Despite no flip yet, Auburn football and Deuce Knight will be connected until National Signing Day
On SI's Nick Shepkowski reports that top Auburn football 2025 QB target Deuce Knight won't be making his official decision for a while -- potentially delaying his decision until the very last moment at National Signing Day. Or later.
"Has the Deuce Knight Storm Passed for Notre Dame? To answer that question in as short of response as possible, very simply put: No," Shepkowski wrote. "Regardless of what Deuce Knight did this past week, does this coming week, or does a month from now, I only get the growing feeling this recruitment won't be over until pen is put to paper and his national letter of intent is officially signed and delivered."
As A to Z Sports' Ryan Roberts reported, there was a "massive break" in Knight's potential Plains commitment.
"According to a source, Auburn was pushing to get it done now," Roberts prefaced before saying. "This week was the target, and they didn't want it to play out much longer. They had made their pitch, and Knight seemed receptive to it for the most part.
"The latest circling around this situation is that Knight was not ready to make a decision this week. There was still high interest on his side, but he didn’t want to make a final decision now. Knight wanted to push that timeline back, and continue to evaluate his options with an August 30th date thrown out there. From the sounds of it, Auburn wasn’t happy. There is a question out there about whether Auburn will be patient, and whether they will consider other options. Does that mean that things could pick back up in the future if they are unable to gain traction with other options? It’s possible, but for now, there could be a massive break in the recruitment."
Notre Dame facing public perception battle with potential Deuce Knight to Auburn football
As is customary in college football, two fanbases that rarely interact were brought together on the recruiting battlefield with Notre Dame and Auburn's mutual interest in Knight.
Fighting Irish fans wondered how a "little brother" like AU could make inroads on Marcus Freeman's coaching staff. Tiger fans wished Notre Dame fans looked at the reality of the situation: Auburn has won a championship more recently than the Fighting Irish and may have surpassed them in national relevancy.
Notre Dame is on the defense here with Knight already committing to them, and it's a bad look that Knight has gone cold regarding recruiting reinforcements to South Bend on social media since late July.
A loss to Hugh Freeze and Co. for a coveted recruit could have Notre Dame's boosters wondering if they have the right administration to build the Fighting Irish back up into a powerhouse.