2024 3-star DL Malik Blocton announces top 12 schools

Pike Road (Ala.) three-star defensive lineman Malik Blocton revealed his top 12 schools on Saturday. The list includes Alabama State, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Jackson State, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Blocton is the No. 598 overall prospect and No. 49 defensive lineman in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 27 player in Alabama.

Where’s Home? 🤷🏾‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/Gk1MenhvW4

— THE REAPER⚰️ (@MalikBlocton) November 12, 2022

According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, Auburn has a commanding lead for Blocton’s commitment at 69%. He has made five unofficial visits to the Tigers since July, including four on consecutive weekends in September.

RPM was released to the public in December. The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college. 

It factors in machine learning, social sentiment, visits and historical trends. However, expert predictions are still a big piece of the RPM equation.

Blocton spoke with Keith Niebuhr of Auburn Live on Sept. 11 following one of his trips to see the Tigers. One of the things he talked about was his interactions with Auburn’s coaches.

“I talked to (defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh) and (Director of recruiting Darren Uscher) — also (Director of High School Relations Brendt Bedsole),” Blocton told Niebuhr. “With Coach Brumbaugh, it was nothing about football. He was just asking about how I was doing and stuff like that. I feel like he’s a great coach. He’s a real cool guy.”

The Alabama native has also expressed interest in the Gators. He spoke about his Florida offer with Corey Bender of Gators Online.

“The environment, the stadium, and I feel like it’s a family down there. It’s a place you want to be at,” Blocton told Bender on Sept. 23. “I’ve been a Florida fan since I was little. I was ecstatic (when I got the offer). I couldn’t really control my emotions.”

In addition to Auburn, two other schools have received visits from Blocton. He was at Clemson on Oct. 22 for the Tigers’ game against Syracuse and Alabama on Sept. 24 for the Crimson Tide’s game against Vanderbilt.