Auburn football: Class of ’22 rises in SEC ranks ahead of early signing day

Though Auburn football once had the second-to-last ranked recruiting class in the SEC just last week, the Tigers’ recruiting class of 2022 has jumped four spots in conference standings ahead of national early signing day, rising above Florida, LSU, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State.

First-year head coach Bryan Harsin and his staff, including recruiting genius Trovon Reed, have been tearing it up on the recruiting trail leading up to the early signing period, and have managed to lock down four commits ahead of the 15th. In doing so, Auburn football’s class of 2022 moved up from #13 to #9, and the class is now ranked 21st nationally.

Two of this week’s commits–a pair of 4-star cornerbacks–now stand as the Tigers’ highest and second-highest ranked members of the 2022 class.

Austin Ausberry is one of the most impressive recruits that Harsin and the staff have managed to bring to the Plains, primarily because Ausberry is a Baton Rouge native, and it’s usually incredibly hard to pull Louisiana prospects away from LSU. The 4-star cornerback is ranked as the #22 CB and the #13 recruit out of Louisiana and chose Auburn over LSU and Florida.

The Tigers’ highest-ranked commit, JaDarian Rhym, was once committed to LSU before it was announced that Coach O would not be returning to the program. After a late push and many visits, Harsin was able to pull in the #21 cornerback in the nation and the #17 recruit out of the state of Georgia.

Also committing to the Tigers this week was the #1 JUCO player in the nation, Marquise Gilbert. Coming from Hutchinson Community College, the safety chose Auburn football over Florida State and Tennessee after loving his official visit to the Plains in October.

Finally, the Tigers added a 3-star defensive lineman to the roster from Monroe, Louisiana. Enyce Sledge chose Auburn over Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Indiana. With the early signing period officially kicking off tomorrow, the momentum is building for Auburn football’s recruiting.