AUBURN, Ala. — It’s five days until recruits officially sign letters of intent on national signing day, but from Auburn’s perspective there is plenty of drama that remains in the final week.
The Tigers await decisions from their four top remaining targets, who will make their intentions known starting Monday.
In each instance, Auburn is competing against the recruit’s home-state school.
The lead-up to Wednesday is as follows:
— Monday: Defensive tackle Jeffrey Whitaker (Warner Robins, Ga.) will be the first to announce. The four-star recruit visited Georgia last week after taking a trip to Auburn the previous weekend.
Miami has made a late push, with coach Randy Shannon making an in-home visit and Whitaker scheduled to visit the school this weekend, according to Rivals.
— Tuesday: Five-star running back Marcus Lattimore (Duncan, S.C.), who was named to the Parade All-American team, will make his much-anticipated decision known.
He entertained coaches this week from both of his final schools, South Carolina and Auburn. The Gamecocks do not have a running back in their 2010 class. The Tigers already have five-star Michael Dyer out of Little Rock, Ark.
— Wednesday: Two prized four-star recruits — defensive tackle Bryan Jones (Junction City, Ark.) and defensive end Corey Lemonier (Hialeah, Fla.) — will choose their schools on signing day. Jones visited Arkansas last weekend, a week after a trip to the Plains. Lemonier is down to choosing between Auburn and Florida State.
Besides its few remaining targets, Auburn still is waiting out visits to other schools from several of its high-profile commitments for 2010.
Offensive lineman Shon Coleman (Olive Branch, Miss.) has told recruiting Web sites that he is “100 percent” committed to Auburn, but he recently has taken several official visits, with one more on the schedule.
Coleman, who is rated as a five-star recruit by Rivals and a four-star by Scout, visited Arkansas last week and made a mid-week visit to Alabama this week. He still has a trip to Miami for an official visit scheduled this weekend.
Wide receiver Trovon Reed (Thibodaux, La.) made a late visit to home-state school LSU last weekend. The four-star recruit committed to Auburn in November.
Athlete D.J. Howard (Lincoln, Ala.), who committed in July, took an official visit to Clemson last week. The three-star recruit has expressed his desire to play running back. He had in-home visits from Auburn and Clemson coaches this week, according to Rivals.
As for official visitors, it will be another quiet weekend on the Plains. The only uncommitted recruit, according to Rivals, who planned to take an official visit is four-star offensive lineman James Stone of Nashville, Tenn.
The 6-foot-5, 297-pound Stone, who is ranked by Rivals as the No. 7 offensive guard in the country, is down to three schools, having visited Alabama on Jan. 15 and Tennessee last weekend.
Auburn has 23 commitments for 2010, not including five players who enrolled in January. The Tigers can sign as many as 28 Wednesday and enroll as many as 25 next summer.
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