Auburn football is not out of the running for OSU commit Jelani Thurman

The Auburn football program is coming off a big weekend on the Plains. After hosting a lengthy list of visitors on campus for Big Cat Weekend, the team’s premier summer recruiting event, the Tigers walked away with two commits to the recruiting class of 2024 and good momentum to push through the rest of the 2023 cycle.

One of the visitors on the Plains this past weekend was 4-star tight end Jelani Thurman, a top target of Auburn football who recently committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Thurman is listed as the #106 overall prospect and the #7 tight end in the recruiting class of 2023 as well as the #7 recruit out of the state of Georgia.

Although Thurman committed to Ohio State, his interest in Auburn has not gone away. The current Langston Hughes High athlete attended Big Cat with several of his teammates, one of whom is already committed to the Tigers (Terrance Love) and two who are strongly considering their future in orange and blue (Bo Hughley and Air Noland).

And just how strong is Thurman’s pledge to the Buckeyes? According to Auburn Undercover, Thurman says he will continue to watch the Tigers closely, especially during the upcoming season:

"“Me committing to Ohio State, it doesn’t mean I stopped looking at Auburn,” Thurman says. “I just felt like Ohio State was the move for me right now.”"

Thurman still has several months before he has to have a final decision, and he said it’s likely he comes to catch a game at Jordan-Hare with his teammates in the fall. He also said he’ll be paying close attention to how the Tigers use their tight ends, and if John Samuel Shenker’s performance last season is any indication, Thurman will have plenty to see in 2022.

With any luck, 4-star tight end Jelani Thurman will be just one of many flips the Tigers pull off during this recruiting cycle.