BBWWHHAAAAA! ----------------- 1/28/04 One week from today, Tommy Tuberville will stand at a podium in Auburn and tell the media about his newest recruiting class.
The words are almost predictable. Tuberville will talk about the necessity for Auburn to recruit in surrounding states. He'll imply, in all likelihood, that the Tigers didn't really want some of the prospects from Alabama who signed elsewhere. There will be a lot of truth in those words. There will also be plenty of spin. Dizzying spin. Auburn appears to be in the mix -- if not the favorite -- to land Alabaster linebackedefensive back Tony Bell, the No. 3 prospect on the Mobile Register's Elite 18 list of high school players in Alabama. Bell is scheduled to take his fifth and final official visit this weekend to Tennessee, and the Volunteers, LSU, Georgia and Ole Miss have been competing with Auburn for his college services. Should one of those four programs lure Bell away from the Plains, Auburn will have gone 0-for-18 on the Register's list. This isn't to say that the Mobile Register is the definitive source for recruiting, for it most certainly is not. However, 17 of the 18 prospects listed have committed to Division I programs. Alabama has commitments from 12, LSU has two, and Florida, Georgia Tech and Michigan have one each. Jetgate or no Jetgate, there are players on the list that Auburn wasn't going to get. For example, Briarwood Christian defensive back Simeon Castille was never going anywhere but Alabama. Auburn could have won the national championship and that wasn't going to change. Markus Manson and Travis Robinson live in Tuscaloosa, and while Manson is committed to Florida, kids growing up in the shadow of Bryant-Denny Stadium rarely head to the Plains to play college football. Other prospects on the list, such as Bob Jones defensive lineman David Brown and Hoover quarterback John Parker Wilson and defensive linemalinebacker Curtis Dawson, were never all that attractive to the Tigers' coaching staff. St. Paul's wide receiver Chevis Jackson appeared to be pretty set on LSU very early in the process and Daphne, home of LSU commitment Patrick White, hasn't exactly been fertile recruiting territory for Auburn in recent years. Still, 0-for-18 is 0-for-18 any way you cut it, and Auburn football can't thrive with results like that. Auburn is still in on a number of prominent out-of-state recruits. Columbia, S.C., offensive tackle Leon Hart, No. 11 on the Mobile Register's Super Southeast 120, appears to favor Auburn over South Carolina. Deerfield Beach, Fla., quarterback Brent Schaeffer, No. 63 on the same list, is still considering Auburn along with Tennessee and North Carolina State. Waynesboro, Miss., safety Steve Gandy (No. 83) appears destined for Ole Miss, but he indicated on Sunday that he might take one final trip to Auburn just to make sure. Brentwood, Tenn., fullbaclinebacker David Holbert (No. 87) will likely decide among Auburn, Florida and Tennessee. And East Point, Ga., athlete Ramarcus Brown (No. 99) is likely destined for Georgia, though Auburn is very much in the mix. That's the point, really. Auburn could easily go 0-for-5 on Hart, Schaeffer, Gandy, Holbert and Brown through no fault on the Tigers' end. In-state pressures and in-state loyalty could work against Auburn in all five recruiting battles. With improved facilities and growing emphasis being put on football throughout the South, getting coveted prospects out of other states will become more and more difficult in the coming years. If this class goes bust, Tuberville can't be blamed in full. Sure, unfulfilled expectations and unanswered ques tions about the future of the offensive coaching staff hurt, but Jetgate and the SACS scandal -- two issues out of his control -- were recruiting killers. Auburn should field a solid to really good football team in the fall, and an 8-3 or 9-2 season would soothe a lot of wounds. AU president William Walker has already resigned and the carnage probably won't stop there. Regardless, Tuberville -- or whoever is coaching the Tigers in the future -- must do better in Alabama or the recruiting struggles being experienced this January could become a trend instead of just a blip on the radar. (Neal McCready's column appears Wednesdays in the Mobile Register. Contact him at [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Copyright 2004 al.com. All Rights Reserved. --------------------------------------------------------- Drugs may lead nowhere, but at least it's the scenic route. --------------------------------------------------------- Drugs may lead nowhere, but at least it's the scenic route. ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
