Hello, my name is the WarBlogler. You may have heard of me. I used to write a lot on this blog, but laziness sunk in after the bowl game. I apologize. I post news and thoughts on Twitter constantly though. You should follow me.
Anyway, here are some interesting pieces of literature for your Auburn University football recruiting and basketball pleasure. Oh, and there are a few pieces about the dynasty, too.
- As you probably already know, Auburn picked up a nice 4-star commitment yesterday from Jeffrey Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker is the 5th-best defensive tackle in the nation according to those guys who stare at high school students a lot. He chose Auburn over Georgia and Miami. Good choice.
- Charles Goldberg posted some video of the press conference following Whitaker’s announcement. He kind of reminds me of Charles Barkley without the whole ‘Auburn hates black people’ thing. I’m talking about Whitaker, not Goldberg. Goldberg could think that about Auburn. I don’t know. I’ve never met him. Note: Listen to Whitaker, but watch the kid in his lap.
- Rivals.com has updated their recruiting rankings, which will obviously look completely different after tomorrow, but for now they have moved the “No Chance with Chizik” Tigers to #3, which is one spot ahead of the dynasty. I’m not sure if it was Whitaker’s commitment or Keenan Allen’s de-commitment from Alabama that is the cause of this, but it’s pretty dang funny if you ask me. Allen was Alabama’s #1 commitment this year. That’s a shame. A real shame.
- These rankings are obviously very subject to change, but an addition of another 5-star commitment would definitely solidify a top-4 spot for the Tigers. That addition could be Mr. Marcus Lattimore, the 5-star RB, who is announcing his intentions today at 5 pm CST at his church. He is choosing between Auburn and South Carolina as most of you know. The Gamecocks have the in-state advantage, but Auburn has the “why would you want to play at South Carolina” advantage.
- Carolina fans are doing their best to wish Lattimore into signing with the Gamecocks. Blogs and newspaper articles have been popping up all over the place for about two weeks about why he would be a good fit. Some have even been boasting that he is going to sign with Carolina without any knowledge of the situation at all. After Lattimore canceled his unofficial visit to Auburn a few weeks ago, they took that as hope and ran with it. They even have sites devoted to him. And here’s the Auburn contingent’s rebuttal.
Note: This would be a very big pickup for both teams, and I want him 100%, but if he doesn’t pick Auburn, it’s not all that bad. He poses no real threat to Auburn at South Carolina, and I think we’ll be just fine with Michael Dyer in the backfield. But two 5-star RB’s sharing time sure wouldn’t hurt. Whatever happens, it’s a big pickup if he comes, but if not, we’ll move on. And yes, this is called back-peddling, covering your bases, etc. - Here’s what Lattimore said about the situation recently.
Update: Jeffery Lee of AuburnSports.com is not going to South Carolina for the Lattimore announcement. There will be other members of Rivals reporting for Auburn though. Take it for what it’s worth.
Update #2: Lattimore has committed to South Carolina. - In other recruiting news, it looks as if 3-star Auburn RB commitment DJ Howard is rethinking things. He has visited Kentucky and Clemson the last few weekends. They would both use him as a running back for sure. With Dyer, and maybe Lattimore, his chances wouldn’t be as good. He only wants to play running back and might have a better chance elsewhere.
Update: Howard has de-committed from the Tigers…or they pulled his offer. There are differing stories. - Stewart Mandel of SI.com has a nice piece on Auburn’s recruiting class. He calls it surprising.
- Lastly on recruiting, Chris Low points out some “nobodies” that turned into “somebodies” on the defensive side of the ball, and some ESPN guys talk about recruiting.
- Ok, that’s enough recruiting for now. Here are thirteen predictions pertaining to SEC football next year.
- And here are some predicted standings for the SEC football season as well.
- This guy gives us the best players in the history for all SEC football teams. You’ll never guess who has picked for the Tigers.
- Antonio Coleman got invited to the NFL combine after a strong showing at the Senior Bowl. Leading the SEC in sacks wasn’t enough.
- Kevin Scarbinksy gives us his latest attempt at becoming Finebaum, Jr. in this article about how Auburn and Alabama can’t compare to UAB in terms of basketball. UAB lost to UTEP this past weekend in a “huge” conference tilt. Are the Blazers better than the Tigers and Tide this year? Probably a little. But when your tough conference games are against teams that would hurt Auburn and Alabama for putting them on their schedule, you don’t really have much clout.
- Goldberg gives the Roundball Tigers an inkling of love though.
- I hate this, but it sure is funny.
- And for the latest “And You Wonder Why We Make Fun of You”, I give you this Bammer, a story about a statue, and what will happen to that statue when Saban bolts in a few years.
