Entering the weekend, Alabama was the leader for Nolan Wilson.

Auburn closed the gap with its official visit.

The four-star defensive end out of Picayune, Miss., was on campus for his Auburn official visit over the weekend, as the Tigers have evened things up with their in-state rival.

"I say they're equal," Wilson said. "I think they're the contenders. I'm really starting to get down to the gritty...When I make my decision, it's going to be hard. I just know it is. I've been thinking about it a lot."

Upon arriving in Auburn, one of the first things Wilson did was meet with head coach Hugh Freeze.

"It shows me how they feel about me," Wilson said. "I'm a priority to them. I can tell that I am. He's going to be real with you. He was talking to me about how the revenue share thing is. Why he's into it. He said it's going to change college football for the better. He said it's going to make it better."

Wilson, who's listed as a defensive end, spent time over the weekend with both edge linebackers coach Roc Bellantoni and defensive tackles coach Vontrell King-Williams.

"They've got real love," Wilson said. "You can tell they're not fake. When they talk to me, they keep it real. They show how they're going to be able to treat me. I also get an inside view with my old teammate. He tells me, they really like that here. They aren't going to change when we get here."

The former teammate is Jamonta Waller, who signed with Auburn in the 2024 class. Having someone he's familiar with already on the team is big for Auburn.

"It's one of the main things that keeps my decision weighing," Wilson said. "That dude, I was supposed to win the ring with him in high school. Now I have another chance if I come here to win another ring with him. We were hanging out two days ago. We were just talking about that stuff. Just having him here, it'll make it easier to come here. Now somebody I already know, somebody I already messed with. It'll be easier to get into the scheme and learn Auburn and be able to move around better."

Alabama hosted Wilson last weekend and he'll take official visits to Ole Miss and Miami before the dead period hits. He's hoping to have a decision within two weeks of concluding his official visits. What's the thing that sticks out to him about Auburn?

"I think there's a few schools that just show love, pure love," Wilson said. "This school, you can tell around it, it's just love…The community really wants to see them succeed. It makes it really stand out."