Auburn football: Tigers pursuing star wideout out of Pennsylvania

The Tigers have extended an offer to one of the best junior wideouts in the country.

Just before the Auburn Tigers landed a huge commitment from 2021 wide receiver Malcolm Johnson Jr. (who later announced he would reclassify to the 2020 class and enroll early at Auburn), the Tigers’ staff was busy extending a scholarship offer to another elite high school wideout.

On Friday, Gus Malzahn and his staff offered 5-foot-11, 170-pound pass-catcher Anthony Ivey. A native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Ivey is a bit outside of Auburn’s usual recruiting sphere but that hasn’t stopped the Tigers and several other top programs from offering the rising junior.

https://twitter.com/AnthonyIvey16/status/1294065158705250304

And while Ivey has been receiving heavy interest from schools such as Penn State, West Virginia and Arizona State, Auburn is the first and only SEC school to offer him. However, at the moment, the nearby Nittany Lions are seen as the favorites to land his talents.

Interestingly, Auburn is set to face off against Penn State in a home-and-home series in 2021 (at Penn State) and 2022 (at Auburn.)

Ivey is a bit undersized at just 170 pounds but he still has two years to grow into his frame and even at his current weight, Ivey has dominated enough to be rated as a top 150 player in his class nationally and the No. 6 player in the state for 2022 per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

As a sophomore in 2019, Ivey helped the Manheim Township Blue Stallions to an 11-1 record as he was a very active part of the team’s offense as both a pass-catcher and return man. On the year, Ivey recorded 22 catches for 582 yards (26.5 yards per catch) and four touchdowns while also adding a return TD.

Per 247Sports national recruiting analyst Brian Dohn, Ivey has multi-year starter potential for a top-10 college football team and second to third-round pick potential at the pro level.

"“Frame is good but does not have elite size or length. Skilled and polished receiver at young age. Big play receiver averaged more than 25 yards per catch as sophomore. High level athlete. Can make plays down the field or in key possession situations,” Dohn said in his scouting report for Ivey. “Good route runner. Releases well off line and hard to jam. Ability to separate when ball is in air. Tracks ball well. Elusive after the catch. Good body control. Willing to catch ball in traffic. Has to add strength. Adding quickness and short-area burst will allow for slot ability.”"

With Johnson Jr. reclassifying to 2020, Auburn will now bring in five new receivers this season — four of whom where four-star recruits. At the same time, Auburn has no receiver commits for 2021 and only have two total commitments for the class of 2022 — none of whom are receivers.

Auburn’s 2022 class is currently just Georgia cornerback Andre Stewart and Florida DB Brian Dilworth. If Auburn were to land Ivey, he would currently be the highest-rated player for 2022.