Auburn visit 'different in a good way' for 2024 DE

Auburn's undergone a good bit of change in the last several months.

Even with that change, one thing's been constant — Malik Blocton's interest in Auburn.

He made the school his first stop ahead of three scheduled visits for the month of January, taking a trip to the Plains for an unofficial visit Saturday.

"It was fun, I had a great time talking with Coach [Jeremy] Garrett and I had fun taking pictures," Blocton said.

This was nowhere close to Blocton's first time on campus. The 2024 defensive end from Pike Road, Ala., visited Auburn for every home game last season. However, there was something a little different about this trip.

"It was different in a good way," Blocton said. "The difference was that I got to tour the facility and I got to talk to Coach Garrett, he’s real cool, real fun to talk to."

Blocton was one of the first names that the new staff reached out to upon arrival in the winter. The Tigers re-offered him within the first week of December.

"That means a lot to me," Blocton said. "Me and Coach Garrett already had a bond because he offered me when he was at Liberty."

The bond between the two has been reconnected at Auburn, when Garrett followed Hugh Freeze to the Plains. During Blocton's visit, he spoke with Garrett for about 45 minutes just about defensive plans and schemes that the Tigers plan to run this upcoming season.

"I feel like he’s a good coach, he knows his stuff," Blocton said. "He was showing me clips of where he came from before. When he was in the league and when he was at Liberty."

Auburn made Blocton's top 12 schools that he dropped back in November, and following the visit, the Tigers are sitting "pretty high."

He'll visit Florida Jan. 21 and Clemson Jan. 28 this month, with visits to South Carolina and Kentucky also on the agenda as places he wants to check out.

Those four schools, along with Auburn, are the ones that seem to be separating themselves from the pack in his recruitment.