MOBILE, Ala. — Notre Dame won out early before Auburn and Ole Miss battled it out in the end.
The recruitment of Deuce Knight was national news over the last six months or so, with plenty of eyeballs still on the Lucedale (Miss.) George County quarterback on December 4 when it was time to make things official with the Tigers despite the continued push from the Rebels.
“It was crazy, a lot of back and forth calls,” Knight told Rivals ahead of the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game. “Coach (Lane) Kiffin called my dad the morning of signing day and having to tell him I already did this, I’m going there (Auburn). It was good. I told him myself I was going to Auburn, I felt more comfortable over there. You’ve got to be a man about it.”
The recruiting battle included visits to each campus for the final two games of the 2024 college football season, first to AU for the upset win over Texas A&M and then to Oxford for the Egg Bowl win.
Knight’s decision began to settle with those trips.
“It was crazy at Auburn, we stormed the field,” he said. “The atmosphere was electric at Jordan-Hare, it was crazy.
“I always love it up there but that time I was like, ‘I’m done with this. I’m coming here for sure.'”
Knight would honor the pursuit of Kiffin and take the final trip to Ole Miss the following week. All the while Hugh Freeze and AU were well aware of the trips, though the head Tiger told Knight he wasn’t worried about the flip chatter.
“He said he always knew I was going to be a Tiger,” Knight said. “I’ve known him forever, my family has known him and my head coach has known him since college. He was the first head coach to come see me.
“He wasn’t really worried that much. I think it was always Auburn but you would be a dummy not to hear coach Kiffin out. I heard him out, but ultimately the best place was Auburn. It was good to put pen to paper.”
The AU quarterback room is currently down to two players for 2025, with Knight set to enroll next month and 2024 signee Walker White on the roster. All else have departed, prompting the pursuit of multiple passers in the transfer portal.
Expanding the QB room is not a detractor for the incoming freshman.
“Coach Freeze told me he was for sure getting someone in the portal,” Knight said. “They told me straight up that there has to be four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.
“I’m just gonna go in and work as hard as I can and get better every day. Competition brings out the best in your, iron sharpens iron.”
In the meantime, Knight will lead Mississippi against Alabama on Saturday before playing in the Navy All-American Bowl in January. He is doing any recruiting he can in the process, including what he reports as a positive conversation with Georgia Tech transfer wideout Eric Singleton.
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2024-12-12 18:05:19
