5-star safety high on Auburn football ahead of commitment date

It’s safe to say that Big Cat Weekend was a big deal for the Auburn football program. On Saturday, two of the Tigers’ most wanted declared their commitment to the program. 4-star wide receiver Malcolm Simmons kicked things off earlier in the day, and then 5-star wide receiver Perry Thompson flipped from Alabama later.

And, of course, this comes on the heels of 5-star linebacker Demarcus Riddick’s decision to flip from Georgia. Over the summer, head coach Hugh Freeze has shown that he’s on a mission at Auburn and that the Tigers are once again recruiting competition for the Tide and the Dawgs.

However, there are still multiple high-value recruits that are on Hugh Freeze and Auburn football’s most wanted list, including 5-star safety KJ Bolden. Ranked as the #1 safety in the recruiting class of 2024 and the #3 prospect out of Georgia, Bolden is a big priority for the Tigers.

His commitment date is scheduled for this Saturday, August 5, and he will choose between Georgia, Ohio State, Florida State, and Auburn football, though many believe the battle has now come down to Auburn and FSU.

According to Bolden himself, his trip to the Plains for Big Cat Weekend had a massive impact on his commitment decision, so much so that he almost decided to commit to Auburn this weekend, per Auburn Rivals:

"“This visit right here, it definitely raised Auburn a lot,” Bolden said. “I had an interview probably like four days ago and I had a school in my head, but now that I came down here, that kind of changed a little bit. Now I gotta go back home and rethink it now. The way Coach Freeze gave me that great talk, he definitely almost had me commit today, but I just got to wait out my options.”"

Though you can’t count out Georgia in the recruitment of 5-star safety KJ Bolden, it’s clear that Auburn is a top contender for his commitment and he has some serious thinking to do ahead of his decision date.