AUBURN | It’s been more than a decade but I’d like to finally welcome the Auburn family back to big boy recruiting.
<insert it’s been 84 years meme>
But seriously, Auburn’s recruiting was mostly average under Gus Malzahn (by SEC standards) and a laughingstock the last two years under the previous regime.
Just to quickly recap, over the last eight days Hugh Freeze and his staff have flipped 4-star safety Sylvester Smith from Tennessee, 4-star offensive tackle Tyler Johnson from Texas Tech, 3-star defensive tackle Stephen Johnson from Arkansas, 3-star defensive back Colton Hood from Michigan State and 3-star center Connor Lew from Miami.
Now, I’m not sure how they do it in Boise, but that’s what a real Merry Flipmas looks like.
And they’re not close to done with the 2023 class. There’s sure to be plenty more fireworks over the next few days as the Tigers continue to make waves leading up to Wednesday’s Signing Day.
The thing is, if we’re being completely honest, this is merely a taste of what’s to come. A nugget. A morsel.
It’s not really full-on, Big Boy recruiting just yet.
Oh, that’s coming. I’m sure of it.
I can’t wait to cover a Junior Day in January that has more than a half dozen kids show up. And I know this sounds like crazy talk, but they might actually take the recruits to a sold-out basketball game to get a taste of how Auburn supports its teams.
This is the chaotic start to Auburn’s recruiting finally gearing up and competing at the highest level.
Once the staff is completed, more long-term relationships are built and Freeze can focus on those 5-stars and elite prospects that often end their recruitment by July, it’s really going to take off.
Auburn’s finally got a coach that’s willing to get in the recruiting arena and fight with the big boys.
It’s about damn time if you ask me.
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In today’s musical journey, we go back 36 years to the day a song released 25 years earlier made its second foray into the top 10 of the U.S. charts. On Dec. 20, 1986, Stand By Me by Ben E. King reached No. 9 on the Billboard 100 following its inclusion in the movie, Stand By Me. The single was originally released April 24, 1961 and rose to No. 4 on the Billboard 100 and No. 1 on the Hot R&B. King co-wrote Stand By Me along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was inspired by a Christian song, Stand By Me Father, which was based on psalm 46. King originally wrote the song for the Drifters but they turned it down, which inspired him to record it. The Drifters recorded a tribute version of the song in 2015 shortly after King’s death. The song has been recorded by more than 400 other artists including John Lennon, Otis Redding, Tracy Chapman and Muhammad Ali, which has helped it top $22 million in royalties. King’s version was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2015. It ranks No. 122 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The movie, Stand By Me, was adapted from a Stephen King novella, directed by Rob Reiner and starred Will Wheaton, River Phoenix and Corey Feldman. It earned $52.2 million at the box office, well over its $8 million budget.
Benjamin Earl Nelson was born in Henderson, N.C., in 1938. He moved to Harlem in 1947 and began singing in church and formed a doo-wop group with his high school friends that performed at the Apollo Theatre. In 1958, he joined the Five Crowns. Later that year, George Treadwell, the manager of the Drifters, fired the original group and replaced them with the Five Crowns. He sang with the Drifters for a couple of years, producing hit singles There Goes My Baby, Save the Last Dane for Me and This Magic Moment, before embarking on a solo career in 1960 and changing his last name to King. He’s had a number of other hits including Spanish Harlem and Supernatural Thing. King was nominated for just one Grammy Award, which he didn’t win, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Drifter in 1986. He has been nominated as a solo artist.
