Auburn pleased with recruiting

AUBURN — Gene Chizik talked about his past month on the recruiting trail, which sent him from the faraway corners of Alabama to affluent Texas suburbs, as if he were on a college road trip with his best buddies.

“We had a ball on the road recruiting,” Chizik said Wednesday at his National Signing Day press conference. “We had a ball with the high school coaches. We had a ball with each other. We made it fun.”

About three full weeks of on-the-road, in-house recruiting, coupled with four weekends of on-campus visits, resulted in more than just a gay old time.

Chizik and his staff’s last-minute efforts to recruit players who may not have known what state Auburn was in a month ago produced a 28-man class spiced with a little bit of everything.

The majority of what Tommy Tuberville’s staff patched together remained intact. There are the highly touted players recruited solely by Chizik and his staff, mixed with a smattering of relative no-names.

And then there are the last-minute surprises.

Four-star wide receivers Emory Blake and DeAngelo Benton, both of whom were nowhere near the picture before Chizik’s arrival, changed directions very late in the recruiting process and ultimately chose to sign with Auburn.

“Nothing surprises me with this day, shoot,” Chizik said. “We got the ones we hoped to get and the ones that we didn’t get, best of luck to them. We’re going to focus on the ones we did get because we’re really proud of those guys.”

Blake’s and Benton’s additions to the class helped keep Auburn near the top of the national rankings. As of Wednesday afternoon, Auburn’s class was ranked 18th in the nation — eighth in the SEC — by Rivals.com and 15th — fifth in the SEC — by Scout.com.

“We don’t look at the number of stars and we don’t look at all the rankings and things of that nature,” Chizik said.

Auburn focused its attention on Blake and Benton months, and even years, later than the two tall wide receivers’ previous suitors.

Blake (Austin, Texas) received offers from a number of Big 12 schools before he was convinced by offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn to make a visit to Auburn in early January. He narrowed his choices down to Texas Tech, Colorado and Auburn before announcing his decision Wednesday at his high school.

Benton’s recruitment, meanwhile, was a bit more covert.

The Bastrop (La.) high school product signed with LSU in 2007 and 2008, but failed to qualify each time. He played one year at Chatman (Va.) Hargrave military school before taking 2008 off — after again not qualifying at LSU — to train in his hometown. Benton visited Auburn in January, but his presence was shrouded from the media, and he did not talk to reporters about the trip.

On Tuesday, he told a number of Louisiana media outlets that he planned to sign with LSU for a third time.

“When you’re talking about two very highly recruited guys,” Chizik said, “you really don’t know until the fax comes through and you know it’s done — it’s locked.”

Coincidentally, Blake’s and Benton’s respective National Letters of Intent arrived within 20 minutes of each other early Wednesday morning.

They were one of 26 that rolled in throughout the morning Wednesday. Junior-college transfer linebacker Eltoro Freeman (formerly of Alex City) and Chatman Hargrave running back Onterio McCalleb are both enrolled for winter quarter, will participate in spring football and are counted as being a part of the 2008 class.

Four-star tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen, a longtime commitment, sent his in right at 7 a.m., while Auburn’s three Williamson High (Mobile) products — wide receiver LaVoyd James, defensive end Terrance Coleman and defensive tackle Nick Fairley — capped the day with simultaneous faxes.

Sandwiched in between were players Chizik said had no ambitions of redshirting and were the “right guys” for Auburn.
“I didn’t sleep a lot last night — or any night before that,” Chizik said. “It was neat because it was a culmination. It’s your test. It’s your exam.

“There was adrenaline flowing.”

Chizik, on the first day coaches are allowed to talk about prospects under NCAA rules, did not necessarily jump at the opportunity.

“We want to open the book for them and give them some hope and give them the opportunity to know they have a chance to come in here and win a job,” Chizik said. “If they do that, that’s great. If they don’t and need to be redshirted, that’s fine too.”

Auburn’s class, which is split with 14 Alabamians and 14 out-of-staters, may not be entirely wrapped up yet.

Four-star running back David Oku (Wichita, Kansas) did not announce his decision and may wait until the end of February. Another late-arriver on Auburn’s radar, Oku, who de-committed from Tennessee earlier in the week, has narrowed his choices down to Auburn, Syracuse and Tennessee.

“We’re going to do our due diligence with everybody,” Chizik said. “And if that’s an opportunity that, again, we think is right for Auburn, we’ll go fight for it.

“Stay tuned. Same bat channel.”