Auburn offer 'shocker' for four-star athlete

Braylon Burnside figured Auburn would offer at some point.

What he didn't expect was for it to be on the first day coming off the dead period.

"I thought it was coming when we have spring ball coming around," Burnside said. "It definitely was a shocker today for the call."

The Rivals 250 recruit is one of the best players in Mississippi and is rated as the No. 11 athlete in the 2024 rankings. He's already picked up nine offers since the start of 2023, several of which have come within the past week.

Auburn's wide receivers coach Marcus Davis was the one who made the call to Burnside Wednesday. Davis is playing a massive role in Burnside's interest in Auburn, and if Burnside picks the Tigers, Davis could be the deciding factor.

"I can see myself as probably going to Auburn, if I do make my decision, cause [Davis] being a young guy, the energy of him," Burnside said. "He likes to play around, joke and laugh."

Burnside's already picked out a date for a visit this spring, planning to visit April 8 for the Tigers' spring game.

He's also hoping to visit West Virginia, Arkansas, Tulane, LSU and Alabama, along with many more this spring.

Burnside's already in the middle of a rival SEC school's stomping grounds. He's from Starkville, where Mississippi State is located, but that doesn't mean the Bulldogs are automatically a favorite to land him.

In fact, it could mean the contrary.

"I definitely wanna get out of the state if I do make my decision," Burnside said. "It’s gonna be hard for the Mississippi teams to recruit me, because it’s Mississippi and I’m already from here. They probably will have the hardest job of making me stay home, but as of right now, I am trying to get out of state."

There's still plenty of time left on the table for the 6-foot-1 athlete, who doesn't plan on narrowing down schools until August.