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Auburn

Auburn jumps to No. 21 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings

Collin-headshotby:Collin Ginnan•07/04/23
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(Photo by Chris McDill/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is tackling his first full recruiting cycle in Auburn, and through the Fourth of July, he maintains a top-25 class.

Clay-Chalkville (Pinson, Ala.) linebacker D’Angelo Barber is the first to commit to the Auburn Tigers since mid-June. His commitment bumped the Tigers up three spots to No. 21 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. Auburn passed Miami, Texas Tech and Purdue.

Barber is a three-star prospect ranked No. 532 overall and No. 60 among linebackers in the 2024 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He is also the No. 27 player out of Alabama. The 6-foot-0, 221-pound linebacker officially visited Georgia Tech and Arkansas in June and is expected to visit Auburn this fall.

Hugh Freeze building his first complete class at Auburn

While Auburn’s class ranks No. 21 by class score, the Tigers currently have the 10th-ranked group by average rating per commit. Six of nine commits are four-star prospects, including top-150 Booker T. Washington (Tuskegee, Ala.) linebacker Joseph Phillips and top-150 Little Rock Christian Academy (Ark.) quarterback Walker White.

“Everybody there is really cool and it’s close to home,” Phillips told On3 in June. “And when I walk in the building, I feel like I’m wanted. It’s just a different feeling versus when I go to other schools. I know I can make my own name for myself, whereas some of these other schools have already done it. I don’t mind walking in and building my own thing; I don’t want to be just an average college football player that went to Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee or those type of schools. At Auburn, I can build my own legacy.”

Phillips also touched on the Tigers’ 2024 class that continues to rise in the rankings.

“When Coach Freeze got there it really just shot through the roof,” Phillips said. “We have an opportunity. And it’s just going to take this 2024 class to get some good recruits on defense and offense to really solidify it. I don’t expect it to be some quick turnaround. But I think in the next few years, we’re going to be competing for a national championship.”