Auburn 'guaranteed' OV from Dice

Hugh Freeze has high expectations for his 2025 class.

He hosted plenty of recruits over the weekend for a Junior Day, with four-star offensive lineman Tavaris Dice being one of them. It gave the head coach an opportunity for a more personal pitch to guys like Dice for what he's trying to build on the Plains.

"This visit, it went really good," Dice said. "Got down here early and met up with the coaches. I met up with Coach Hugh Freeze and I had a really good talk about what this program could be, what he’s trying to get it to. What he’s building here in the ‘24 and ‘25 class, so that was good."

Dice, 6-foot-4 and 279 pounds, is out of Langston Hughes, where the Tigers are working on both him and his teammate, Dontrell Glover. Both made the trip Saturday, where they got to spend more time with offensive line coach Jake Thornton.

"He let me know that he really wants me here and I can really make the ‘25 class the No. 1 class in the country," Dice said of Thornton. "It was a good talk. And then watching the basketball game too, it ended up being a really good day for me."

While Dice is recruited as a football player, seeing the energy of a basketball game was a testament to Dice for what Auburn is doing in each program.

"That’s really big for me," Dice said. "Intense game, they’ve got a good basketball program. I really feel like Auburn is doing everything right with every sport they have here."

That's all fine and dandy, but when it comes down to it, Dice knows what he's looking for in a program.

"Family, development and somewhere I know I can stay for the next four years," Dice said. "I don’t want to have to keep moving around. See what place fits me, that’s really the biggest thing for me."

Auburn certainly has his attention, as the Tigers are "guaranteed" to get an official visit from him. Other schools in his top eight include USC, LSU, Missouri, Georgia, NC State, Miami and Florida.

What is it about Auburn that sticks out to him and continues to drive him to visit?

"The atmosphere, the environment and the culture," Dice said. "They always treat — whoever I bring with me, it doesn’t matter — they always treat me and them right. That’s a big thing for me. And it’s fun being down here."

Dice plans to return to Auburn soon for a spring visit.