One of the earliest recruiting wins that Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze scored was the commitment of 2024 4-star quarterback Walker White. The young prospect committed early, and chose Auburn over Clemson, shocking a lot of people.
Since the moment he committed, White has been all in on Auburn football. The quarterback has proven himself as a recruit-turned-recruiter, tweeting out at other prospects and supporting his future team at big recruiting events on the Plains.
Over the weekend, White and his family made the trip to the Plains from Arkansas to witness Auburn play host to the #1 Georgia Bulldogs. It was White’s official visit, and it was also the first time he experienced game day at Jordan-Hare Stadium. He got to see Tiger Walk and was blown away by fans’ support for the team, and then watched the unranked Tigers go toe-to-toe with the top team in the country.
A win or loss this weekend obviously does not factor into White’s recruitment at all as his decision is made, but he hopes the close competition impacts many of the other recruits who were at the game, per Auburn Rivals:
"“It’s hard not to almost open your eyes,” White said. “Auburn wasn’t great last year and now they’re competing with the No. 1 team in the country, only losing by one touchdown. If their (other recruits) thought process is ‘Oh, I want to go to place that’s going to win,’ you can’t count Auburn out of that category.”"
It all goes back to the fact that this year is undoubtedly a rebuild for the Tigers. When you have a new coach come in and recruiting has been a struggle for so many years, success is not found overnight.
But it’s clear to Walker White and many other recruits that Auburn is coming, and in the words of White, it’s all about buying in.