Auburn offer 'shook it up' for Javion Cohen
MARIETTA, Ga. — When Javion Cohen left Auburn earlier this calendar year — per Cohen, the seventh time he'd been on a recruiting trip to the Plains — he started to wonder if the Tigers would ever offer.
The Central (Ala.) offensive tackle had been an Auburn visitor for years, well before he emerged as one of the fastest rising offensive line prospects in the southeast. His Phenix City, Ala., roots allowed him to make several trips to Auburn for junior days, camps and game weekends. But Cohen visited earlier this year, and yet again, he left without an offer from Auburn.
He admitted there were moments his confidence waned about a potential offer from Gus Malzahn.
"After the last visit, I started to wonder," Cohen said. "I didn’t know what else I had to do. But I just needed to keep patient. I got a little antsy, and that’s my fault on that one. But I was wondering why."
Cohen's concerns were quelled Friday.
It's been a busy few weeks for Cohen. The offensive tackle referenced his natural recruiting anxiousness. Doubts about a possible Auburn offer led him to want to jump on board elsewhere. Cohen committed to South Carolina at the end of March. He still has a strong relationship with the Gamecocks' staff, but Cohen said he felt like he "shut it down way too early," which led to a prompt de-commitment earlier this week.
What happened Friday served as vindication for that decision.
Earlier this week, Gus Malzahn told Cohen he wanted to meet for 30 minutes on Friday. Cohen made the quick trek over to Auburn and sat down with the Auburn head coach. Malzahn talked through a few things — Cohen's impressive spring camp circuit, reminiscing on past Cohen visits, explaining why Auburn had been patient with Cohen's recruitment.
The conversation culminated with something Cohen had hoped for: an Auburn offer.
"It meant a lot to me because, you know, Auburn is somewhere I can see myself most definitely. I’ve known Coach Malzahn for a long time. I’ve known Coach [J.B.] Grimes for a long time," Cohen said. "It meant something to me for them to trust me and actually evaluate me through the process. That shows me how they go about getting players there. That meant a lot to me.”
Malzahn spoke with Cohen about an Under Armour camp video he'd seen earlier this spring. The Auburn head coach admitted to Cohen that part of the Tigers' patience on the tackle prospect was to see how he developed physically as an offensive lineman. At 6-foot-4 and 271 pounds, Cohen is on the lighter end of the tackle spectrum right now.
But he has proved to Malzahn and many other coaching staffs he uses his weight well. His noticeable wingspan helps matters.
Cohen flashed it yet again Friday in Atlanta post-offer. He attended the Rivals under-the-lights camp series event. Cohen matched up frequently with 5-star defensive end Myles Murphy and was the only offensive linemen at the camp to find regular success against the Clemson lean. His performance earned him OL MVP honors at the camp.
Cohen's development — and now Auburn's offer — put him near the top of the Tigers' offensive line interests.
"Coach Malzahn said he was going full on now. He's all in," Cohen said.
The Auburn offer will allow Cohen to go about the rest of his recruitment more thoroughly.
He will head back to Columbia, S.C., next weekend. That will be Cohen's first official visit. After that trip, the offensive tackle will take unofficial visits to Georgia Tech, Florida State and Florida. It wouldn't be surprising, given the convenience, for Cohen to make a trip or two to the Plains in that time frame.
Cohen quickly committed to South Carolina and stepped off that pledge, but he doesn't plan to delay his process for the entirety of the cycle now. He will take these summer visits and would like to have a re-commitment decision by the end of the summer before his senior season begins. Cohen said "Auburn was the only one I was waiting on," so the decision process can be more fluid with the Tigers offer in tow.
Even though he's newly offered, Cohen — who said Friday was his eighth remembered trip to Auburn as a recruit — feels right at home.
"I’ve been there so much it’s like second nature to me. I go in, and I know all the players," Cohen said. "It's home for me when I go there. ... It shook it up a lot. Because Auburn, that’s one you can’t pass up on. I love it. My mom loves it. It something you can’t really pass. They’re going to be there in the long run."