle and currently have a top 10 recruiting class.

 

According to Freeze, Auburn is an easy place to advertise, and preaching to

recruits that they can be responsible for bringing Auburn back to the top of the

college football world is his best way he can recruit.

 

“Yes, you can go to the elite right now, and you can help them sustain and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Freeze

said. “You can also choose that you want to be a trailblazer and do something

different and join together with a group of guys and return a program that’s

proven it can be there and return it back to that, and that is the message.”

Auburn still has time to bolster its stellar class: the team is targeting three-star offensive tackle Favour Edwin and four-star offensive lineman Coen Echols, both of whom might sign between Wednesday and Friday.